Orange Pi OS is a desktop operating system for single-board computers such as the eponymous Orange Pi, the Banana Pi and the original Raspberry Pi and is optionally based on Android 12 or the Android Open Source Project (“AOSP “) or on Arch Linux. A very young project is used as the desktop.
Resource-saving operating system for single-board computers
With Orange Pi OS, the Chinese developer Orange Pi offers an operating system based on the Android Open Source Project (“AOSP”), which uses Android 12 as a basis and is used both for the company's single-board computers and for the popular Raspberry Pi and other small Arm64 systems can. The working environment is realized with the free desktop CuteFish.
Orange Pi OS (“Droid”) and Orange Pi OS (“Arch”) for single-board computers (Image: Orange Pi)
While Orange Pi (“Droid”) on base Android 12 is already available for download, Orange Pi (“Arch”), which is based on Arch Linux, is still in the final stages of development – it should follow “soon”. In both cases, the developers are creating a full operating system for mini PCs.
- Desktop
- Taskbar
- Start Menu
- File Manager
- Mouse support for Android games
- Free Appstore + Google Play Store
- Mozilla Thunderbird
- Mozilla Firefox
- Multitasking
The developers based their operation on Windows 11 and want a comparable “look & Provide Feel. Well-known desktop applications such as Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird are also on board. In addition, the very lightweight CuteFish desktop offers numerous themes that make the free operating system customizable. In addition to the Google Play Store, there is also a free alternative to choose from and provides a fresh supply of apps.
Orange Pi OS (“Droid”) (image: Orange Pi)Many areas of the system such as the system tray, the settings and the control center are very reminiscent of Microsoft's current operating system and make it very easy for newcomers and those switching to get used to it.
Orange Pi OS (“Droid”) – Control Center (Image: Orange Pi)The Orange Pi single-board computers, such as the Orange Pi 5 with the Rockchip RK3588S and up to 32 GB of RAM, as well as the Orange Pi 800 keyboard computer, come with Orange Pi OS (“Droid” ).
Orange Pi OS (“Arch”) will follow soon
The latest version is also available in the manufacturer's download area and should be available promptly through Orange Pi OS (“Arch”), which is installed on all 64-Bi t computer systems with x86 architecture should be able to run.