In this chapter, we are going to look at the operating system choices you have for your RP3, discuss the most commonly used ones and what they work best for, and then go over a few additional types of operating systems that are compatible with the RP3.  At the end of the chapter you’ll find links to more details on the systems discussed, as well as where to download them from.

The RP3 supports a variety of operating systems.  The Raspberry Pi Foundation has its two officially supported operating systems:  Noobs and Raspian.  On their download page, they have these third-party images: Ubuntu Mate Desktop, Snappy Unbuntu Core for Developers, Windows 10 IOT Core (Windows 10 for the Internet of Things), OSMC or Open Source Media Center, OpenELEC or Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center, PiNet (the Raspberry Pi Classroom Management Solution), Risc OS, and Weather Station for the Raspberry Pi Oracle Weather Station.

Noobs stands for New Out of the Box Software.  It’s the first operating system you will probably encounter on the RP.  It makes it possible for you to select from the operating systems listed above and easily install the one you want.  Keep in mind that you can download as many operating systems as will fit on your microSD card!

Raspbian is a Linux OS developed specifically for the RPs.  It’s widely used and great for beginners.  If this is your first encounter with an RP, then this would be the best operating system for you to start with.  It comes with LibreOffice, a basic web browser, email, and several powerful programming tools.

The Windows 10 IoT Core is a special Windows 10 development platform built for the for programmers needing to prototype internet connected devices.  To use it, you will need Windows 10 and Visual Studio on a PC.  Once everything is setup correctly, ou can control your RP3 from your PC. 

OSMC, or the Open Source Media Center, is based on the XBMC software by Kodi.  This is a great media center for those new to the whole concept and is easy to setup.  Various Kodi add-ons are still available, and it is easy to find remote control that are compatible with it.  Beneath it is Debian, which lets you setup things like FTP and Samba sharing.  It is open source, and there is a plethora of support available.

OpenELEC is the Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center which looks and behave more like Kodi.  It’s singular purpose is playing your media collection and it is much more barebones than the OSMC.  It is straightforward and doesn’t offer the customization that OSMC does.  It is also faster and simpler to use.  Note that it is also open source.

PiNet is a special operating for teachers implementing a Raspberry Pi classroom.  All connected RPs will boot from the Raspian operating system, which is stored on a central server.   That means no more trouble with tracking down the microSD card to boot with.  Students will have user accounts, and will be able to share folders with their classmates and, most importantly, their teacher.  This operating system is free to download and extremely easy to install and setup for the classroom.

RISC OS is completely different from the other operating systems we have discussed.  It was originally designed way back in 1987, and works quite differently from what we are used to today.  It is not intended to be used as a primary operating system on the RP3, but is great if your are a computer buff and enjoy working with different types of systems.

There are many other operating systems available for the RP3.  Here are some of them: Chromium OS, Slackware ARM, Void Linux, Debian Arm, Sli Taz, Gentoo, and Pidora.

Online Resources:

Operating System Downloads:

RPi Beginner’s Wiki:

PiNet:

Windows 10 IoT Core:

RISC OS:

OSMC:

OpenELEC: