There goes any chance of you leaving your desk this lunchtime – Blizzard’s original Diablo game from 1996 can now be played in a web browser.
Hosted by the Blizzard-loving developers at Rivsoft, visiting https://diablo.rivsoft.net gives you access to the shareware version of the game, “based on source code reconstructed by GalaXyHaXz and devilution team.”
That gives you access to the first two areas of the game’s giant dungeon, and makes one of Diablo’s three character classes available. However, if you own the game from a site like GOG, you can go one better. According to the site, “if you own the original game, you can drop the original DIABDAT.MPQ” file onto the loaded browser page, and access the full game from within your browser.
Hellish beginnings
If you’re a latecomer to the franchise, or just can’t wait until Diablo 4 and Diablo Immortal release, going back to the original game is a fascinating experience.
Lots of what makes the series so addictive remains, from the ghoulish monsters to the isometric viewpoint and moreish loot cycle. It’s far simpler than the Diablo series would eventually become (and more than a little buggy), but it’s also hugely ahead of its time – you wouldn’t have World of Warcraft Classic or even the likes of Borderlands 3 without it.
And, it works surprisingly well as a browser game too. There’s no lengthy conversations or start-up cut scenes – just a quick sojourn to the moody town of Tristram and then hours of imp-smashing, skeleton-whacking adventure.
Head here to give it a play. Just make sure your boss or teacher doesn’t catch you when you should be working.
We don’t know what Nintendo was thinking, but 32GB of on-board storage for the Nintendo Switch was always going to cause problems for anyone picking up the hugely successful console. Thankfully, you can expand the storage via a MicroSD memory card deal. We’re not wasting your time with one of the those dirt-cheap 16GB or 32GB cards either. Let’s get serious. How does 400GB sound?
These cards are also compatible with a huge range of smartphones and cameras (deals like this come with a standard sized SD adaptor too). And frankly, this is a superb deal today from one of the most reputable brands in the business. You can get a whopping 400GB card for just £67.19 (saving around £162 compared to launch price). We’ve found a similar deal in the States too where you can get the same card for $92.99 (saving $157).
This is one of the largest types of SD cards you can get that are compatible with the Nintendo Switch, cameras and smartphones. And given how severely the prices jump up for the larger 512GB cards, we think the 400GB offers significantly better value per gigabyte.
While there are a small handful of cheaper MicroSD cards out there. They’re from brands we’ve never heard of to be honest and the write speeds on them seem really low compared to this SanDisk. You’re getting up to 160MB/s read speed here, which you’ll really appreciate when loading Nintendo Switch games, high-res images on your camera or booting up more intensive apps on your smartphone.
We’ve rounded up a wider selection of the best Nintendo Switch SD cards, but this is our favourite deal today. If you’ve still not picked up the super portable console, then head on over to our guide to the latest cheap Nintendo Switch deals.
Contactless cards have probably been in your wallet for a few years now and they’re mighty convenient for paying for stuff up to the £30 limit. Recently, though, that safety net has been shown to be less than perfect, so although the chance of your cards being exploited is relatively low, it’s still worth protecting them and watching out for strange-looking payment terminals.
Can contactless cards be hacked?
As you might have seen , researchers have proven that it’s possible to bypass the £30 limit for contactless payments and make transactions of over £100. The can be done even if they’re not in possession of the card, either by getting close to the victim’s card or by putting something between the card and the payment terminal – a ‘man-in-the-middle’ attack, similar to devices that criminals put in cash machines to read your card’s details while you withdraw cash.
What’s more worrying is that the hack is possible because of the way Visa’s contactless system is designed and Visa has already said it has no plans to change anything to fix it.
It says that, because the thief has to be in close proximity to carry out the fraud, it won’t be a large-scale issue.
But it is certainly a problem if you lose your contactless card or it’s stolen from you, as someone could potentially take a lot of money from your bank account without knowing your card PIN.
The researchers from Positive Technologies were able to take payments from five UK bank cards without detection, demonstrating that the threat is very real.
How you can protect your contactless cards
There are a few common-sense things you can do to mitigate the risks of being scammed in this way.
First, report to your bank as soon as you realise your card is lost or stolen so no-one can use it to make any purchases.
