The operating system recommended by the Raspberry Foundation for its mini computer series is Raspbian, based on Debian Buster. But the magic of Linux allows us to reach incredible levels of customization, especially in terms of appearance. Thanks to a collaboration between Grayduck and Pi Lab, today we have two excellent variants of Raspbian: Raspbian-X and iRaspbian, inspired by Windows 10 and Mac OS respectively, with some additions that deserve our attention.
A frequently asked question in the Raspberry Pi world is whether the mini computer can truly be used as a desktop system. So far, the general answer has been "yes, with some compromises", whether technical or appearance-related. Only Linux has the potential to efficiently take advantage of the resources of a Raspberry Pi, but there are many users out there who do not want to give up the familiarity of Windows or Mac OS. That said... how about a clone?
Clones of Windows 10 and Mac OS for your Raspberry Pi 4
Let's make a place for Raspbian-X and iRaspbian, two variants of the official Raspbian distro designed for the Raspberry Pi 4, which were designed by Grayduck and Pi Lab. Raspbian-X Night Hawk Edition seeks to reproduce the Windows 10 desktop experience, while iRaspbian favors the Apple environment. In both cases, the user will find a precise selection of software, starting with Chromium Media Edition (a browser with DRM support that enables access to Netflix and other services), GIMP and LibreOffice, virtualization of Windows 98 and Mac OS 9, and mirroring support for Android smartphones.
On top of that, there is Box86 (to emulate x86), Retropie for those who need a good dose of retro consoles, and a development version of Steam. Many games present errors when running, and others suffer some performance loss due to x86 emulation, but things are improving little by little. The ETA PRIME channel dedicated two videos to both distros, and ran them on a RPI 4 overclocked to 2.0 GHz. That extra frequency boost is not mandatory but definitely helps, so you should keep it in mind if you decide to try one of these distros.
And speaking of tests, the process is not unusual: Download the images, transfer the content to an SD card using Etcher or similar, and turn on the Raspberry Pi 4. It's just over a month until the RPi 4 turns one year old on the market, and it's not too far-fetched to think about a new version (despite a certain virus). If these special builds of Raspbian already hold their own on current hardware, our enthusiasm for the future is very great.
Official site and download: Click here
