Mainstream OS

Reader supplied reviews for Mainstream OS Average rating 9.2 from 5 review(s) What are your thoughts on Mainstream OS? Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system. Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review. Version: -- 2.2.0 Rating:    -- 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 out of 10 Your review (minimum 250 words): Past reviews - sort by: DateVotes Version: 2.2.0 Rating: 10 Date: 2026-09-12 Country: Israel Votes: 0 Great Arch based OS. It's quite intuitive and the design philosophy creates a very nice looking user interface. Installation was a breeze and well guided. The use of gnome-software for flatpack package management is very nice, but it might benefit from an arch specific package distribution software, like Shelly. I'm running it on a very old laptop and it's performing very well, thanks to hyprland being well optimised. If you are reading this, you should give it a try. The website explains it all very well. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 2.2.0 Rating: 10 Date: 2026-09-11 Country: Sweden Votes: 1 Mainstream OS After using Mainstream OS for several hours every day, I can confidently say that it has quickly become my favorite Linux distribution. I have tested and used several Linux operating systems, but Mainstream OS immediately impressed me with its clean design, smooth performance, and user-friendly experience. It feels modern and practical while still offering the flexibility that many people appreciate about Linux. The installation process was simple and easy to follow. I did not experience unnecessary complications, and the system was ready to use in a short amount of time. This is important because a good operating system should allow users to begin working quickly instead of requiring hours of troubleshooting and configuration. Mainstream OS provides a comfortable first experience, even for users who may not have much knowledge about Linux. One of the strongest features of Mainstream OS is its performance. The system feels fast and responsive during everyday use. Applications open quickly, menus work smoothly, and general navigation feels comfortable. I have used it for browsing the internet, writing documents, watching videos, organizing files, and managing multiple applications at the same time. Throughout my daily use, the system has remained stable and reliable. Mainstream OS also has a clean and attractive desktop environment. The interface looks professional without feeling complicated or overwhelming. The layout is easy to understand, and the main tools are placed where users would expect to find them. I especially like that the default appearance is already polished, while still allowing users to customize the desktop according to their personal preferences. Another positive aspect is the overall simplicity of the system. Software installation and system updates are easy to manage, which makes daily maintenance less stressful. Users do not need to be Linux experts to perform common tasks. At the same time, Mainstream OS still provides enough flexibility for more experienced users who want greater control over their system. I also appreciate how suitable Mainstream OS is for regular work. It feels dependable and does not distract me with unnecessary features or complicated settings. The operating system gives me the tools I need while maintaining a smooth and enjoyable workflow. Whether someone is using it for school, office work, browsing, media, or personal projects, Mainstream OS offers a reliable foundation. After using Mainstream OS for several hours each day, I can honestly say that it has exceeded my expectations. It is fast, stable, attractive, and easy to use. The developers have done an excellent job creating a Linux distribution that combines simplicity with flexibility. Mainstream OS has become my favorite Linux distribution, and I would gladly recommend it to anyone searching for a dependable and enjoyable operating system. Great work to everyone involved in this project! Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 1.4.0 Rating: 8 Date: 2026-08-25 Country: United States Votes: 1 Very smooth and well customized Hyprland session. This is almost like a Hyprland/Gnome system. I really don't see MacOS in the way it's setup. I normally struggle with using window managers like Hyprland and Niri, but this made me like an "adult". I actually felt at home after tweaking the settings the way I wanted. I might run this for atleast a month before considering another distro. With all that said, I did find issues with the Display settings. I don't like that you can't click and drag monitors around to your setup. I think the developer should have set nwg-display as part of the settings menu (if that was possible). The monitor locations can only be set by clicking a drop down menu and choosing, for example, "DP-4 is left of main". The monitor will go to that location but you can't tweak it by moving up or down/left or right by a couple inches. Additionally, I found the the night light setting is a bit finicky. I can turn it on and adjust the the brightness, but the red light tone is not accurate. So if I turn the night setting to 3400, it shows the correct red light shade, but if you keep scrolling to 3200, for some reason between 3400 and 3200 the color get brighter and dimmer randomly. Also if you have a slideshow set as a wallpaper or choose a wallpaper, the night light turns off. This is very frustrating. Speaking of wallpapers, on my 3rd display which is set to portrait, wallpapers are sometimes cut off and don't fill the monitor. I hope this wasn't a long winded ramble. I can work around these issues. The rest of the operating system made me feel comfortable and right at home. I game, stream/record, and edit on my linux distros. I gave it a good test last night, it was flawless! I look forward to what the developer will do with this distro. I haven't seen any YouTube videos covering this OS, I might just do it myself! lol Oh, last thing. Don't be scared to try this because it's built on the dreaded ARCH LINUX. The developer made this system easy to update. In the settings menu, you can click the update button. The system creates a snapshot and runs the update with no snags....so far (only been on this 1 day). Was this review helpful? Yes No See all 5 reader reviews of Mainstream OS...