Second, check with your bank or in your online banking app to see if you can get a notification whenever a payment is made on your card, and do this for each card and bank you use. This way you’ll know straight away if a payment has been made you didn’t authorise.
Also be on the lookout for any strange-looking payment terminals which could have been modified – if in doubt, don’t use contactless and instead use the chip-and-PIN method to pay if that’s possible.
Finally, if you’re worried about a thief wandering around with their own payment terminal trying to scan your cards at close proximity, consider buying an RFID blocking wallet or case for your cards. These offer extra protection – usually with an aluminium case – which blocks the radio signal between the terminal and your card, so it can’t be read at any distance.
If you’d prefer to keep your existing wallet, you can buy RFID blocking cards which do a similar job, and they’re cheaper, too.
Unfortunately, that’s about all you can do: the onus is on banks to improve their fraud detection systems – which don’t simply watch for multiple £30 transactions – and for retailers and merchants to check and ensure their payment terminals are safe for customers to use.
There are lots of other scams to be aware of, as once you are, you’ll spot them before any harm is done.
With the pollution level rising at an alarming rate, air purifiers have emerged as one of the saviours to fight rising complications due to air pollution. Seeing the rise in demand, most home appliance brands have started manufacturing air purifiers which can cost you a premium. According to WHO, 4.3 million people die from being exposed to household air pollution.
Every year, the risk of a rise in health-related issues increases especially during the festival of Diwali, acting as the major contributor to the growing PM levels. PM (Particulate matter) 2.5 is the term used to define the mixture of fine particles including dust, dirt, smoke and liquid having a diameter less than 2.5 microns so naturally, it cannot be seen through naked eyes.
While outdoor air pollution leads to serious health problems, indoor pollution is no less harmful than that. But, before you make that purchase, it’s necessary to look at some decisive factors like the room size, filter replacement charges, standard certification, noise levels, electricity consumption, etc. In this piece, we have listed some of the best air purifiers which you can use to stay void of such vulnerabilities.
1. Dyson Pure Hot + Cool
(Image credit: Dyson)
Perhaps the only air purifier with heater technology, the Dyson Pure Hot + Cool is a three-in-one solution that can be used throughout the year. It will throw a cool breeze at you in harsh summers while in winters, the same appliance will keep you and your room warm and cozy. In addition, the air purifier works simultaneously and is capable of clearing out over 99.95% pollutants, even as small as 0.1 microns. The vacuum-sealed HEPA filters are surrounded by activated carbon filters which remove gaseous odor.
Dyson Pure Hot + Cool has a robust built and feels premium when placed in any corner of the room. Its cylindrical design allows the purifier to oscillate upto 350-degrees. The air purifier can be controlled via Dyson Link app and certified by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
Dyson Pure Hot + Cool is priced at Rs 54,900 in India.
2. Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2
Using ultra-dense Toray EPA filter, the Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier offers resistance from PM 2.5, pollen grains, dust and dirt particles and other allergic components. Equipped with a powerful aerodynamic system, the purifier provides a 310m3/h Clean Air Delivery Rate(CADR) and circulates pure air in 21m2 area in 10 minutes. The term CADR refers to the international standard for measuring the effectiveness of the air purifier.
The cylindrical shape of the purifier allows the filter to trap the air from 360 degrees. Its activated carbon filter promises to filter harmful gases and bad odor from the air. It also comes with a smart control system which allows users to control the purifier with their smartphone using the Mi Home App. The system also keeps a check on the filter and alerts the user when it needs to be replaced. Priced at Rs. 8,999, the purifier works silently with 58 percent less energy consumption. So, Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2 is an affordable smart device.
Honeywell Air Touch has a 3D airflow function which takes in air from the sides and bottom and releases pure air from the top. With 300 m3/h CADR, the purifier covers up to 450 square feet area which makes it suitable for living rooms and bedrooms. Equipped with a multi-layer air purification system, the purifier comes with three filters including Pre-filter, HEPA and the company’s own patented- HiSiv filter.
While the Pre-filter removes the PM 10, pet dander and hair particles, the HEPA filter purifies the passing air by removing bacteria, viruses and PM 2.5 particles. The HiSiv filter further improves the air quality by removing odors, formaldehyde and VOC which is indicated on the LCD from time to time. The highlight of the purifier is that it is 100 percent ozone free, which means it does not emit harmful gases as the by-product of the filtration process. In addition to this, the pre-filter is washable and does not require an engineer to change it.
