# Puppy Reviews **Vendor:** Puppy **Category:** [Operating Systems](https://www.g2.com/categories/operating-system) **Average Rating:** 4.1/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 15 ## About Puppy Puppy Linux is a family of Linux distributions meant for the home-user computers. ## Puppy Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users value the **customization and personalization** of Puppy, enhancing their unique workflows effortlessly and efficiently. (1 reviews) - Users love the **lightweight size** of Puppy, enabling fast and versatile performance for efficient workflows. (1 reviews) - Users praise the **speed and performance** of Puppy Linux, enjoying its fast and lightweight capabilities. (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Some users find the Puppy Linux interface to be **unfriendly** , making it challenging to navigate and use effectively. (1 reviews) ## Puppy Reviews ### 1. Works on Any Computer Without Worrying About RAM or Storage Limits. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Javier F. | Business English Teacher, Education Management, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 22, 2026 **What do you like best about Puppy?** You can make any computer work; you’re not limited by megabytes or RAM. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** It sometimes does not recognize all the drivers out of the box **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** It can bring an obsolete computer back to life and help me rescue data. In some situations, it’s an invaluable tool. And it is totally free. ### 2. User-Friendly, Lightweight, and Truly Portable **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Marco P. | Solutions Development Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 30, 2026 **What do you like best about Puppy?** User friendly, lightweight. Portable and easily carried on usb drive **What do you dislike about Puppy?** Not for servers or enterprise mostly for small systems **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** It helps to have a portable Linux distribution available when I need it. ### 3. Puppy Linux: Fast, Lightweight, and Versatile **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Prem C. | Full stack developer, Computer Software, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 02, 2026 **What do you like best about Puppy?** The Puppy Linux for its unique combination of a features that make it fast , lightweight , and versatile.Puppy solves the problem of manual and slow workflows. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** The Puppy Linux is a single-user operating system. It's typically run under the superuser account by default. and Some users find the default interface or out of the box. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** it fast , lightweight , and versatile and Puppy Linux is designed to run efficiently on very old computers, Puppy solves the problem of manual and slow workflows. and benefits me by saving a lot of time and making my daily tasks much easier and faster ### 4. A portable operating system that provides convenience and security **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dr Andy T. | Founder, Owner, and Principal, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 30, 2022 **What do you like best about Puppy?** To put things in context, we use Puppy Linux primarily as a portable operating system, booted from a USB thumb drive, which we carry everywhere we go. Creating a bootable USB drive with Puppy Linux on a Windows 10 personal computer was a breeze. We used Rufus for this task, and the entire process, including downloading Fossapup64 9.5, was smooth and took less than 5 minutes. Likewise, setting up the operating system on the first boot was straightforward, thanks to its intuitive user interface and helpful prompts. Puppy Linux includes applications, including Pale Moon web browser and AbiWord. With these out-of-the-box applications serving our needs, we have not had to install additional applications. The graphical user interface is easy to use. Everyday tasks, like opening and closing applications, folders, and files, feel snappy. At the end of each session, we can save the session, including settings and the files created or downloaded during the session. In this way, we can continue from where we left off on the next boot, thus saving us the time and inconvenience of configuring things such as the internet connection and firewall again. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** Puppy meets all our needs for a simple-to-use portable operating system, which enables us to perform tasks like checking emails, internet banking, and web browsing. I cannot think of any downsides to using Puppy Linux. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** We prefer to read and write emails and conduct online transactions on a PC instead of performing these tasks on a smartphone. With Puppy Linux booted from a USB stick, we can execute often-necessary tasks, e.g., checking our emails and internet banking, on any PC, even old computer hardware. Using Puppy Linux in this way is more secure than using the host computer's operating system. It is also more user-friendly because Puppy Linux includes applications we need and are familiar with. Puppy Linux is often faster than the operating system installed in the host computer. In summary, Puppy Linux enables us to use any PC hardware available to securely and quickly perform everyday computing tasks in situations where we do not have our laptop computer or Apple iPad. ### 5. Puppy Linux Made My Old Older Computer Fast **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Connor F. | COO, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 16, 2021 **What do you like best about Puppy?** It was a quick and easy USB boot and install. Once it was up and going, I could do all the basic computing tasks someone would need throughout the day. It is grandma and grandpa friendly, and it is a fun, low resource-intensive OS. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** As a Ubuntu and mac user, The workflow and application install is a bit different. The interface is a bit dated but I suppose that is to keep the resources to a minimum. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** We got our Thinkpad x41 tablet working again with Puppy Linux. It is leaps and bounds faster than any other contemporary operating system on a machine that old. ### 6. Fast Linux for old computers **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Geethu J. | Software test engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 25, 2021 **What do you like best about Puppy?** I have been using puppy OS for the past 4 years and still, I am using it because of its good features which are listed below : * Ease of use. * User interface is simple and pleasant. * Only os that works in the old machine. * Execution(Read/write) speed is incredible. * Very limited system requirement needed, Which is the most attractive feature of puppy Linux. * They are less vulnerable to computer malware so they will be secure enough. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** They are only a few things that disappoint me about puppy Linux : * Windows program will not run. * Not easy to learn, It takes time. **Recommendations to others considering Puppy:** I will highly recommend puppy os because * It is light, fast, and easy to install and use. * Can use on my old PC. * Good desktop visual. * Fast boot by live CD. