Microsoft Employee Develops AnduinOS: A Linux Distro Inspired by Windows 11

The sole developer of a Linux distribution called AnduinOS, which resembles Windows 11, is a Microsoft employee named Anduin Xue. He elaborated, «First and foremost, yes, I am indeed a Microsoft employee (Microsoft Software Engineer II). I work full-time as an engineer in the company, although my role is not related to Windows. Therefore, I have a steady financial situation and currently, I do not have plans to commercialize this project. Essentially, AnduinOS is not intended for commercial use; it was merely a fun project and a hands-on exercise that I work on in my spare time.

I often dive into creating one-click configuration scripts—a common task among Linux enthusiasts—because manually setting up a freshly installed system to match my preferences can be quite tedious. Generally, it takes me at least half an hour to tweak the settings repeatedly.

Naturally, I use Windows at Microsoft every day. I find that the logic of the Windows interface is highly effective; unfortunately, its shell tends to freeze often, and it is cluttered with intrusive advertisements.

On the other hand, the freedom offered by Linux allows for nearly limitless customization. In my free time, I exclusively use Linux and write various scripts. As a user of Arch and NixOS, I continuously reflect on the value of building from scratch while maintaining an awareness of previous efforts,” explained Anduin Xue.

Regarding the financial aspects of the project, Xue stated, «Many have asked why I do not accept donations, how I generate income, and whether I plan to commercialize AnduinOS. To be honest, I have not fully contemplated these matters. This is not my primary job, and I do not intend to rely on it as a source of income. I dedicate only a few hours each month to its maintenance. Perhaps in the future, I might consider offering corporate solutions based on AnduinOS, but I will not compromise on its original simplicity. My goal has always been to provide myself with an Ubuntu-like experience that has a pleasing theme.”

Experts and enthusiasts have previously identified that AnduinOS was developed in China, which raised some questions for some. Xue also addressed this topic in his blog post, stating that the project’s source code is publicly available. For this reason, he noted that introducing backdoors for the Chinese government would be «irrational and easily exposed.»

For those concerned about the potential abandonment of the distribution, Anduin Xue assured that he plans to continue supporting the project consistently if sponsorship or corporate collaboration arises.

«Creating the distribution wasn’t particularly challenging. In fact, every user of NixOS and Gentoo essentially becomes the creator of their own distribution by using formal languages to precisely describe their desired system configuration, aiming for a nearly ‘stateless’ personal device.

With this idea in mind, I realized I could just modify the official Ubuntu ISO, repack it, and create a personalized distribution. Many critics have mentioned that AnduinOS requires minimal effort—essentially, just changing the theme. But that is the effect I was aiming for. I am essentially just an average Ubuntu user seeking a comfortable Linux experience in my spare time, nothing more. Interestingly, many others view this minimal change as an advantage since AnduinOS clearly identifies itself as Ubuntu in its /etc/os-release file. It is an Ubuntu that intentionally sidesteps the introduction of new concepts, leveraging the extensive Ubuntu ecosystem and community knowledge.

Ultimately, I delved deeper into the Debian build toolchain, for example, utilizing debootstrap. The source code of AnduinOS resembles an integrative shell that allows users to insert their own logos, dconf configurations, and generate custom ISOs. I take pride in having a user-friendly builder that is relatively easy to maintain.

I learned a lot about package management during this project, specifically that apt, rpm, flatpak, snap, and appimage cannot perfectly solve dependency and reproducibility issues. I continue to hold Nix in high regard. Perhaps if I ever fully embrace Nix, I will use it to create my own operating system,” shared the project’s creator.

At the beginning of May, AnduinOS 1.3 was released. This Linux distribution is based on Ubuntu 25.04 (with Linux kernel version 6.14) and supports GNOME 48 and HDR, looking akin to Windows 11.

The developer recommends this solution for casual users and enthusiasts. AnduinOS 1.3 also comes pre-installed with GNOME Software and Flatpak for easier application management. The first version of AnduinOS was launched in September 2024.

Currently, the AnduinOS project is not a particularly well-known Linux distribution. It doesn’t even rank among the top two hundred Linux distributions according to Distrowatch. Additionally, the project has some drawbacks, such as the inability to perform upgrades between versions on the same system, but the developer is working on this issue.