qubes-doc/introduction/intro.md

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permalink: /intro/
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- /tour/
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ref: 126
title: Introduction
---

<h2>What is Qubes OS?</h2>
<a id = "what-is-qubes-os"></a>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-lg-12 col-md-12">
    <p>
      Qubes OS is a free and open-source, security-oriented operating system for
      single-user desktop computing. Qubes OS leverages
      <a href="https://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Xen_Project_Software_Overview">
      Xen-based virtualization</a> to allow for the creation and management of
      isolated compartments called <a href="/doc/glossary#qube">qubes</a>.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-lg-3 col-md-3 text-left">
    <p>
      These qubes, which are implemented as <a href="/doc/glossary#vm">virtual
      machines (VMs)</a>, have specific:
      <ul>
        <li class="more-bottom">
          <b>Purposes:</b> with a predefined set of one or many isolated
          applications, for personal or professional projects, to manage the
          <a href="/doc/networking/">network stack</a>,
          <a href="/doc/firewall/">the firewall</a>, or to fulfill other
          user-defined purposes.
        </li>
        <li class="more-bottom">
          <b>Natures:</b> <a href="/doc/standalone-and-hvm/">full-fledged</a> or
          <a href="/doc/getting-started/">
          stripped-down</a> virtual machines based on popular operating systems,
          such as <a href="/doc/templates/fedora/">Fedora</a>,
          <a href="/doc/templates/debian/">Debian</a>, and
          <a href="/doc/windows/">Windows</a>.
        </li>
        <li class="more-bottom">
          <b>Levels of trust:</b> from complete to non-existent. All windows are
          displayed in a unified desktop environment with
          <a href="/doc/getting-started/">unforgeable colored window borders</a> so
          that different security levels are easily identifiable.
        </li>
      </ul>
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-9 col-md-9">
    <a href="/attachment/site/qubes-trust-level-architecture.png">
      <img src="/attachment/site/qubes-trust-level-architecture.png"
           class="center-block more-bottom" alt="Qubes system diagram">
    </a>
  </div>
</div>

<div class="alert alert-info more-bottom" role="alert">
  <i class="fa fa-info-circle"></i>
  <b>Note:</b> See our <a href="/doc/glossary/">glossary</a> and
  <a href="/faq/">FAQ</a> for more information.
</div>

<h2 class="more-bottom">Features</h2>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Strong isolation</h3>
    <p>
      Isolate different pieces of software as if they were installed on separate
      physical machines using advanced virtualization techniques.
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Template system</h3>
    <p>
      Use <a href="/doc/glossary/#app-qube">app qubes</a> to
      share a root file system without sacrificing security using the innovative
      <a href="/doc/templates/">Template system</a>.
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Multiple operating systems</h3>
    <p>
      Use multiple operating systems at the same time, including
      <a href="/doc/templates/fedora/">Fedora</a>,
      <a href="/doc/templates/debian/">Debian</a>, and
      <a href="/doc/windows/">Windows.</a>
    </p>
  </div>
</div>

<hr>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Disposables</h3>
    <p>
      Create <a href="/doc/how-to-use-disposables/">disposables</a> on the fly that
      self-destruct when shut down.
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Whonix integration</h3>
    <p>
      Run <a href="https://www.torproject.org/">Tor</a> securely system-wide
      using <a href="https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Qubes">Whonix with Qubes</a>.
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Device isolation</h3>
    <p>
      Secure <a href="/doc/device-handling/">device handling</a> through
      isolation of network cards and USB controllers.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>

<hr>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Split GPG</h3>
    <p>
      Utilize <a href="/doc/split-gpg/">Split GPG</a> to keep your private keys
      safe.
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>U2F proxy</h3>
    <p>
      Operate <a href="/doc/u2f-proxy/">Qubes U2F proxy</a> to use your
      two-factor authentication devices without exposing your web browser to the
      full USB stack.
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Open-source</h3>
    <p>
      Users are free to use, copy, and modify Qubes OS and
      <a href="/doc/contributing/">are encouraged to do so!</a>
    </p>
  </div>
</div>

