A June 2026 experiment by PC Gamer to determine whether Red Star OS 3.5 could serve as a viable Windows alternative for everyday computing tasks ended in outright failure. The attempt—which focused on gaming, web browsing, and virtualization—resulted in a barely usable virtual machine, broken modernization scripts, and a stark reminder that not all Linux distributions can step in for Windows. The findings underscore the vast gap between a politically charged, fan-modified operating system and the practical demands of modern PC users.
Red Star OS is no ordinary Linux distribution. Developed by the Korean Computer Center in North Korea, it first appeared in 2002 and has seen several versions since, with the most recent public release being version 3.0. Based on Fedora Linux, it uses a heavily customized KDE 3 desktop designed to mimic macOS, and it bundles a suite of North Korean–sanctioned applications. The government mandates its use on official computers, and it is widely assumed to contain surveillance mechanisms and backdoors. In 2025, an anonymous group of developers released Red Star OS 3.5, a fan-made modification of 3.0 that aimed to modernize the aging system with updated packages, newer kernels, and improved hardware support. PC Gamer secured a copy to test whether this unsanctioned fork could cross the line into everyday usability.
The installation process itself foreshadowed the troubles ahead. Red Star OS 3.5 failed to boot on bare metal on several modern test machines, hanging at the bootloader or crashing with kernel panics. The most stable environment proved to be a virtual machine, but even there, performance was sluggish. The ISO image, weighing in at over 4GB, promised a complete desktop experience, but the result inside the VM was far from functional.
Gaming Performance: A Non-Starter
The primary goal of the experiment was to see whether Red Star OS 3.5 could handle PC gaming, a domain where Windows remains dominant but Linux has made significant inroads thanks to Valve’s Proton compatibility layer. The results were abysmal. Red Star OS 3.0 ships with Linux kernel 3.10, and the 3.5 mod bumped this only to 4.4—released in 2016. This immediately ruled out support for modern GPUs, as neither AMD’s open-source drivers nor NVIDIA’s proprietary modules would compile against such an outdated kernel. Even the basic mesa stack was absent, leaving the system reliant on a generic VESA frame buffer. Any attempt to launch a 3D application resulted in a black screen or an immediate crash back to the desktop.
PC Gamer tried to install Steam via the fan-made modernization scripts, but these scripts failed spectacularly. Dependency resolution unraveled into what Linux users call “dependency hell,” with newer packages demanding glibc versions that conflicted with the core system. Attempts to force-install Proton 8.0 led to segmentation faults. Simple indie games like Stardew Valley, which can run on a toaster, failed to load due to missing 32-bit libraries. Even native Linux titles that typically run on any LTS distribution, such as Team Fortress 2, refused to start. The conclusion was clear: for gaming, Red Star OS 3.5 is completely unusable.
Web Browsing: Stuck in the Past
Modern web browsing demands a secure, up-to-date browser. Red Star OS 3.0 comes with a customized fork of Firefox 52 ESR, branded as “Naenara” (meaning “My Country”). This browser cannot render the majority of today’s websites correctly. JavaScript-heavy pages like YouTube, Twitter, and Gmail either display as broken layouts or refuse to load entirely. SSL/TLS certificate errors plague every HTTPS connection because the root certificate store hasn’t been updated since 2016. The fan-made 3.5 mod attempted to bundle a newer Firefox 78 ESR binary, but the integration scripts failed to update the system’s NSS libraries, leading to constant crashes.
Even when a minimal text-based browser like Links was employed just to test network connectivity, performance inside the VM was abysmal. Latency spiked to seconds per click, and DNS resolution timed out frequently due to hard-coded North Korean nameservers in /etc/resolv.conf. Changing these to public DNS servers like 8.8.8.8 was possible, but the underlying network stack’s age meant no support for modern features like TCP Fast Open or HTTP/2. For anyone accustomed to Chrome or Edge on Windows, the experience was a trip back to the dial-up era.