The purifier is available in Champagne Gold and Classic White color variants at a price tag of Rs 25,990.
The well-known water purifier company, Kent stepped into the air purifier market with its Kent Aura air purifier. Priced at Rs 15,990, the purifier comes with HEPA filter which removes bacteria and PM 2.5 and SPM particles from the air. Similar to the Honeywell purifier mentioned above, this one also has an activated carbon filter which removes bad odor from the air. Also, to further improve the air quality, Kent has equipped the purifier with an inbuilt ionizer which traps the pollutants either on an electrically charged collection plate or forces them to stick to the surface of the walls of the room.
Having a 180 m3/h CADR rate, the purifier is suitable for small spaces of up to 270 square feet. The Kent Aura air purifier has a LED display which indicates the air quality level in three colors, blue for excellent, pink for good and red for poor. Apart from this, there are three different speed levels and has an 8-hour timer function. So, if you are looking for an air purifier for a small area at a reasonable price, then this will meet up to your requirement.
The purifier comes with Vitashield IPS technology which can remove particles of up to 0.02-micron size which is more than 100 times smaller than the normal PM 2.5. With its numerical indicator and 4 color AQI lights, the purifier provides the real-time PM levels in the air. Its special Allergen Mode claims that it can remove 99.97 percent common airborne allergens including the H1N1 virus. The purifier automatically boosts its cleaning performance when it detects any change in the quality of the air.
The purifier has an extra NanoProtect HEPA and AC filter having a CADR rate of 367m3/h which makes it suitable for an area of 95m2. Apart from this, the AeraSense technology of the purifier calculates the life of the filter and also alerts the user about the replacement of the same. Not only this, it automatically stops working if the filter is not replaced on time. It also features a sleep mode which turns down the speed of the fan of the product resulting in noise level of 33db. Users can also adjust the light indicators accordingly in the sleep mode. Philips has priced the product at Rs 32,995 which is a little pricier than the ones listed above but it looks better and offers some extra features if you want to look beyond the basics.
So, with the capacity of tracing the minute particles including virus-like H1N1, the Philips 3000 series (AC3256/20) is a product that you would love to own.
It won’t be wrong if we say that this purifier is the cheaper variant of the above mentioned 3000 series. It serves to clean the air of comparatively smaller area varying from 24 to 41m2. Using the similar Vitasheild IPS technology and NanoProtect filter, the purifier promises to deliver the CADR rate of up to 344m3/h, remove ultra-fine particles, harmful gases, bacteria, virus and odor.
Users can also check the life of the filter as it comes with the company’s AeraSense technology, which indicates filter replacement alert. The key feature is that it reduces the noise level to 20.5db in the silent mode, allowing users to have a noise-free and comfortable sleep at night.
The purifier comes with a price tag of Rs 22,995 which is 10k cheaper than the 3000 series.
Equipped with Sharp’s Plasmacluster technology, the air purifier is the world’s first air purifier with mosquito catcher. The company’s patented technology emits ions which destroy the chemical pollutants and neutralizes the harmful VOC and toxic gases, thus purifying the indoor air. The mosquito catcher uses the non-toxic mechanisms along with a glue sheet which captures the mosquitoes to reduce the possibility of getting bitten.
The purifier also comes with an H14 HEPA filter which captures 99.97 percent of dust particles of 0.3 microns and can last for up to 2 years. With the highest CADR rate in its category, the purifier is certified by 28 global labs for safety and effectiveness.
In other words, apart from giving pure air, this device protects you against deadly mosquitoes. You can buy this air purifier from Amazon India at Rs 25,999.
The Blueair Classis 480i air purifier improves the air quality by removing harmful pollutants, allergy and asthma causing virus. The highlight of the device is its Wi-Fi connectivity with integrated quality sensors which allow users to connect the purifier with any smart device and monitor the air quality level using the Blueair Friend app. This not only allows the user to control the purifier from a distance but also provides the tips to improve the air quality inside. In addition to this, the app allows the user to control functions like child mode, night mode, operating speed, etc.
