Kumander Linux has been around for a few years now and version 3.0 is nearly ready, with some strong nostalgic appeal.

We recently came across Kumander Linux and thought it was an interesting distro – although not technologically "interesting," which isn't always a good thing. Underneath, it's almost boring: Debian 13.6 with Xfce 4.20. These are safe, solid, sensible choices, combining a lightweight mainstream desktop with one of the most established Linux distros. What's not to like?

What's fun about Kumander Linux is its looks. It makes a very convincing effort to look and work more or less like Windows 7. It doesn't go as far as the wholesale "borrowing" of commercial assets and trademarks seen in Wubuntu, AKA "Windows Linux," nor is it a strange, hacked-together combination of genuine Windows components like Classic 7.

It uses a mixture of FOSS and freeware components. The office suite is LibreOffice 25.2, configured with a Microsoft-like ribbon UI. The image editor is GIMP 3.0.4, and it comes with native Linux versions of some familiar Windows tools, such as Google Chrome, PuTTY, Audacity, and VLC. Yes, Chrome isn't FOSS, but it's a much more widely used web browser than Firefox.

The customizations go beyond appearances, with some of Xfce's stock tools replaced. For instance, Xfce's slightly feeble Task Manager has been replaced by a tool that was new to us, System Manager. There's also an easy point-and-click Software Center. Both were written by distro developer Roy Hoejgaard.

The presence of non-FOSS tools such as Chrome means that a few additional repositories are configured. Flatpak and WINE are both preinstalled, but neither comes with any apps preloaded. One simple but effective touch is that the Start menu lists popular apps from Ardour and Blender to the Steam client, suffixed with Installer. These are not the applications themselves, but handy links for downloading and installing them.

Kumander isn't the smallest distro – it's a 4.25 GB download, and a full install takes 11 GB of disk. Even so, providing installation links rather than preinstalling all those applications makes it substantially smaller than Zorin OS Pro, for instance. Xfce is pretty lightweight, and Kumander Linux 3 takes about 725 MB of RAM at idle.

In places, we do feel that the customization has perhaps gone a little too far. For instance, when we opened a terminal window, we found that the default shell prompt said C:/home/lproven>.

Familiar to a nervous Windows migrant, yes, but almost misleading – there are no drive letters here. It's harmless, though.

The distro's About page explains a little of its history. The name is an indirect tribute to Commodore computers – it's "Commander," but spelled the Filipino way. We think this is the first distro we've seen from the Philippines.

The changes to Xfce are modest: Kumander doesn't even use the docklike plugin for a Windows 7-style taskbar with pinned applications. Instead, it has its own Quicklaunch plugin. This is documented – unlike some other customized distros, it has a page with links to the repositories of all custom components, which is good to see.

Even the Extended Security Updates scheme only has slightly over a year left. The international edition of Windows 10 LTSC is nearing the end too. Only the IoT edition has years left. If you're disenchanted with Windows 11 and modern flat user interfaces in general, you have our sympathies. If you miss the gradients, transparency, and overall look of Windows in the Noughties, but want Debian stability and Xfce simplicity, Kumander Linux 3 offers an appealing combination. The current build is Release Candidate 2, and it looks close to being ready. ®