#refreshos

a linux distro review for people who just want their computer to work

okay so hear me out.

i know "debian-based linux distro review" doesn't exactly sound like the most exciting thing you'll read today. but stick with me for a second because RefreshOS 3 genuinely surprised me and i think it deserves more attention than it's currently getting in the linux community.

released june 9, 2026, RefreshOS 3 — they named it "Colorful Cosmos" which is honestly a great name — is built on Debian 13 Stable and ships with KDE Plasma 6 as the default desktop. if those words mean nothing to you, the short version is: it's a very reliable, very stable operating system that looks genuinely beautiful right out of the box.

and i mean right out of the box. no post-install setup. no hunting for drivers. no googling why your audio isn't working at 11pm. you install it, you reboot, and everything is just... there. working. waiting for you.

so what does it actually look like?

the "Colorful Cosmos" theme is cohesive in a way that a lot of linux desktops honestly aren't. custom icons, custom cursor, custom window styling, and a new app launcher called the Reload Menu that feels clean and fast. it doesn't look like someone picked three random themes and called it a day. it looks like someone actually sat down and thought about how the whole thing fits together.

KDE Plasma 6 under the hood means the desktop is Wayland-first now, which is a big deal for performance and multi-monitor setups. everything feels snappier than older KDE versions. animations are smooth. app launches are quick. it's running on Linux Kernel 6.12 and Qt 6 so the technical foundation is genuinely modern even though the base system (Debian 13 Stable) is deliberately conservative and reliable.

that combination — modern desktop on a stable base — is actually harder to pull off than it sounds. most distros pick one or the other.

what comes pre-installed?

glad you asked:

🌐 brave browser

📄 libreoffice (the full suite)

🎬 vlc and kdenlive

🖼️ gimp for image editing

📧 thunderbird for email

🎵 elisa for music

like. that's a complete computer. you could hand this to someone who has never used linux and they'd be fine. that's genuinely impressive.

is it perfect?

no obviously not. some packages run older versions because debian stable is conservative by design. there's no flatpak or snap out of the box which can be annoying if you rely on those. and the community is still pretty small so if something breaks in a weird way you're mostly on your own or digging through debian forums.

but honestly? for everyday use — browsing, writing, creating, watching things, working remotely — none of those limitations will matter to most people.

the vibe check

RefreshOS 3 is the linux distro equivalent of a really well-organized apartment. nothing flashy. nothing trying too hard. just everything in the right place, looking good, working exactly how it should.

if you've been linux-curious but intimidated by setup and configuration — or if you've tried other distros and got tired of things randomly breaking — this one is genuinely worth your time.

it's not the loudest distro in the room. but it might be the one you actually want to live with.

full specs, pros, cons and detailed performance breakdown in the complete review: 👉 [read the full review here] https://techrefreshing.com/refreshos-3-review-2026/