Using the Blueair HEPASilent Technology, the purifier removes all the airborne pollutants ensuring superior quality of air to the users. It comes with a digital control panel which not only indicates the Wi-Fi and filter status but also informs about the VOC and PM 2.5 levels. The purifier is designed to work in an area of 434 square feet with the CADR level of up to 510m3/h.
You can buy the device from Amazon India at Rs 45,695.
9. Honeywell Lite Indoor HAC20M1000W-48watt
Making way to the list is another air purifier from the well-known brand, Honeywell. Known as the Honeywell Lite Indoor air purifier, the device comes with a three-stage advanced filtration process including Pre-filter, HEPA and Activated Carbon which removes more than 99 percent pollutants, PM 2.5 particles, pollen, bacteria, virus, formaldehyde, odor and toxic gases.
With a CADR rate of 210m3/h, the purifier can clean the air of up to 315 square feet of area in just 20 minutes. It comes with filter replacement and LED air quality indicator and offers functions like sleep mode, child lock, auto timer and 3 mode fan speed control.
Priced at Rs 19,990, the purifier offers approximately 2200 hours of filter life, a noise level of up to 49.5db and is available in Snow White colour variant.
Last but not the least, is the Panasonic F-PXF35MKU (D) air purifier which comes with 3D circulation airflow with nano purification system. Also, the 3D circulation airflow is divided into two modes namely, Side Airflow and Front Airflow to remove pollutants.
The highlight of the device is that its filter consists of Super Alleru-buster, Green Tea Catechin and Anti-bacterial Enzyme which can remove 17 kinds of virus, bacteria and up to 99 percent of allergens.
Apart from this, it has a sleep mode, auto mode and can work in an area of up to 283 square feet. The purifier is priced at Rs 14,897 on Amazon India.
The summer savings are out in force today and we’re super stoked to see the new Apple AirPods’ prices tumble down for both the standard version and the fancier option with a wireless charging case.
So if you’ve been waiting for a great AirPod deal, today’s you’re lucky day. Amazon has taken the lion’s share of the deals in both the US and UK, but Walmart is getting stuck in too. You can get the standard 2019 AirPods from just $144.99 in the US, while in the UK, they’re down to a very tempting £149. And while those are great prices, we’ve found discounts for the versions with the wireless charging case that are arguably even better value.
The Apple AirPods come with a charging case that provides 20 hours of battery life and up to three hours of talk time on a single charge. The truly wireless earbuds received an upgraded H1 Chip that results in faster pairing and seamless connectivity. The H1 chip also allows you to use your voice to ask Siri questions. You can adjust the volume, skip songs, and even make calls completely hands-free.
Discounts on AirPods are extremely rare, so while the discount percentages might not seem like much, these are fantastic deals for the Apple earbuds. We don’t know how much longer Amazon and Walmart will have the AirPods on sale, so you should take advantage while you can.
Privacy and security have become increasing concerns for internet users, not least with increased government monitoring and corporate collection of user data, and a long string of well-publicized hack attacked in which this user data has been stolen and mis-used.
While Windows and macOS machines have some protections in place, and there are additional options such as using a VPN or Tor browser, a number of Linux distros are now available that put privacy and security at their core.
For some of these Linux distros it’s a case of building in privacy protection by default using a variety of tools. For others, it’s a matter of including security software as standard for those who need to do penetration testing.
Each of these distros has a different focus on privacy and/or security according to user interests and needs. Here we’ll list the best 10 for you to consider.
An extremely secure OS but for advanced users only
Risky apps are confined to separate virtual machines
Also uses sandboxing to protect system components
Can be tricky to set up and manage
While definitely not for novice users, Qubes is one of the top privacy-conscious distros. The graphical installer must be used to install the OS to your hard drive, which will be encrypted.
Qubes OS uses the Xen Hypervisor to run a number of virtual machines, compartmentalising your life into ‘personal’, ‘work’, ‘internet’ and so on for the sake of security. This means if you accidentally download malware on your work machine for instance, your personal files won’t be compromised.
The main desktop uses colour-coded windows to show different virtual machines, making it easy for you to tell them apart.
Tails (which stands for ‘The Amnesiac Incognito Live System’) is probably the most well-known privacy-focused distro. It can be run from a DVD in Live mode whereby it loads entirely into your system RAM and will leave no trace of its activity. The OS can also be used in ‘persistent’ mode where your settings can be stored on an encrypted USB stick.
