Also: Ready for a Linux laptop? I recommend a Tuxedo to beginners and pro users alike

But Linux isn't the only open-source game in town. In fact, there are several open-source options that you can try. I found five in particular that are interesting enough to share with you, including four that reimagine an operating system from the past and one built by a single developer (take that, Linus).

Let's see what there is to see within the realm of non-Linux open-source operating systems.

Decades later, Haiku has finally reached beta. Yup, that's one slow development process. What attracted me to Haiku was its slight resemblance to the Afterstep Window manager that I once used and loved. Why the resemblance? Haiku is a reimagining of the late BeOS, inspired by NeXTSTEP (which in turn inspired AfterStep).