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** I can use it on my old PC, with few RAM memories, Very light and good desktop visual. Fast boot by live CD. ### 7. Lightweight but useful Linux distro **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Arnaldo Ariel A. | Linux Sysadmin, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 17, 2021 **What do you like best about Puppy?** It provides a lot of software packages without using a lot of resources of your computer. Install Puppy on your old computer and have fun. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** Some of the software provided is not the best available in its field. **Recommendations to others considering Puppy:** Go ahead and try it. Although with a small footprint, Puppy is a powerful operating system. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** With Puppy, I can keep using my old computer because it doesn't need many computing resources to work. ### 8. Puppy a easy to learn operating system **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** David E. | IT director, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 17, 2021 **What do you like best about Puppy?** I like how I can be use puppy on many different types of systems. i have used it on more than one type of system while teaching students to install new systems. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** I don't like how you have to play with it to make sure it is entirely stable. I realize that not all the bugs are solved, but the system does need more stability. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am teaching my students about operating systems using puppy. I use the operating system to teach the students to install and modify a Linux build ### 9. The best lightweight Linux OS **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Prateek J. | DevSecOps Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 17, 2021 **What do you like best about Puppy?** 1. It's extremely lightweight 2. Works well even on very old low spec machines 3. Best for running with VM for multiple instances **What do you dislike about Puppy?** 1. Outdated UI 2. No option for high-end machines with better UI 3. Should have the option of preloaded application **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** We had multiple old machines in the office and the goal was to use them in an effective way. Puppy OS helped us in utilizing the hardware and we are still using it on some of the machines. ### 10. Linux for old computers **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Agustín G. | Tecnico Móviles Express Movistar, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 28, 2019 **What do you like best about Puppy?** With this distribution we can use linux in any equipment, whatever it may be, although it is quite old, it uses basic packages to work in low resource teams. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** Some of the programs are too basic and in console, which gives us a somewhat old, but functional appearance. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** To be able to use a complete operating system in any PC. ### 11. Puppy Linux Lightweight distro **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andres M. | Software Developer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 27, 2021 **What do you like best about Puppy?** Low memory requirements and has some wizards to help set things up **What do you dislike about Puppy?** The default GUI is not user-friendly. Not so up to date software repositories **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** It lets you use old hardware. Having a basic knowledge of Linux, you can use it as a daily driver ### 12. Really fast to load and use **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 21, 2020 **What do you like best about Puppy?** Easy to mount or virtualize on any windows machine as dual boot or from a VM host. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** It looks old fashioned still, I think the desktop environment should be updated on the distros repository. **Recommendations to others considering Puppy:** Take your time to go over the descriptions and detailed updates while creating your machine. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** I like to clean up all affected memories by Viruses all around college and public computers. ### 13. cute but not ready to be my daily driver **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Tommy W. | Technical Product Manager, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 19, 2019 **What do you like best about Puppy?** Puppy Linux is a small, lightweight and fast distro. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** It has some rough edges and for some reason, was a pain to install onto the harddisk **Recommendations to others considering Puppy:** just something to try.. i can't imagine it being anyone's daily os **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** Trying to use it on old hardware as a way to cut down on costs ### 14. It's great in a pinch **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andrew O. | Technician, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 17, 2018 **What do you like best about Puppy?** It make sold hardware usable and computers without hard drives or computers that you don't want to leave a trace on very usable. It boots fast and it just work once you do the initial setup each time. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** I can never ever get the save file working correctly. I have tried multiple times over the years. I think it's best to sometimes just leave it on. **Recommendations to others considering Puppy:** If you're looking for a quick booting option and are use to things like DSL linux I'd say give it a spin. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** If I need access to a machines hard drive and the OS is busted I boot up with puppy and save data over the network. ### 15. Seems like Linux **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 09, 2019 **What do you like best about Puppy?** Seems like a Linux Distro. I've used a bunch and from the command line they all look pretty similar. **What do you dislike about Puppy?** Not really anything to dislike. Now I'm just filling space. **What problems is Puppy solving and how is that benefiting you?** I was checking out the ease of setting it up to see if it would solve a need we had. ## Puppy Discussions - [Is Puppy Linux any good?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-puppy-linux-any-good) - 1 comment - [View Puppy pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/puppy/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-13+18%3A16%3A04+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=cb290f12-b670-4099-9af2-ebd5df04c346&secure%5Btoken%5D=92f9cebdc4381679f6334fc4196a0e551927f4c3855aa2143b1221f801cf3165&format=llm_user) ## Puppy Features **Memory Management - Operating System** - RAM management **Device Management - Operating System** - I/O management **Backup and Recovery - Operating System** - Data backup **Error Detection - Operating System** - System operations monitoring ## Top Puppy Alternatives - [Lubuntu](https://www.g2.com/products/lubuntu/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (74 reviews) - [Linux Mint](https://www.g2.com/products/linux-mint/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (185 reviews) - [Ubuntu](https://www.g2.com/products/ubuntu/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (2,316 reviews)