All connections are routed through the anonymity network Tor, which conceals your location. The applications in Tails have also been carefully selected to enhance your privacy – for example, there’s the KeePassX password manager and Paperkey, a command line tool used to export OpenPGP secret keys to print on paper. There are also a small number of productivity apps such as Mozilla Thunderbird and the powerful LibreOffice suite.
You can install more applications from Debian repositories via the command line, but they will take some time to download as they pass through the Tor network.
Do note that vulnerabilities are constantly discovered with Tails so be sure to check for updates (as you should do with any OS, of course).
Boasts a huge range of pen-testing and hacking tools
Large number of built-in hacking utilities
Constantly updated
64-bit Live ISO is over 11GB
This pen-testing distro is based on Arch Linux, which may be good or bad news depending on how familiar you are with its parent operating system. While relatively new, this OS contains over 2,000 different hacking tools, saving you the trouble of having to download what you need each time.
The BlackArch distro is constantly updated, with new ISO images being released on a quarterly basis. These are very large in size (currently 11GB) due to the amount of pre-installed programs, but note that there’s also a much smaller Netinstall version which is only around 620MB.
BlackArch can be run live from a USB stick or CD, or installed onto a computer or virtual machine. It can even be installed onto a Raspberry Pi to give you a portable pen-testing computer that you can carry anywhere.
The ‘anti-forensics’ category is particularly worth mentioning as it contains tools to scan your memory for passwords to encrypted devices. This helps protect your machine from a ‘cold boot’ attack.
Named after the Hindu goddess, Kali is one of the oldest and most well-known pen-testing Linux distros. The Kali download page offers ISOs that are updated weekly, which can be run in live mode or installed to a drive. Kali will also happily run on ARM devices like the Raspberry Pi.
Kali’s reputation is so formidable that its creators offer training through the Kali Linux Dojo. Lessons include customising your own Kali Linux ISO and learning the fundamentals of pen-testing. For those unable to attend the training, all educational resources from the classes are available on Kali’s website free of charge.
Anyone interested in a career in Information Security can also take on Kali’s paid penetration testing courses which take place online and are self-paced. There’s a 24-hour certification exam which if passed will make you a qualified penetration tester.
Stay under the radar via the anonymous I2P network
Little risk of leaking your real IP online
I2P connections generally faster than Tor
No way to access regular websites easily
IprediaOS is a privacy-oriented operating system based on Fedora Linux and can be run in Live mode or installed to your hard drive. Just as Tails OS routes all your connections through the Tor network to anonymise your connection, Ipredia routes all your network traffic through the anonymous I2P network.
This is known as ‘garlic routing‘, a process whereby I2P establishes one-directional encrypted tunnels to protect your data. This is theoretically much safer than Tor’s ‘onion routing’ which transmits data over established ‘circuits’, meaning they can be targeted for surveillance.
Features include anonymous email, BitTorrent client, and the ability to browse eepsites (special domains with the extension .i2p). Unlike Tor, I2P doesn’t act as a gateway to the normal internet, so Ipredia cannot safely access regular websites.
The advantage of only accessing eepsites is that your connection is truly untraceable. As I2P is designed specifically for ‘hidden’ services, connection and download speeds are generally much faster than routing through Tor as TAILS does.
Harness the power of virtual machines to stay safe online
Connections routed via the anonymous Tor network
Many privacy-specific apps preinstalled
VM performance isn’t as fast as local installation
Booting a Live operating system is a nuisance as you have to restart your machine, while installing it to a hard drive means there’s a risk of it being compromised. Whonix offers an elegant compromise by being designed to work as a virtual machine inside the free program Virtualbox.
Whonix is split into two parts. The first ‘Gateway’ routes all connections to the Tor network for the second ‘Workstation’ part. This hugely reduces the chance of DNS leaks which can be used to monitor what websites you visit.
The OS has a number of privacy-conscious features. These include bundled apps such as the Tor Browser and Tox instant messenger.
As it runs in a virtual machine, Whonix is compatible with all operating systems that can run Virtualbox. Virtual machines can only use a portion of your real system’s resources, so Whonix will not necessarily perform as fast as an OS that has been installed to a local hard drive.
