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Parrot RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Parrot

Parrot


Last Update: 2026-05-09 10:57 UTC


Parrot (formerly Parrot Security OS) is a Debian-based, security-oriented distribution featuring a collection of utilities designed for penetration testing, computer forensics, reverse engineering, hacking, privacy, anonymity and cryptography. The product, developed by Frozenbox, comes with MATE as the default desktop environment.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 48 (272), 6 months: 42 (323), 3 months: 50 (304), 4 weeks: 49 (317), 1 week: 35 (449)

Average visitor rating: 8.1/10 from 62 review(s).


Parrot Summary
Distribution Parrot (formerly Parrot Security OS)
Home Page https://parrotsec.org/
Mailing Lists --
User Forums https://community.parrotsec.org/
Alternative User Forums https://parrotsec.org/docs/community.html
Documentation https://parrotsec.org/docs
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://parrotsec.org/download/
Bug Tracker --
Related Websites  
Reviews 7.x: FOSS Force
Where To Donate, Buy or Try

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2026-05-09: Distribution Release: Parrot 7.2
 • 2026-02-11: Distribution Release: Parrot 7.1
 • 2025-12-24: Distribution Release: Parrot 7.0
 • 2025-12-09: Development Release: Parrot 7.0 Beta
 • 2025-07-07: Distribution Release: Parrot 6.4
 • 2025-02-01: Distribution Release: Parrot 6.3
 • 2024-10-23: Distribution Release: Parrot 6.2
 • 2024-06-05: Distribution Release: Parrot 6.1
 • 2024-01-24: Distribution Release: Parrot 6.0
 • 2023-02-15: Distribution Release: Parrot 5.2
 • 2022-03-27: Distribution Release: Parrot 5.0
 • 2021-03-29: Distribution Release: Parrot 4.11
 • More Parrot releases...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
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  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature 7.2 6.4 5.3 4.11.1 3.11 2.2.1
Release Date 2026-05-07 2025-07-07 2023-05-03 2021-04-14 2018-01-28 2016-05-16
End Of Life            
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free
Image Size (MB) 3300-7500 2500-5400 2400-4900 1600-4000 1500-3700  
Free Download IMG, ISO, OVA, QCOW2, UTM, VMDK ISO, OVA, QCOW2, VMDK ISO ISO ISO ISO
Installation Calamares          
Default Desktop KDE Plasma MATE MATE KDE Plasma, MATE MATE MATE
Default Browser Firefox ESR Chromium, Firefox ESR Firefox ESR Firefox Firefox Firefox
Package Format deb, flatpak deb, flatpak deb deb deb deb
Package Management apt apt apt apt apt apt
Release Model Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed
Office Suite LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice LibreOffice GOffice GOffice
Processor Architecture aarch64, riscv64, x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64
Init Software systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd SysV
Journaled File Systems Btrfs, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext4 Btrfs, ext4 Btrfs, ext4
Multilingual en en en en en en
Full Package List 7.2 6.4 5.3 4.11.1 3.11 2.2.1
Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Parrot

Average rating
8.1
from 62 review(s)
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Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 7.1
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-05-04
Country: Russia
Votes: 2


Долгое время думал, что Parrot OS — это только для хакеров и профессионалов по безопасности, но решил попробовать Home-версию как основную систему. Уже несколько месяцев пользуюсь каждый день — ни разу не пожалел.

Система очень быстрая и легкая. У меня не самый новый ноутбук, но Parrot летает — браузер, документы, музыка, видео — всё открывается мгновенно. Интерфейс KDE Plasma приятный и понятный, не пришлось переучиваться после Windows.

Всё, что нужно обычному пользователю, уже установлено из коробки: Firefox для сёрфинга, LibreOffice для документов, VLC для видео. Плюс приятный бонус — инструменты для приватности (Anonsurf), которые просто работают одной командой.

Для новичка в Linux Parrot подходит отлично — всё интуитивно, и при этом система не мешает разбираться, как что устроено внутри. Очень рекомендую тем, кто ищет красивую, быструю и безопасную ОС для ежедневного использования.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 7.1
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-02-17
Country: Ukraine
Votes: 8


Користуюсь на різних ПК. Ніколи не глючить, не злітає... Всі засоби для тестів* працюють класно. Один ПК сенсорний, сенсор працює супер.
Повний арсенал "з коробки": Сотні інструментів для пентестингу, реверс-інжинірингу та цифрової криміналістики.

система літає навіть на залізі, яке інші ОС вважають "металобрухтом", в мене стоїть на АСУСі і7 ІІ покоління та самсунгу 2007 р. працюють. На нових машинах літає.

Parrot дуже гнучкий в налаштуваннях. Заснований на Дебіан, тому магазини програм доступні різні. Коротше, я не супер спеціаліст в лінуксах але Parrot задоволений, після Мінт Parrot крутяк.



Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 7.1
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-02-16
Country: Morocco
Votes: 3


Wow. I mean, WOW. I love this distro. It is almost perfect. What a nice KDE configuration.
Parrot is based on Debian, and as thus, suffers the same problem: older software.
My NVidia card now used the 590 driver, but Debian/Parrot still uses the old 550 driver.
This results in the fact that just after installation, Parrot uses Wayland, but changes to x11 after upgrade.
This is logic. Some security tools still do not work under wayland, so changing to x11 makes sense in a way.
Maybe Parrot should consider a Ubuntu base? Especially for the Home Edition?


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