INSTALLING OPERATING SYSTEMS:

- Raspbian or Raspberry Pi OS:

It is based on Debian's distribution of Linux and the most compatible with RPi hardware and the one recommended for various tasks. The stable one is 32-bit which is recommended to be your daily driver for all kinds of needs. Experimental and increasingly becoming the mainstream one is the 64-bit version which is gaining more and more software compatibility. There are many other OSes based on it as the one I like with the full set of software most widely used installed already is the Twister OS.

Download the image from raspberrypi.org, flash your MicroSD/SD using Balena Etcher, Win32image, or the newer RPi Imager.

Twister OS is found in twister.org

- Fyde OS: A popular simple chrome-like OS that relies on online internet access for Google-centric office suites of Docs, sheets and so on. It is not exactly chrome as it is based on open-source chromium but has all features of it including recent Android and linux apps support in containers. It can be useful as a desktop replacement with its ergonomic interface.

- Ubuntu OS: similar to Debian along with its relative Ubuntu Mate. I consider it a proof of concept to have it run on the raspberry pi but offer no advantages of the Raspberry pi OS itself as do other linux distros available to run on RPis as Manjaro, Archlinux, and others.

- Windows on Raspberry Pi: An interesting, but not complete OS to work on RPi. It is still under development with more compatibility brought on with every upgrade. It is still not recommended as a daily driver and remains in the realm of being a proof of concept and not a true desktop replacement.

For most projects, the ideal OS is still the Raspbian or Raspberry Pi OS.