Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

UNetbootin VS Parrot OS

Compare UNetbootin VS Parrot OS and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

UNetbootin logo UNetbootin

UNetbootin is a utility for creating live bootable USB drives. The name of the software is short for Universal Netboot Installer, and its most prevalent use has been to create bootable versions of Linux distributions on a USB drive.

Parrot OS logo Parrot OS

The best choice for security experts, developers and crypto-addicted people.
  • UNetbootin Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-29
  • Parrot OS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-03-27

UNetbootin features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Support
    UNetbootin is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS, making it accessible to users on different operating systems.
  • Wide Range of Distributions
    It supports a variety of Linux distributions, allowing users to easily create bootable drives for different Linux OSes.
  • Ease of Use
    The interface is user-friendly, allowing even non-technical users to create bootable USB drives with minimal effort.
  • No CD/DVD Required
    UNetbootin eliminates the need for physical media, enabling users to create bootable USB drives directly from ISO files.
  • Persistent Storage
    It supports the creation of persistent storage, allowing users to save changes to the USB drive without losing data on reboot.

Possible disadvantages of UNetbootin

  • Limited Advanced Features
    UNetbootin lacks some advanced options found in other tools, such as creating multiple partitions or supporting non-Linux operating systems.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Some users report compatibility issues with certain USB drives or BIOS configurations, affecting the bootability of the created drive.
  • Infrequent Updates
    UNetbootin is not updated as frequently as some alternatives, which may result in it not supporting the latest Linux distributions promptly.
  • No Guaranteed Support
    As a free and open-source tool, there is no guaranteed customer support, relying mostly on community forums for troubleshooting.

Parrot OS features and specs

  • Security-Focused
    Parrot OS is designed with a focus on providing a secure platform for security experts, and ethical hackers. It comes with a wide variety of tools for penetration testing, forensics, and reverse engineering.
  • Regular Updates
    The OS receives frequent updates, ensuring that its tools and software packages are up-to-date and that security vulnerabilities are quickly patched.
  • Lightweight
    Parrot OS is designed to be lightweight, making it suitable for use on older hardware and providing a responsive experience even on less powerful systems.
  • Privacy Features
    It includes various privacy tools like encryption utilities, anonymization tools like TOR, and secure communication tools, helping to enhance users' overall privacy.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Parrot OS has a user-friendly interface, which makes it easier for both new and experienced users to navigate and utilize its features effectively.
  • Customization
    The OS is highly customizable, allowing users to tweak and configure it according to their specific needs and preferences.

Possible disadvantages of Parrot OS

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its plethora of tools and features aimed at advanced users, Parrot OS may have a steep learning curve for beginners or those not familiar with security tools.
  • Resource Consumption
    Despite being lightweight, some of the advanced tools available can be resource-intensive, which may slow down performance on very old or low-spec hardware.
  • Niche User Base
    Parrot OS is tailored toward security professionals, which makes it less suitable for general-purpose desktop use compared to other Linux distributions that are designed for a broader audience.
  • Potential Legal Risks
    Some tools included in Parrot OS can be used for activities that may be legally dubious or outright illegal if misused, leading to potential legal risks for users who do not adhere to ethical guidelines.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Occasionally, users might encounter compatibility issues with certain hardware or software, as Parrot OS might not support everything out of the box like more general-purpose Linux distributions do.

Analysis of Parrot OS

Overall verdict

  • Parrot OS is a strong choice for users who require a reliable and comprehensive security-focused operating system. It provides a robust platform for professionals in cybersecurity fields and is a good alternative to other security-oriented distributions like Kali Linux.

Why this product is good

  • Parrot OS is a Debian-based Linux distribution that is primarily focused on security, privacy, and development. It is equipped with an extensive set of tools for penetration testing, digital forensics, reverse engineering, and anonymity capabilities. Users appreciate its lightweight nature, making it suitable for older hardware as well as minimalism-focused users.

