Is Anduin OS Fast?

What Anduin OS Actually Is

Anduin OS (the project writes it as AnduinOS) is a free Linux system built on Ubuntu, with a desktop carefully redesigned to look and feel like Windows 11 — centered taskbar, familiar Start menu style, the same window controls. Under that coat it is real Ubuntu: the same software base, the same package system, and the same fixes you find on Ubuntu help pages — the project itself says solutions for almost all Anduin OS issues are identical to Ubuntu solutions.

The Install and the First Look

In the video, Anduin OS is installed on a real PC and taken for a proper first run — not judged from screenshots. Once it boots, the first impression is the whole point of the project: a Windows 11 style desktop, with the taskbar icons centered and a Start menu that opens the way a Windows user expects. That familiarity is the feature — a Windows user feels at home on day one, instead of spending the first week hunting for everything.

How the Speed Was Tested

The speed test is run live on the real machine, and it is judged on the things you actually do every day — booting up, opening apps, switching between a browser and documents, general clicking around. That is the honest way to test, because "fast" on a spec sheet and "fast" under your fingers are two different things. One rule from the video applies to every such test: any page or video promising miracle numbers without naming the test hardware is selling, not testing — judge the result by the hardware it was tested on, not by the headline.

Why It Feels Faster — Three Honest Reasons

On the same hardware, Anduin OS usually feels clearly faster than Windows 11 in daily use, especially on older machines — but the reason is not a secret speed trick. It is fast for three boring, honest reasons:

No antivirus tax. Windows runs real-time scanning on almost every file you open. On an old hard disk or a weak CPU, that alone slows everything down. A home Linux desktop does not carry that load.

Fewer background guests. No telemetry uploads, no ads in the Start menu, no forced update downloading itself at the worst moment. What you start is what runs.

Lighter defaults. The ISO is compact (around 2.5 GB in recent builds) and the system starts with far less running than a typical Windows install loaded with vendor bloatware.

Where the Speed Is Real — and Where It Is Not

Where you feel it: boot on an old HDD machine, opening the file manager, switching between a browser and documents, and general clicking around on 4 GB RAM class hardware. The system simply has less to drag.

Where nothing changes: a heavy app is a heavy app everywhere. A 4K video render, a big spreadsheet calculation or a game depends on your CPU and GPU, not on the logo on the desktop. Anduin OS will not make weak hardware strong — it just stops wasting the strength you already have.

Limit One — Windows Software Does Not Run Natively

Your .exe files do not open here. Linux has excellent native apps for browsing, office work, media and coding, and some Windows programs work through the Wine compatibility layer — but there is no guarantee for any specific app, and tools like the native Microsoft Office desktop apps or Adobe's suite are not at home on Linux.

Limit Two — A Small Team's Side Project

Support runs through community channels like GitHub Discussions, updates ride on Ubuntu's base, and there is no company helpdesk behind it. That is a fair trade for a free home system — and a real point to weigh before putting it on an office machine that other people depend on.

The Verdict — Let Your Own Machine Answer

Anduin OS is genuinely fast where it matters for old and low-spec PCs — because it removes Windows' background load, not because of any trick. The honest answer to the title question is yes, with the two limits above accepted.