RISC OS
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 32 of 73 operating systems by recommenders
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.
12 people recommended RISC OS in Hacker News comments, 3 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 35 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 32 of those comments still count.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- mixed feelings
- 3
- warn against or regret it
- 4
The record
Recommended in 7 of 12 months
In 13 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 13 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 42% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 31 of the 37 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fast and responsive
“faster, more responsive, more capable and flexible, and much better looking”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Screenshots of Old Desktop OSes” “RISCOS is way faster than all the alternatives”
Comment from 2 Aug 2026 in “Twenty Years of RISC OS Open” “And it was fast and responsive, too.”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “200 MB RAM FreeBSD Desktop” Distinct design unlike Windows or Mac
“RISC OS is that clean legacy free desktop…”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Infinite Mac: BeOS” “It was really interesting, like a third way of doing things that wasn't "windows" and wasn't "mac”
Comment from 9 May 2026 in “PipeDream on the Acorn Archimedes” “It was way ahead of Windows at the time”
Comment from 9 May 2026 in “PipeDream on the Acorn Archimedes” Runs on Raspberry Pi
“It's FOSS now, runs natively on a Raspberry Pi 1-400 and Zero, and has Wifi, IPv6, and a Webkit browser.”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Tiny Core Linux: a 23 MB Linux distro with graphical desktop” “free on the Pi -- called RISC OS Direct, with an IPv6 stack and a modern WebKit browser”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Infinite Mac: BeOS” Modern browser and IPv6 networking
“It can talk IPv6, has modern web browsers and email and chat and media and all that stuff”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Twenty Years of RISC OS Open”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Awkward file saving and window switching
“it was annoying and more work to have to switch to the file manager”
Comment from 9 May 2026 in “PipeDream on the Acorn Archimedes”
Other operating systems people recommend
The four most recommended other operating systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 73 operating systems, rankedWhat people said
31 of the 37 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's got tons of legacy baggage”
“I have written about it multiple times, trying to spread awareness.”
“free on the Pi -- called RISC OS Direct, with an IPv6 stack and a modern WebKit browser”
“RISC OS is that clean legacy free desktop…”
“as RISC OS on the Pi shows, it's got more than enough power to be a capable GUI desktop computer”
“Oh for the days of drag-dropping the !App dir to wherever you happen to have space”
“It can talk IPv6, has modern web browsers and email and chat and media and all that stuff”
“First OS with built-in scalable font rendering as standard.”
“So, so far ahead of it's time.”
“The old Arthur ROMs were a prize possession for quite some time afterwards.”
“RISCOS is way faster than all the alternatives”
“no screenshots anywhere on their web site”
“how surprising it is they have stuck at it”
“You could just use RISC OS on the PI for BBC Basic.”
“Try RISC OS, which literally passes control around between applications and has to wait for them to give it back”
“It is pretty much a work of art.”
“faster, more responsive, more capable and flexible, and much better looking”
“Was wonderful to come back to that.”
“really obnoxious mouse pointer hijacking”
“I still miss both proper context menus and adjust-clicking in them”
“it really comes into its own on larger screens”
“It was way ahead of Windows at the time”
“it was annoying and more work to have to switch to the file manager”
“It was really interesting, like a third way of doing things that wasn't "windows" and wasn't "mac”
“bring back fond memories of playing with it in our school computer room”
“It never matured due to lack of momentum, market share.”
“I hate RISC OS architecturally”
“And it was fast and responsive, too.”
“your environment and tools were absolutely terrible compared to what existed on Mac/PC/Unix”
“It's FOSS now, runs natively on a Raspberry Pi 1-400 and Zero, and has Wifi, IPv6, and a Webkit browser.”
“Run RISC OS and contribute!”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.