# RISC OS

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/risc-os/

12 people recommended RISC OS in Hacker News comments, 3 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 12 months, in 13 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a fast, clean, distinctive desktop OS built from scratch, free to run on Raspberry Pi. Critics cite legacy baggage and quirky app-switching behavior.

Summary written by Claude from 35 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 32 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Fast and responsive (3 comments in the sample): "faster, more responsive, more capable and flexible, and much better looking" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48120812)) "RISCOS is way faster than all the alternatives" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49147094)) "And it was fast and responsive, too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46719821))
- Distinct design unlike Windows or Mac (3 comments in the sample): "RISC OS is that clean legacy free desktop…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50314600)) "It was really interesting, like a third way of doing things that wasn't "windows" and wasn't "mac" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48076910)) "It was way ahead of Windows at the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48078477))
- Runs on Raspberry Pi (2 comments in the sample): "It's FOSS now, runs natively on a Raspberry Pi 1-400 and Zero, and has Wifi, IPv6, and a Webkit browser." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46191404)) "free on the Pi -- called RISC OS Direct, with an IPv6 stack and a modern WebKit browser" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50315150))
- Modern browser and IPv6 networking (1 comment in the sample): "It can talk IPv6, has modern web browsers and email and chat and media and all that stuff" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49155183))

## What people warn about

- Awkward file saving and window switching (1 comment in the sample): "it was annoying and more work to have to switch to the file manager" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48078323))

## Other operating systems people recommend

- [Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/linux/): 597 recommend, 106 mixed, 243 criticize
- [Windows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows/): 537 recommend, 415 mixed, 3187 criticize
- [macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macos/): 521 recommend, 333 mixed, 1695 criticize
- [FreeBSD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/freebsd/): 243 recommend, 65 mixed, 73 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "RISC OS", https://hackerapproved.com/p/risc-os/ (12 recommend, 3 mixed, 4 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.