Keep your data secret by storing it offline with this distro
Data can be securely stored offline
Can store settings in an encrypted area
Software still in beta so may not be safe to use
This intentionally misspelled distro is the successor to the awesome Ubuntu Privacy Remix. Discreete OS contains no support for network hardware or internal hard drives, so all data is stored offline in RAM or on a USB stick. It can be run in Live mode, but when booting from a volume also allows you to store some of your settings in an encrypted ‘Cryptobox’.
Another clever feature is that kernel modules can only be installed if they’ve been digitally signed by the Discreete Linux team. This prevents hackers from trying to sneak in malware. Note that this operating system is currently in the beta testing stage.
Another distro bristling with pen-testing utilities
Visually stunning desktop and menus
Large range of pen-testing tools
Potential stability issues
This Parrot Security distro comes to us from the Italian team Frozenbox. Like Kali and BlackArch it categorises tools for easy access and even has a section for the ones you most commonly use.
Parrot is based on Debian 10 (Buster), the testing branch of this OS, so you might encounter stability issues. However, note that Parrot has much more colourful backgrounds and menus than its parent OS. As such, its hardware requirements are rather more demanding than other pen-testing distros such as Kali.
A minimum of 4GB of RAM is recommended. If you don’t have the RAM to spare, you can go with the ‘Lite’ edition of Parrot Security OS and choose to install and run only the programs you need.
For those with minimal resources, Parrot Cloud is a special version of the distro specifically designed to run on a server. It has no graphics but does contain a number of networking and forensic tools to allow you to run tests remotely. For those on a very tight budget, there is even an experimental version available for the Raspberry Pi.
Subgraph OS is based on Debian Linux and is designed for ultra-tight security. The kernel has been hardened with a number of security enhancements, and Subgraph also creates virtual ‘sandboxes’ around risky applications like web browsers.
A specialised firewall also routes all outgoing connections through the anonymous Tor network. Each application has to be manually approved by the user to connect to the network, and to access other applications’ sandboxes.
In April 2017 Joanna Rutkowska, the creator of Qubes, together with security researcher Micah Lee, were able to circumvent Subgraph’s security by running a malicious app in the Nautilus file manager, which isn’t sandboxed.
This attack would also work on other privacy-oriented distros such as Tails. The Subgraph team has yet to develop a patch for this exploit, but have pointed out that the OS is still in the alpha stage of development.
This distro is designed to be installed on a hard drive. Encryption of your file system is mandatory, meaning there’s no danger of writing unencrypted data anywhere. As mentioned, Subgraph is still in its testing phase so do not rely on it to protect any truly sensitive data (and as always, keep regular backups).
Our tenth offering is, rather aptly, TENS (Trusted End Node Security). Formerly known as LPS (Lightweight Portable Security), this Linux distro has been designed by none other than the US Air Force and is NSA approved [PDF].
The public version of TENS is specifically designed to be run in Live mode, meaning that any malware is removed on shutdown. It includes a minimal set of applications but there is also a ‘Public Deluxe’ version which comes with Adobe Reader and LibreOffice. All versions include a customisable firewall, and it’s also worth noting that this operating system supports logging in via Smart Card.
Linux has a reputation for not being very gamer-friendly – game releases have traditionally been targeted at Windows PC users and sometimes also macOS for popular gaming franchises. Additionally, Linux used to have limited support for hardware drivers such as for graphic cards.
Not today. Linux has come in leaps and bounds over the past couple of decades, so not only has hardware driver support vastly improved, but gaming is moving toward browser-based streaming which are accessible for any Linux user.
However, during this time specially developed gaming packs and Linux distros have been released, aiming to satisfy the most hardcore Linux gamer.
While these won’t turn your distro into anything like a home video console like a PS4 or Xbox One, they do help provide for an accessible gaming experience for Linux users.
Perfect for those familiar with Ubuntu but new to gaming on Linux
Open source and commercial games
Wide variety of Windows games
No longer being maintained
Game Drift Linux was first released in 2011. It created the first Linux ‘app store’, and more than 1,200 Windows games were made available via a deal with Codeweavers. This allowed the distro to include the Codeweaver CrossOver technology in its store.