Virtualization: The Host That Couldn’t
A key question was whether Red Star OS 3.5 could itself act as a virtualization host, running Windows or other Linux guests. The answer was a resounding no. The kernel lacked the necessary KVM modules, and any attempt to load them via modprobe failed due to missing dependencies. VirtualBox’s installer script bombed with kernel header mismatches. QEMU had to be compiled from source, which took over an hour inside the VM, only to produce a binary that segfaulted on launch. The system’s init system—a strange hybrid of SysV and upstart—further complicated service management for libvirtd.
As a guest OS, the situation was only marginally better. Running the provided ISO in VMware Workstation or VirtualBox resulted in a desktop that was usable only for the simplest tasks. Mouse movement was jerky, screen resolution maxed out at 1024×768, and shared folders wouldn’t mount. Clipboard integration, a basic expectation for virtual machines, was entirely absent. The tools and drivers that make virtualization transparent on a modern Windows or Ubuntu guest simply do not exist for Red Star OS.
Security Implications: A Trojan Horse?
The fan modification of Red Star OS 3.5 introduces an entirely new layer of risk. While the original North Korean OS is known to be riddled with surveillance features—keyloggers, screen capture tools, and a hidden watermark system that fingerprints every printed document—the modified version could be even more dangerous. Because the source code and build scripts for 3.5 are not publicly audited, there is no guarantee that the fan developers didn’t introduce their own backdoors or that they successfully removed the state-sponsored ones. The modernization scripts, which download tarballs from unknown repositories, present a massive supply-chain attack vector. During the PC Gamer experiment, one of these scripts attempted to curl a binary from an unencrypted HTTP endpoint in China, a maneuver that any security-conscious user would instantly block.
Moreover, the very act of installing Red Star OS on a machine that handles personal data is reckless. North Korea has a long history of cyber operations, and its homegrown OS is a known platform for these activities. Even if the final build appears to function in a sandbox, the hidden kernel modules could theoretically bridge out of a hypervisor under certain conditions. While this is unlikely in a properly configured environment, the risk far outweighs any curiosity-driven benefit.
The Reality of Linux as a Windows Alternative
The PC Gamer experiment inadvertently highlights a broader truth: not every Linux distribution is a Windows replacement, and some are fundamentally broken for general-purpose use. The success of the Steam Deck and the maturation of Proton have led many to believe that the year of the Linux desktop has finally arrived. But that revolution rests entirely on a foundation of modern kernels, up-to-date drivers, and robust package management—all of which Red Star OS 3.5 lacks. For users genuinely seeking a switch from Windows, the path leads through Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, or even niche gaming-focused distros like Nobara or Pop!_OS. These distributions offer live patching, security updates by the minute, and thriving communities that can troubleshoot problems in real time.
Red Star OS 3.5, by contrast, offers none of this. Its repository mirrors, when they resolve at all, are half a decade out of date. The desktop environment, while visually similar to macOS, lacks the compositing features needed for screen sharing, window snapping, or even smooth animations. The file manager cannot browse SMB shares without manual cifs-utils configuration, and USB automounting fails for any filesystem not named FAT32. These are not minor inconveniences; they are hard stops that prevent any form of productivity.
Lessons Learned and a Warning
The experiment’s outcome delivers a clear message: curiosity about forbidden tech does not translate into practical utility. Red Star OS 3.5 remains a fascinating artifact for cybersecurity researchers and hobbyists who want to dissect its innards, but it is not a tool for getting work done or enjoying entertainment. The failed modernization scripts, the kernel limitations, and the pervasive security risks make it a disaster waiting to happen on any machine connected to the internet.
For Windows enthusiasts reading this, the takeaway is equally stark. While the Windows ecosystem has its own frustrations—forced updates, telemetry, and increasing hardware requirements—the alternatives that truly rival it are battle-tested, actively maintained, and committed to user safety. Red Star OS 3.5 is none of those things. It is a digital ghost from a closed-off regime, and PC Gamer’s attempt to breathe life into it only proved how dead it really is.
As the broader tech community continues to explore Linux in new form factors, from handhelds to cloud workstations, misadventures like these serve as a reality check. No amount of curiosity can substitute for a functioning compiler chain, a modern GPU driver, or a browser that can load a webpage safely. Windows users pondering a jump to Linux should stick to the well-lit path—and leave the secretive, state-sponsored systems in the shadows where they belong.