Tired of the Raspberry Pi’s default desktop? You can try a different distro or desktop, but if you want something more familiar, there’s Twister OS.
Designed for the Raspberry Pi, Twister OS offers a host of alternative desktop themes, mimicking Windows and macOS. Here’s how to grab Twister OS, install it, and turn your $ 50 Raspberry Pi into a $ 1000 Mac.
What is Twister OS?
Successor to Raspbian 95, Raspbian XP and other themed Pi operating systems, Twister OS is based on the Raspberry Pi operating system and features the Xfce desktop environment.
A selection of desktop themes, inspired by Windows and Mac operating systems, are preinstalled. You will therefore find Windows 95, XP, Vista and 7 themes, as well as the iRaspbian inspired by Mac.
Twister OS also includes an administration utility, an overclocking tool, preinstalled multimedia software (including Kodi), and an Android remote tool.
Twister is best installed on a Raspberry Pi 4, although it can run on the Raspberry Pi 3B +. You’ll need a larger microSD card than usual – 32GB is a good option.
Install Twister OS on your Pi’s SD card
To install Twister OS, first go to the site and download the ISO.
Download: Twister OS (free)
Note that the direct download option is a bit slow, even on fast connections. You might prefer to trust the BitTorrent link instead.
Once downloaded, the ISO image will need to be extracted from the compressed XZ file. If you are using a Windows desktop computer, you can unzip it with the 7-Zip Archive Utility at www.7-zip.org. Finally, you will need a card writing tool such as BalenaEtcher.
Installing Twister OS on the Raspberry Pi is as easy as installing any other operating system:
- Insert a microSD card into your PC
- Launch BalenaEtcher
- Select the extracted Twister OS ISO file
- Select the microSD card
- Click on Shine write the picture
- Wait for the end, then safely remove the microSD card from the card reader of your PC
When you’re ready, insert the board into the Pi and boot.
First Look at Twister OS
With your Raspberry Pi up and running, you will have your first glimpse of Twister OS. Based on the Raspberry Pi operating system, it comes with all of the same tools preinstalled.
Twister OS also offers some improvements. There’s the Commander Pi tool for overclocking, the Kodi media library player, and even a tool to remotely access your Android device. A version of Chromium is included, optimized for Netflix streaming, and you’ll find that RetroPie comes preinstalled as well.
There is also a system administration tool, PiKISS. This is a utility that simplifies the installation of software on Raspberry Pi. It is full of scripts to simplify the installation of the software, which requires little feedback from you.
Then there is the ThemeTwister. This is what Twister OS is and you will find the icon to launch it on the desktop.
Turn your Raspberry Pi into a Windows PC
ThemeTwister is easy to use. It presents a simple menu to select a new look for the Twister OS desktop, prompting you to restart. After the restart, the new look is applied.
For example, if you wanted to add a Windows style look to your Raspberry Pi (hey, this is your computer …), you would choose one of the following:
- Raspbian95
- RaspbianXP
- Nightjar
- RaspbianX
(Note that there is no Windows 8 inspired option.) Each new theme requires a restart, so press Enter when you are prompted to confirm the choice.
With the new look applied, you can then consider installing new suitable software. For example, with a Raspbian 95 or RaspbianXP look, you can add games to DOSBox. You can then enjoy some crisp retro gaming action in an emulated Windows DOS prompt.
Likewise, there is support for Steam if you prefer the look of Nighthawk or RaspbianX (above). It is absolutely not suitable for Windows AAA games, but will allow you to run a variety of low-spec indie titles. These options are however available on all themes.
Look closely at each theme. You will notice that considerable effort has been put into convincing you that you are using Windows. For example, the Windows XP style of RaspbianXP features realistic tooltips for key toolbar buttons.
Make your Pi look like a Mac
Two macOS-inspired themes are included with Twister OS. iRaspbian-Light and iRaspbian-Dark do exactly what you’d expect, offering daytime and nighttime twists on macOS visual style, with docking.
Selecting them again is a case of launching ThemeTwister from the desktop, clicking on the desired theme, and restarting.
As before, considerable detail has been applied to create a realistic-looking macOS experience.
Give us a PiKISS
One of the most significant additions to the pantheon of great Linux software in recent years has been PiKISS. Designed for Raspberry Pi systems, this is a collection of terminal menu driven scripts for almost any project eventuality.
Need to configure your Pi with CUPS to manage printers? Need to configure a web or FTP server? Want to add games that will work natively on your Raspberry Pi without emulation? Or do you want emulators to take advantage of classic games from your favorite retro platform?
These scripts, and many others, are all available in PiKISS. This is great software that you should have on every Raspberry Pi operating system you run. If you need to install PiKISS on other systems, use
curl -sSL https://git.io/JfAPE | bashIn the meantime, it is preinstalled on Twister OS. Once you’ve picked a theme, this is the place to go to start tweaking things.
What else can you do with Twister OS?
A host of options – entertainment and productivity – come with Twister OS. It’s really full of software. In comparison, the biggest download of the Raspberry Pi operating system looks like an empty cabinet.
We don’t have the space to list all the highlights here. However, be careful
- Overclocking Tools
- Retro games preinstalled
- Current games preinstalled, from Minecraft Pi to CS2D, a 2D version of Counter-Strike
- Kodi, VLC,
- Complete LibreOffice Suite
- GIMP
- ThonnyIDE
- Some wine
- Various utilities from SD cCard Copier and Xfburn to My Android
Remember that if all this is not enough, you can install additional software in the terminal. Not enough? Use PiKISS’s automated scripts to install everything else, including the software to run some of the best Raspberry Pi projects.
About the Author