Recommended for

  • Ethical hackers and penetration testers who need a rich set of tools for vulnerability assessment.
  • Cybersecurity professionals looking for an OS tailored for digital forensics.
  • Developers interested in privacy and anonymity features offered by the distro.
  • Users with older hardware seeking a lightweight, secure operating system.

UNetbootin videos

How to use UNetBootin

More videos:

  • Review - UNetBootin - Create a Bootable Linux USB Drive [Tutorial]
  • Review - DeepIn 15.8 - Neuerungen & Installation (UNetbootin) & Review | Deepin auf Sony Vaio | 10. Dez.

Parrot OS videos

Parrot Security OS 4.7 Review & Walkthrough (2019) | (Linux Beginners Guide)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to UNetbootin and Parrot OS)
Utilities
100 100%
0% 0
Linux
0 0%
100% 100
Bootable USB
100 100%
0% 0
Operating Systems
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare UNetbootin and Parrot OS

UNetbootin Reviews

7 Best Rufus Alternatives To Create Bootable USB In 2022
We found UNetbootin to be a fantastic software and mentioned UNetbootin in our “five easy ways to create bootable USB media in Ubuntu” article. The tool is also available on Windows and macOS. It has a pretty simple user interface that gets the job done.
Source: fossbytes.com
10 Best Rufus Alternatives in 2022 (USB Bootable Tools)
The thing that makes UNetbootin unique is its lightning-fast speed. Compared to all other USB bootable tools, the flashing speed with UNetbootin is very fast.
Source: techviral.net
14 Rufus alternatives for Linux, Mac, and windows
UNetBootin is another cross-platform alternative to Rufus. It has the option to choose between downloading the latest iso images or choosing your iso file. UNetBootin has a list of supported Linux distributions available on their website.
Rufus Alternatives – 8 Best USB Bootable Software For Linux
Just like the Windows USB/DVD tool, UNetBootin is designed to create bootable drives but only for Linux. UNetbootin is the only software in this list that even lets you download the ISO from within the app. A neat little feature called persistent storage. This enables you to save a particular amount of storage on the USB. Basically, you can also flash the USB storage and...
Source: techwiser.com
8 Free USB Bootable Software For Windows
Just like the Windows USB/DVD tool, UNetBootin is designed to create bootable drives but only for Linux. The good thing about UNetBootin is you can either create a bootable media using an ISO file or you can download the Linux distribution within. When creating bootable media for Ubuntu distribution, you can set aside some space to preserve files across reboots. This feature...
Source: techwiser.com

Parrot OS Reviews

  1. Parrot is the best Linux distro

    I have been using parrot sec for over three months now as my daily driver . It's stable and has all necessary tools for programming and security also has media files that support multimedia activity . For a security distro it's quite stable and it brings out both of the stable day to day driver and security pentesting quite well it's the best of both worlds though it can require some modifications in terms of anonsurf and repository updates but generally it's great and it's easy to use for beginners and those whore beginners in pentesting and programming .. but in gaming it's whack since it's made for use in specific mannner not gaming For more info If @m.i.t.h.a.m.o

