Which is the best Operating System for Bug Hunting or Penetration Testing Kali Linux or Parrot OS?

Penetration testing or Bug Hunting is not about using tools, it’s all about our skill sets to solve an issue.

 First, we must understand Kali Linux and Parrot Security OS in detail.

 What is Kali Linux?

 Kali Linux is a Debian-based Linux distribution aimed at advanced Penetration Testing and Security Auditing. Kali contains more than 600 hundred pre-installed tools geared toward various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security research, Computer Forensics, Web Application testing, and Reverse Engineering. Kali Linux is developed and maintained by Offensive Security, a leading information security training company. It was developed as a refined pen-testing distro that would be served as a replacement for Backtrack OS. It was released on the 13th of March 2013 as a complete, top-to-bottom rebuild of Backtrack Linux, adhering completely to Debian development standards.

 Features:-

More than 600 penetration testing tools included — It comes with various penetration testing tools from the installation itself, After reviewing every tool that was included in Backtrack, It eliminated a great number of tools that either simply did not work or which duplicated other tools that provided the same or similar functionality.

•  Multi-language support — Although penetration tools tend to be written in English, to improve the usage of non-native English users Kali includes true multilingual support, allowing more users to operate in their native language and locate the tools they need for the job.
•  Completely customizable — The initial design of the Kali Linux is not up to the mark because the look and feel are not so good, to avoid that problem Kali has made it as easy as possible for our more adventurous users to customize Kali Linux to their liking, all the way down to the kernel.
•  Wide-ranging wireless device support — A regular sticking point with Linux distributions has been supported for wireless interfaces. Kali Linux supports as many wireless devices as possible can, allowing it to run properly on a wide variety of hardware and making it compatible with numerous USB and other wireless devices.
•  Custom kernel, patched for injection — As penetration testers, we often need to do wireless assessments and testing, so our seed has the latest injection patches.
•  Free — Kali Linux, is free to use like Back-Track, we will never, need to pay for Kali Linux.

 What is Parrot OS?

 Parrot Linux (Parrot Security, parrot OS, Parrot GNU/Linux) is a free and open-source GNU/Linux distribution based on Debian Testing designed for security experts, developers, and privacy-aware people. When I say Debian based, it means that the code repositories adhere to Debian development standards. It includes a full portable arsenal for IT security and digital forensics operations. Still, it also includes everything you need to develop your programs or protect your privacy while surfing the net. The operating system ships with the MATE desktop environment pre-installed and is available in several flavors to fit your needs.

 Features:-

•  Secure — It is always updated, frequently released, and fully sandboxed! Everything is under our complete control.
•  Free — It is free and open-source, we can view source code and customize it as per our requirements.
•  Lightweight — This Operating system has proven to be extremely lightweight and runs surprisingly fast even on very old hardware or with very limited resources.

 Kali Linux vs Parrot Os

 These operating systems are meant for the same purpose i.e. cybersecurity, bug bounty, or penetration testing. Most of the factors in such cases boil down to a matter of personal taste rather than an objective comparison. Now, before we start comparing Parrot OS vs Kali Linux, let me list out the similarities between the two operating systems.

 Similarities

1.  Both operating systems are tuned for penetration testing.
2.  Both operating systems support 32-bit and 64-bit architecture.
3.  Both operating systems support cloud VPN.
4.  Based on Debian development standards.
5.  Comes with a pre-installed arsenal of hacking tools.
6.  Both operating systems support embedded and IoT devices.

  Parrot OS vs Kali Linux: Hardware Requirements

•  Parrot OS —

1. 1.  No Graphical Acceleration Required.
   2.  A minimum of 320 MB RAM is required.
   3.  A minimum of 1GHZ dual-core CPU is required.
   4.  It can boot in legacy and UEFI modes as well.
   5.  At least 16 GB of hard disk space is required to install the operating system.

•  Kali Linux —

1. 1.  Graphical Acceleration Required.
   2.  A minimum of 1 GB RAM is required.
   3.  A minimum of 1GHZ dual-core CPU is required.
   4.  It can boot in legacy and UEFI modes as well.
   5.  At least 20 GB of hard disk space is required to install the operating system.

 We ignore the hardware requirement, primarily because we know that our systems are much more powerful than the minimum hardware requirements for computers but, Parrot needs lower specification hardware when compared to Kali, meaning it can be run on low-powered laptops and machines.

 This is one of the reasons why I prefer Parrot sec over Kali Linux, but I like and use both of them as I said It's never about which operating system or tool you are using, it all depends on your skills.

 Parrot OS vs Kali Linux: Look and Feel

 The interface of Parrot OS is built using the Ubuntu-Matte-Desktop-Environment. There are two clear sections. On top, you see a pane that contains the Applications, Places, and System which is much like Kali itself. Parrot OS also gives some cool information about CPU temperature along with a usage graph. The bottom pane contains the menu manager and the workstation manager.

 On the other hand, Kali Linux follows the GNOME desktop interface. I think it has the same functionality as Parrot OS, but doesn’t provide the same clean, refined look.

 Parrot OS vs Kali Linux: Hacking tools

 When it comes to general tools and functional features, Parrot OS wins over Kali Linux. Parrot OS has all the tools available in Kali Linux and adds its tools. There are several tools you will find on Parrot OS that are not found on Kali Linux.

 Parrot OS vs Kali Linux: Variations

  Both operating systems come with a variety of variations, but Parrot OS has much more in terms of variety.

•  Kali Linux —
  •  Kali Full Edition 
  •  Kali Lite Edition 
• Parrot OS —
  •  Parrot Sec OS Full Edition
  •  Parrot Sec OS Lite Edition
  •  Parrot Sec OS Studio Edition
  •  Parrot Sec OS Air Edition

 As we see, Parrot has some diverse features with a release focused on wireless penetration testing (AIR) and one that is tuned for multimedia content creation (studio). Besides that, cloud support and IoT devices have also been released. Kali gives the basic full and lite edition along with custom desktop interfaces. Kali also has support for cloud and IoT devices.

 Parrot OS vs Kali Linux: Performance

 When we talk about performance, Kali is a bit laggy and when you run it on a low-end system, sometimes it's a nightmare when you have a brute-force attack going on in the background, and you are doing something else. But Parrot is very lightweight and doesn't lag much because it runs on low-specification systems as well.

 Conclusion

 I hope you got a clear idea about the Parrot security OS and Kali Linux. I discussed pretty much everything about both operating systems in a detailed manner. But selecting an operating system is based on your taste and choice, if you have a low-specification system I would highly recommend going with Parrot Sec OS. other than that go with whatever you want.

 I prefer Kali Linux over Parrot OS. Again this is my choice, you can select according to your need and choice.