The Games Store features both open source and commercial titles. Users can download and install popular games such as Savage 2, Second Life, and Amnesia, as well as older games like AssaultCube and Frets on Fire.
Game Drift Linux runs on most PCs. However, certain games may have additional system requirements. The distro recommends a minimum of a 1-2GHz processor, 1-2GB of system memory, 4GB of disk space and an AMD, Nvidia or Intel graphics solution suitable for gaming.
The 64-bit ISO download is 691MB and the 32-bit download is 612MB.
Bear in mind that there isn’t as much demand for a dedicated distro like Game Drift Linux due to the availability of PlayOnLinux and Stream, so the distro is no longer being maintained.
Allows you to emulate an impressive number of games consoles
Capable of emulating dozens of consoles
Available for multiple platforms
You must source games legally yourself
Lakka is a lightweight version of Linux which can turn your computer into a retro games console. It’s built on top of media centre software LibreELEC, and the most recent stable version 2.1 makes use of RetroArch 1.6.9 to emulate a huge number of consoles.
Lakka is available as a bootable USB image for PCs. There are also versions for ARM-based machines such as the Raspberry Pi.
This distro supports most keyboards as well as wireless PS3 and PS4 controllers, along with Xbox 360 controllers if you have the proprietary dongle. RetroArch boasts a very handy autoconfig feature which should mean that most controllers will work out of the box without you having to manually map keys. The Lakka documentation also has some excellent walkthroughs for more unusual setups.
For copyright reasons, the OS ships without any games preinstalled. You’ll need to obtain legal copies of either ISO images of game CDs you own or precompiled ROM files of arcade games. Check out the Internet Archive which contains some public domain ROMS.
Relight your gaming fire on virtually any platform
Pre-bundled gaming software like Steam
Support for online games
No pre-installed console emulators
Sparky Linux is a Debian-based distro. The latest SparkyLinux 5.5 GameOver edition is built on the testing version of Debian (Buster). It includes new features such as the awesome Lutris gaming platform and a custom tool for installing a web browser so you can play online games. The distro weighs in at an impressive 3.57GB.
Besides Lutris, GameOver Edition also includes a number of tools such as APTus Gamer which can download a variety of game emulators so you can relive old console favourites, although you may need to download these elsewhere. The OS also contains a number of free and open source games like Wesnoth and Robots.
The gaming applications Wine, Play on Linux and Steam are also pre-installed. These are particularly useful for running old DOS and Windows games on Linux, such as Sim City 2000.
Ubuntu GamePack comes from Ukrainian developers UALinux. In addition to proprietary codecs and drivers, the distro provides two different systems for you to enjoy gaming on Linux – Steam and the Lutris Gaming Platform. With these you can access and install hundreds of games on your Ubuntu machine.
UALinux claims that its distro provides access to thousands of games and applications for Windows and DOS. The emulators DOSBox and DosEmu are preinstalled, as is the more fully-fledged Windows emulator Crossover.
Like Lakka, Ubuntu GamePack doesn’t come with any games, but as it includes both Wine and Play on Linux, you won’t have any trouble getting your existing games running. The distro also supports Adobe Flash and Java so you can play online games too.
The current version of Ubuntu GamePack (2018.06) is based on Ubuntu 16.04. There’s both a 32-bit and a 64-bit version; each are around 2.5GB in size.
Setup of Steam Machine is for experienced users only
This Debian-based distro (recently updated to the latest Debian 8 release) has been specifically designed to run Valve’s Steam platform, and comes pre-installed on the firm’s Steam Machine games console.
SteamOS is probably the closest Linux distro to an actual games console. Technically, you could install additional software using the Debian Jessie repositories, but this operating system’s main emphasis is on gaming.
The install-only distro is available for 64-bit machines and works best with at least 4GB of RAM. It also needs around 200GB of free space on your hard drive and an Nvidia, AMD (Radeon 8500 and later) or Intel GPU. If you’re handy with computers, consider building your own Steam Machine.
SteamOS can only be used to play Steam games. Users can’t benefit from Play on Linux or Wine when running SteamOS. However, the unique in-home streaming feature lets you connect the machine running SteamOS to another computer on the network, allowing you to stream a game to that PC. Unlike most Linux distros, not all of SteamOS is open source software.
