Here’s the Deal

Solus vs Microsoft Windows 11

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When comparing Solus vs Microsoft Windows 11, the Slant community recommends Solus for most people. In the question“What is the best laptop OS?” Solus is ranked 21st while Microsoft Windows 11 is ranked 57th. The most important reason people chose Solus is:

Which means you don't have to suffer from version to version updates that can break it.

Specs

Based OnScratch

Init-Systemsystemd

Official Supported Architecturesx86_64

Package Managereopkg package manager (PiSi fork)

Release ScheduleRolling

No specs yet!

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What is the best laptop OS?

Pros

Pro
Rolling release

Which means you don't have to suffer from version to version updates that can break it.

Pro
Easy installation

The installation procedure for this distribution is quite simple. It's GUI based and all you have to do is to follow the instructions given by the installation window itself.

Pro
Modern desktop environment

The default desktop environment used by Solus is called Budgie and is quite nice and minimalistic.

Pro
Stable

The system itself is very stable. All packages in the repository seem to be carefully picked, well prepared and run stable.

Pro
Responsive

System boots quickly and stays responsive. Does what operating system should do, and does it really well.

Pro
Most stable Rolling Release Distro

Pro
Exclusively for desktop systems

Pro
Great package management

The software center makes it really easy to install the latest software through Snappy and Flatpak. Including third party software.

Pro
Rock-solid Distro

Very stable and well curated.

Pro
Lightning fast boot time

Pro
Seamless packages

It may not have the most obscure packages, but the packages it does have is a good number of everything a Linux user needs. Gamers, developers, desktop users, etc. all have the necessary packages and then some. The packages themselves are integrated perfectly and are very well updated.

Pro
Default experience is clean and easy

The default desktop experience on the Budgie version is very clean and streamlined. Although the Budgie DE isn't the most customisable, but it's customisable enough for me to recreate the desktop style of ElementaryOS with the dock and bar at the top.

Pro
Friendly towards proprietary codecs, firmware and drivers

So you won't have to enable PPAs or extra repos for that.

Pro
Well curated software

The software is well curated in the repos, you have access to flatpaks and snaps, so virtually, all the software you'll ever need is there for you.

Pro
Friendly community

The only community who values the newcomers. Very helpful community.

Pro
Built from scratch

Pro
Great support for video games

Pro
New Features

Such as notification pane, weather gadget and a sweet new centered taskbar.

Pro
Great for gamers

DirectX 12 Ultimate and DirectStorage boost gaming performance quite a bit.

Pro
New UI design and features

Centered Taskbar and Start Menu, Widgets panel, and so many more new features and UI elements make Windows 11 truly unique compared to other operating systems.

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Cons

Con
Not much software

There is not much software available.

Con
Lack of software in repositories

There is a lack of software in the repositories. This is the only OS where I have had to build some applications from source or install from the app's site within the first month os usage. Though this is most likely because the distro is still relatively new.

Con
There is often a black screen after update

Con
An upgrade breaks the system quite often

Con
Forums are not very friendly

Con
Systemd

Con
No USB Image writer

Con
The default desktop environment is not very customizable

Maybe because it's a relatively new project still in its infancy and this may be fixed in the future, but Budgie is not very customizable. You can only change the theme and wallpaper.