Linux is an operating system developed by Linus Torvalds and was first released in 1991. The OS uses similar coding to the Unix operating system that was originally developed back in the late 1960s. Over the years Linux has become very popular, in large part due its open source designed in the way of the GNU General Public License. There have been several different versions, or kernels, of Linux that people have developed which all provide their own set of unique keys and features. Some of the more popular kernels are Ubuntu, Red Hat, Fedora, and Gentoo.
There are many uses for the Linux OS, with the most popular being for desktop and server environments. With a few workarounds, Linux can also be ran on video game consoles, such as the PS3, smartphones, MP3 players, PDAs, and even on Mac computers!
Linux is very popular and is a great free alternative to the Microsoft Windows operating system desktop environment. Viruses do not run rampant on the OS, and many software developers have designed special versions to run on Linux. It is not quite as user friendly as Windows — you need a pretty good understanding of using a command line interface in order to install new programs and perform a lot of tasks. Once everything is up and running though, the latest version of Linux runs very fast even on older computer hardware. There are tons of online forums out there that help you troubleshoot problems, provide tutorials, and help you get the most out of Linux.
Since Linux is open source, it only makes since that developers have created a lot of free emulators for it. Please make a selection below to download your favorite Linux emulator.