The sheer number of distributions is yet another killer feature of Linux. On the surface, you’ve got the standard Debian, Fedora, and Arch distros alongside an army of platforms and operating systems modeled after them. But once you dive deeper into the Linux rabbit hole, you’ll come across some truly bizarre distributions that are pretty fun to use despite their quirky nature.

There’s Slackware for old-school lovers, Tails OS for privacy-conscious users, and Gentoo for folks who want to tailor every aspect of their daily driver to their liking. Then there’s Qubes OS, which relies on virtualization for practically every task. While it may seem a little complex at first glance, it’s quite user-friendly and works pretty well for most workloads – to the point where I’d call it one of the coolest distributions out there.

Everything’s virtualized in Qubes OS

But it’s not a home lab distro, either

Starting with the brass tacks, Qubes OS is built on the principle of isolation and separates every aspect of the system – including the network stack and I/O devices – inside their own virtualized environments. Powered by the Xen hypervisor, these virtualized instances are called qubes, with each type featuring its own security rules and uses. The admin qube or dom0 lies at the heart of each Qubes OS setup and is responsible for everything from running Xen’s management tools to overseeing the operations of the other qubes.

Then you’ve got app qubes that are designed for normal workloads. Unlike dom0, they typically don’t have a root filesystem of their own and use one from the OS template they’re based on. There are also disposable qubes, which are destroyed after you shut them down, making them better for privacy-sensitive tasks. Like typical VMs, you also have better control over the firewall rules, USB devices, and networking accessories that your qubes can access. Likewise, each qube has its own collection of applications, and you’re free to add new packages per your needs.

A decent collection of qube templates to choose from

Including Windows

When you’re deploying an app qube, this virtualization-heavy distro gives you the option to choose from a handful of templates. Fedora and Debian are the official template distributions, and you can choose between their standard and minimal variants. There’s also Xfce-flavored templates for both, in case you want the convenience of a desktop environment with the lightweight nature of Xfce.

But the community templates are the real star of the show. You’ve got the uber-popular Ubuntu template, which is a solid option if you want a different flavor of Debian. For security-conscious folks, you can deploy Whonix-based app qubes (and I’ll go over those in a bit). There’s also a minimal Arch template that requires a little bit of technical finesse to set up. Heck, you can even deploy a full-fledged Windows qubes, though you’ll have to configure Qubes Windows Tools and run a bunch of commands to get it up and running.

Terrific for security-conscious folks

Whonix qubes also offer better privacy

Let me preface this section by adding that you shouldn’t run Qubes OS just to test malware, as there are certain programs that can break out from a qube and target dom0 or other qubes. But if you want a highly secure distribution that’s good at keeping away threats and even better at containing damage, Qubes OS is what you’re looking for. The app qubes feature a high level of isolation, so even if malware manages to break into it, the chances of it getting into your private files are quite slim. Not non-existent, mind you, but a lot lower than running everything on, say, a conventional Debian (or better yet, Windows) setup.

That’s before you include the privacy benefits of Qubes OS. Or Whonix qubes, to be more specific. If you haven’t heard of it, Whonix is a VM-only distro that routes all traffic through the Tor network, so you don’t have to worry about trackers or websites retaining your private information.

It’s a rock-solid general-purpose distro

And you can even use it on your daily driver

While it may appear complex due to its heavy reliance on virtual environments, Qubes OS is surprisingly user-friendly. Its menu-driven UI makes deploying qubes, managing their resources, and installing apps extremely easy – to the point where you can get accustomed to its interface within a handful of hours.

If you’re someone who needs extra GPU horsepower to run games or edit videos, Qubes OS also lets you pass PCI devices to qubes. In fact, there’s detailed documentation on GPU passthrough for Windows qubes, so you can even turn your Qubes OS setup into a powerful gaming machine.

But it’s a bit taxing on old hardware

The only caveat with Qubes OS is that it can require more computational prowess than your average Linux distribution, especially when you’re planning to run multiple virtual environments for different workloads. For folks planning to revive ancient machines, Qubes OS might not be the best Linux distribution for you. But as long as you have a decent PC, Qubes OS should run well – and I say that as someone who often tinkers with the distro on a mere Ryzen 5 1600 processor.