    🏁 Competitors: Kali Linux

6 Best Free Alternatives to Windows for Advanced Users
The main purpose of Parrot Security OS is to cater needs of ethical hackers and network penetration testers.
Source: techcult.com
Best Secure Linux Distros for Enhanced Privacy & Security
Parrot OS is frequently updated and provides users with a wide selection of hardening and sandboxing options. The distro’s tools are designed to be compatible with the majority of devices via containerization technologies such as Docker or Podman. Parrot OS is very lightweight and runs surprisingly fast on all machines - making it a great option for systems with old hardware...
Top 10 Most Secure Linux Distros for Personal Use
Parrot Security OS was developed by FrozenBox and is based on a Debian distribution. Released in 2013, this Linux distro was created for ethical hacking, working anonymously, and penetration testing. This Linux distro was specifically designed to test authorized simulated attacks on the computer system, which can be beneficial for assessing system vulnerabilities. As...
Source: linuxhint.com
Best Linux distros of 2021 for beginners, mainstream and advanced users
Parrot Security is a wonderful penetration testing and vulnerability assessment distro that can do a lot more than some of its more popular peers like Kali Linux.
Best Kali Linux Alternatives
Parrot Security is one of the leading Linux distributions in penetration testing and ethical hacking. It is a Debian-based Linux distribution operating system built by the Frozen Box Network for cloud-oriented penetration testing and computer forensics, reverse engineering, hacking, and many other security purposes. Parrot Security uses MATE as its desktop environment. It...
Source: linuxhint.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, UNetbootin seems to be a lot more popular than Parrot OS. While we know about 60 links to UNetbootin, we've tracked only 5 mentions of Parrot OS. 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.

UNetbootin mentions (60)

  • Troubleshooting External Hard Drives on Linux
    Use a tool like Rufus or UNetbootin to create a live USB stick. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Kali live kernel panic
    Format your USB drive and then you can retry with your software again, or you can try with a piece of software I know works successfully. https://unetbootin.github.io/. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Best way to get files off corrupted/inaccessible drive?
    Linux on a USB large enough to hold your files. Linux does not care what OS made the file. You mat be able to Boot from the USB. Access the BIOS and try it. UNetbootin can also be used to load various system utilities. Https://unetbootin.github.io/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Install Fedora 38 without any USB or CD.
    I think UNetbootin could create a bootable installer directly from your current drive. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Flashed ISO using dd on mac and this happened…
    This is what you want. Bootcamp is the old way to do it. You want to use This for making a usb. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

Parrot OS mentions (5)

  • Best Portable OS?
    Parrot Security OS is an option, it contains vs codium(the OSS version without any binary blobs or telemetry) for coding as well as many, many pen testing tools which may or may not be useful to you. You meant Computer Science right? Not Cyber Security? If you have any Cyber Sec classes I think Parrot would be more useful to you. It is a Debian distro and I think it uses kernel 5.18 right now, so how new your... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Help me with my system please....can anyone help me with this my kali virtual os was lagging on recon phase with slow fuzzing...what should i do to make it fast
    Checkout https://parrotsec.org In my opinion ParrotSec is much better than Kali but every pentester has there own specific distro they enjoy. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Assist a newbie
    If you want a kind-of-temp system which resets itself after every reboot, then I recommend tails(although it does have an option to store files but you would have to set that up for it to work and since you're a linux beginner it might be hard, especially the installation part) and if you want the type of security where the applications are isolated from the system, then I would recommend cubes os. But if you want... Source: over 3 years ago
  • AMA: I'm Micah Lee, director of infosec for The Intercept, security and privacy enthusiast, open source coder, journalist, techie for the Snowden leak, etc. AMA!
    For Linux, I generally don't use AV. Also recently I've been using Parrot Sec, Ubuntu, and Qubes. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Kali vs ubuntu- which is more private
    If you ask me I can tell ParrotOS - HOME Editition they have a set of defaults already for you without having to install these pentesting distros like Kali or ParrotOS - Security, because their main goal is not YOUR security. Source: about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing UNetbootin and Parrot OS, you can also consider the following products

Rufus - Rufus is a piece of software that allows you to transform a portable drive, like a flash drive or other USB drives, into a bootable drive that can be used for a variety of purposes. Read more about Rufus.

Kali Linux - Kali Linux is a Debian-derived Linux distribution designed for digital forensics and penetration...

Balena Etcher - Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives, safely and easily.

BlackArch - BlackArch Linux is an Small Arch Linux iconArch Linux -based distribution for penetration testers...

YUMI - YUMI (Your USB Multiboot Installer), is a tool that allows you to boot multiple ISO files from one USB drive.

ArchStrike - An Arch Linux repository for security professionals and enthusiasts.