patina

The stylish, free alternative to Windows

A new OS you can just ask. And it gets it done.

A complete, free desktop for PCs and ARM laptops, with its own assistant, kortex. Say what you need in plain words, and it fixes the printer, installs the app or files the ticket. The AI is yours to pick: your own model on your computer, a European one if you like, or a cloud.

Try patina Follow on GitHub
Installer alpha outTry it on Windowsx86-64 and ARMYour own AI, offlineGPL-3.0
The patina desktop: a centred taskbar and one terminal window over a colourful wallpaper
A fresh install, in dark mode. The screenshot is unedited.

Meet kortex

Say what you need. kortex does it.

Press Windows + Space, type ai and what you need. kortex hands it to the AI agent you pick and gets it done: opencode asks before every change; Hermes remembers you and asks only before a risky command. It stays off until you turn it on, in the installer or later.

Your AI, your choice

Your own model right on your PC, like Mistral's from France: private, and it works offline. Or a cloud, European ones first.

Works with your things

Your PC's settings, apps and printer, and the services you connect: Linear, Notion, GitHub and Nextcloud. Ask kortex to connect one, or run patina ai connect.

Day one

Everything you need is already there.

One good, free app for every everyday job.

Mail and calendar

Thunderbird

All your accounts in one inbox.

Files everywhere

Nextcloud

Sync in the EU or on your own server.

Documents

Euro-Office

Opens Word, Excel and PowerPoint files.

Passwords

KeePassXC

Passwords in a file only you hold.

The web

Firefox ESR

Telemetry and sponsored content off.

Chat

Element

Encrypted chat on Matrix.

Photos, video, PDFs

Gwenview, Haruna, Okular

Photos, video and PDFs.

Optional extras

Tauon, Zed

Music, and code when you get curious. One command adds them.

Office work, covered: Euro-Office and Nextcloud

Euro-Office, the free office suite from a European consortium, opens and saves Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on your computer. No account, no subscription, and it works offline.

Nextcloud adds what Microsoft 365 does online: your files on every device, shared folders, calendars and contacts, and editing together in the browser.

One thing you bring: a Nextcloud to connect to, on your own server or hosted in the EU. patina sets up the apps, not the cloud.

  • DocumentsLetters, reports, .docxEuro-Office
  • SpreadsheetsBudgets and lists, .xlsxEuro-Office
  • PresentationsSlides, .pptxEuro-Office
  • Files everywhereSync, share, phone and PCNextcloud
  • Editing togetherThe same file, at the same timeNextcloud
  • Calendar and contactsSynced into ThunderbirdNextcloud

Creative work: the ArtCraft suite

Optional · ready for early use

Free counterparts of Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Acrobat, Figma and more. One launcher installs the ones you pick and keeps them up to date.

PhotoCraft with layers, properties and a Twirl filter previewing inside a round selection on Van Gogh's The Starry Night
PhotoCraft, the Photoshop counterpart: layers, selections, adjustment layers, filters with live preview, and Photoshop's PSD files. Screenshot by the PhotoCraft project; the painting is Van Gogh's The Starry Night, in the public domain.

And PhotoCraft is one of thirteen, all ready for early use:

  • PhotoCraftPhoto editingEarly access
  • PdfCraftPDFsEarly access
  • FigCraftInterface designEarly access
  • VectorCraftIllustrationEarly access
  • FilmCraftVideo editingEarly access
  • LightCraftPhoto libraryEarly access
  • EffectCraftMotion graphicsEarly access
  • DesignCraftPage layoutEarly access
  • CADCraftTechnical drawingEarly access
  • SoundCraftAudioEarly access
  • WordCraftWritingEarly access
  • GridCraftSpreadsheetsEarly access
  • DeckCraftSlidesEarly access
  • LauncherInstalls and updates themEarly access

PCs and ARM

The same patina on ARM laptops.

No separate ARM edition and no cut-down version: the same apps and look, for x86-64 PCs and 64-bit ARM. The ARM installer is built and boot-tested with every change, next to the PC one, and comes out once it has passed its first real install.

  1. Today

    PCs and virtual machines

    x86-64 with the installer; 64-bit ARM on Debian with one command.

  2. Later

    Snapdragon X2 Elite

    Once Debian's kernel supports the new chips.

  3. Eventually

    Nvidia RTX Spark laptops

    Windows-only for now. patina follows as soon as Linux runs on them.

Apple Silicon Macs: in a virtual machine today, with Debian 13 for ARM in UTM and patina's install command. Natively once Debian's own kernel supports these Macs; the Asahi Linux project is bringing that support to Linux.

What patina stands for

Three promises that come with every install.

Free software by default

Every app it installs is free and open source. Anything else is opt-in.

Your data stays close

No account to create, no telemetry. Your files sync where you choose.

A new OS on a trusted base

Debian 13 underneath. Security updates come straight from Debian.

The look

One look, from the first screen to the last.

Installer, login, apps and terminal share one theme, in light or true-black dark.

  • A centred taskbar, like Windows 11.
  • Windows open in the middle.
  • One quiet colour for every icon.

Light mode

Dark mode, true black

Where things stand

Early, open, and moving step by step.

patina is in alpha, and the installer is out for testers: on x86-64 PCs, and on Windows in a virtual machine. Boot from USB or start TryPatina.exe, answer a few questions, and tell us what you see.

The patina installer welcome page with steps for location, keyboard, partitions, users and the AI agent
The installer, out now as an alpha for testers.
  1. Done

    Alpha on Debian 13

    Install Debian, run one command.

  2. Now

    The installer, alpha

    Boot from USB, answer a few questions. Out for testers, on PCs and on Windows.

  3. Next

    Tested on ARM

    Raspberry Pi and Snapdragon X Elite laptops.

  4. Then

    Version 0.1

    The first release for everyone.

Try it

Try patina today, on Windows or on a PC.

Both get the installer alpha, made for testers: expect rough edges, and tell us what you see.

Windows 10 or 11 · x86-64

Try patina for Windows

One program sets up a virtual machine, downloads patina's installer and puts patina on a virtual disk. Windows and your files stay as they are.

  • Turn on the Windows Hypervisor Platform first, and keep about 40 GB free.
  • It is not signed yet: SmartScreen warns once. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
Download TryPatina.exe

How it works · SHA-256

x86-64 PC · about 900 MB

The installer image

Write it to a USB stick and start your PC from it, or open it in a virtual machine. The installer fetches the rest from Debian during the install, so it needs the internet.

  • Installing on a PC replaces what is on the disk you pick. Back up first.
  • Check the download against SHA256SUMS before you write it.
Download the ISO

Release notes · SHA256SUMS

On ARM, an Apple Silicon Mac included: install Debian 13 for ARM, then run patina's install command. The ARM installer follows once it has passed its first real install.

How it is made

Made in the open.

Every line is public and GPL. patina builds on what Debian and KDE do well, and adds nothing that needs its own security team. Themes and fixes are welcome.

Follow the OS you can ask, as it takes shape.

The installer alpha is out for testers. Try it on Windows or a PC, report what you see, and star it if you want this to exist.

patina
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