Software Alternatives & Reviews

RetroArch VS Pop!_OS

Compare RetroArch VS Pop!_OS and see what are their differences

RetroArch logo RetroArch

RetroArch is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players.

Pop!_OS logo Pop!_OS

A developer-focused minimalist Linux distro from System 76
  • RetroArch Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-12-22
  • Pop!_OS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-01

RetroArch videos

RetroArch - Getting Started! Your Ultimate Retro Gaming PC! [Setup and Demonstration]

More videos:

Pop!_OS videos

Pop!_OS Is Even Better With 19.10 (Full Review)

More videos:

  • Review - Moving In - Pop!_OS 19.04 Review
  • Review - Using Pop!_OS 19.10 ep. 1 - Intro, Installation, Desktop and Gaming Prep

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RetroArch and Pop!_OS)
Gaming
93 93%
7% 7
Linux
0 0%
100% 100
Emulators
100 100%
0% 0
Operating Systems
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using RetroArch and Pop!_OS. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare RetroArch and Pop!_OS

RetroArch Reviews

Best DS Emulator: Are These Emulators Safe And Legal To Use?
RetroArch also supports a wide range of controller types, making it a great choice for gamers who want to use their favorite controller.
Source: appletoo.us
5 Best Nintendo DS Emulators for PC
It has highlights like RetroArch are shaders, netplay, rewinding, next-frame response times, run ahead, machine translation, blind accessibility features, and much more.
Best emulators for Android in 2023
RetroArch is a popular open-source front-end for emulators. If you’re into playing retro games, RetroArch is your one-stop shop for all your emulating needs. It's not an emulator by itself but instead allows you to add "cores" that act as the backend to emulate several legacy consoles. While most of its most popular emulators are already covered here by dedicated apps, it...
5 of the Best GameBoy Advance (GBA) Emulators for Android
RetroArch is a poster child worldwide of emulation, specifically due to the fact that it’s not precisely an emulator. The retroArch is best refer to as a solitary, unified application where you can communicate with other emulators.
4 Free Open Source Game Emulators For Windows PC, Linux, and macOS
In addition to this, you are able to run original game discs (CDs) from RetroArch. RetroArch has advanced features like shaders, netplay, rewinding, next-frame response times, runahead, machine translation, blind accessibility features, and more! What systems does it play?

Pop!_OS Reviews

10 Most Popular Linux Distros of the Year 2023
Although Pop!_OS is based on Ubuntu, it is still able to make its unique place among Dekstop users because of its fast performance, with a customized GNOME desktop environment to provide a polished interface and out-of-the-box installed software & drivers. The US hardware distributor System76 developers behind the Pop!_OS also offers Laptops and desktops with pre-installed...
12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use
Pop!_OS is based on Ubuntu and uses the COSMIC desktop environment, which is Pop!_OS’ homemade desktop environment based on GNOME. However, unlike GNOME, it’s a lot cleaner and has got a few neat tricks up its sleeve, like the keyboard shortcuts, which makes Pop!_OS one of the cleanest Linux systems. Overall, Pop!_OS is a great option for budding creators as well as folks...
Source: beebom.com
The best Linux distributions (operating systems)
Pop!_OS has been developed by System76 and is based on Ubuntu. The operating system offers GPU support for AMD and Nvidia as well as their programming interface CUDA. Pop!_OS has a high-quality desktop environment and offers a tiling function that benefits gamers.
Source: www.ionos.com
7 Best Rufus Alternatives To Create Bootable USB In 2022
Popsicle is a USB flasher shipped with Pop!_OS, one of the most popular Linux distributions. One of the best features of the tool is that it allows you to flash an ISO to multiple USB devices simultaneously.
Source: fossbytes.com
13 Best Linux distros for gaming in 2022
The Pop!_OS distro by hardware vendor System76 is one of the best options for gamers who want to assemble their own gaming installation.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Pop!_OS seems to be a lot more popular than RetroArch. While we know about 450 links to Pop!_OS, we've tracked only 20 mentions of RetroArch. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

RetroArch mentions (20)

  • RetroArch cannot be found on the PlayStore, the first result is a copycat. It is just me?
    No, isn't just you. Every 64-bit phone haves the Play Store Retroarch available, the 32-bits no. But you can still download the 32-bit version on the Retroarch website. Source: 11 months ago
  • Cause of the intrusion has been found and isolated. Sites are operational again.
    It was only the download links on retroarch.com on the Platforms page that got (briefly) redirected for a few hours. That should all be safe now. Source: 11 months ago
  • Malicious download links?
    Yes, only the retroarch.com and libretro.com websites were affected. Source: 11 months ago
  • Recent update from supposed hackers
    I went to retroarch.com and it said "discord.gg/evaderz is big haxors" its unrespectable. Source: 11 months ago
  • Latest RetroArch on Xiaomi Mi box
    I've got installed RetroArch Plus from Google Play on my Xiaomi Mi box 4k and I want to update it to the latest version. I downloaded apk from retroarch.com but when I use apk installer to update it say is not compatible. I removed version from Google Play but fresh install 1.15.0 is not compatible too. I tried 32 and 64 version. What I'm doing wrong? Is any other AndroidTV version? Source: 11 months ago
View more

Pop!_OS mentions (450)

  • Cosmic: The Road to Alpha
    You can click the button labeled "Support Pop" on this page. https://pop.system76.com/ The only option is $12/year last I checked. It'd be nice if we could donate a larger amount easily. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Using Linux Full-Time 2 years later
    Back when I first started to commit myself to "full-time Linux" I experienced stuff that many others had which was Decision Fatigue due to the amount, I mean the AMOUNT of choices of distros that I can use nuts, and I stick to the gamer OS which is Pop!_OS and my experience isn't really nice, especially with the experience of updates that sometimes a bit...outdated, also the software I use is limited that is just... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Cannot Launch ANY Games...........
    Pop_OS uses systemd_boot instead of Grub and requires a 1GB Fat32 partition with the boot flag enabled. Manjaro can still boot Pop_OS. Pop_OS LTS ISO ==> https://pop.system76.com/. Source: 5 months ago
  • New to Linux
    You have a mix of older and bleeding edge hardware. Core i7-4790 was release in 2014 thus "older" (not old in my opinion). Your RTX 4060 GPU is bleeding edge hardware. What this means is that your CPU will be supported by a long list of Linux kernel versions. Your GPU might need one of the newer kernels to work properly. System76, makers of the Pop_OS distro, also sell Linux laptops and desktops with RTX 4000... Source: 5 months ago
  • Introduction
    My first Linux distro was PopOS and It was a refreshing experience. It was really easy to install, use, and game on. I distro hopped a few times to see what other linux flavors are like. These are the ones that I remember trying Zorin OS and Linux Mint. These ones looked mostly like windows and it was easy to use. At work, I gained most of my linux knowledge from docker and configuring / administrating RHEL... - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing RetroArch and Pop!_OS, you can also consider the following products

OpenEmu - Console and Arcade video game emulator for macOS.

Linux Mint - Linux Mint is one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions and used by millions of people.

LaunchBox - LaunchBox is a portable, box-art-based games database and launcher for DOSBox, emulators, arcade cabinets, and PC Games. Download it free!

Manjaro - Manjaro Linux is a linux distribution which is based on arch linux. It uses the PACMAN package manager.

BSNES - bsnes is a Super Nintendo (SNES) emulator focused on performance, features, and ease of use.

Ubuntu - Ubuntu is a Debian Linux-based open source operating system for desktop computers.