<div class="alert alert-info more-bottom" role="alert">
  <i class="fa fa-info-circle"></i>
  <b>Note:</b> Given the technical nature of Qubes OS, prior experience with
  Linux can be helpful.
</div>


<h2 class="more-bottom">Why Qubes OS?</h2>
<a id = "why-qubes-os"></a>

<h3>Physical isolation is a given safeguard that the digital world lacks</h3>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-lg-6 col-md-6 text-left">
    <p>
      Throughout our lives, we engage in various activities, such as going to
      school, working, voting, taking care of our families, and visiting with
      friends. These activities are spatially and temporally bound: They happen
      in isolation from one another, in their own compartments, which often
      represent an essential safeguard, as in the case of voting.
    </p>
    <p>
      In our digital lives, the situation is quite different: All of our
      activities typically happen on a single device. This causes us to worry
      about whether it's safe to click on a link or install an app, since being
      hacked imperils our entire digital existence.
    </p>
    <p>
      Qubes eliminates this concern by allowing us to divide a device into many
      compartments, much as we divide a physical building into many rooms.
      Better yet, it allows us to create new compartments whenever we need them,
      and it gives us sophisticated tools for securely managing our activities
      and data across these compartments.
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-6 col-md-6">
    <a href="/attachment/doc/r4.0-qubes-manager.png">
      <img src="/attachment/doc/r4.0-qubes-manager.png"
           class="center-block more-bottom" alt="Qube Manager">
    </a>
  </div>
</div>

<h3>Qubes allows you to compartmentalize your digital life</h3>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-lg-6 col-md-6">
    <a href="/attachment/site/qubes-partition-data-flows.jpg">
      <img src="/attachment/site/qubes-partition-data-flows.jpg"
           class="center-block more-bottom" alt="Compartmentalization example">
    </a>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-6 col-md-6 text-left center-block">
    <p>
      Many of us are initially surprised to learn that our devices do not
      support the kind of secure compartmentalization that our lives demand, and
      we're disappointed that software vendors rely on generic defenses that
      repeatedly succumb to new attacks.
    </p>
    <p>
      In building Qubes, our working assumption is that all software contains
      bugs. Not only that, but in their stampeding rush to meet deadlines, the
      world's stressed-out software developers are pumping out new code at a
      staggering rate &mdash; far faster than the comparatively smaller
      population of security experts could ever hope to analyze it for
      vulnerabilities, much less fix everything. Rather than pretend that we can
      prevent these inevitable vulnerabilities from being exploited, we've
      designed Qubes under the assumption that they <em>will</em> be exploited.
      It's only a matter of time until the next zero-day attack.
    </p>
    <p>
      In light of this sobering reality, Qubes takes an eminently practical
      approach: confine, control, and contain the damage. It allows you to keep
      valuable data separate from risky activities, preventing
      cross-contamination. This means you can do everything on the same
      physical computer without having to worry about a single successful
      cyberattack taking down your entire digital life in one fell swoop. In
      fact, Qubes has
      <a href="https://invisiblethingslab.com/resources/2014/Software_compartmentalization_vs_physical_separation.pdf">
      distinct advantages over physical air gaps</a>.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>

<h3>Made to support vulnerable users and power users alike</h3>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-lg-6 col-md-6 text-left">
    <p>
      Qubes provides practical, usable security to vulnerable and
      actively-targeted individuals, such as journalists, activists,
      whistleblowers, and researchers. Qubes is designed with the understanding
      that people make mistakes, and it allows you to protect yourself from your
      own mistakes. It's a place where you can click on links, open attachments,
      plug in devices, and install software free from worry. It's a place where
      <em>you</em> have control over your software, not the other way around.
    </p>
    <p>
      Qubes is also powerful. Organizations like the <a
      href="https://securedrop.org/news/piloting-securedrop-workstation-qubes-os/">Freedom
      of the Press Foundation</a>, <a
      href="https://twitter.com/mullvadnet/status/631010362083643392">Mullvad</a>,
      and <a
      href="https://twitter.com/letsencrypt/status/1239934557710737410">Let's
      Encrypt</a> rely on Qubes as they build and maintain critical privacy and
      security internet technologies that are in turn relied upon by countless
      users around the world every day. Renowned security <a
      href="/endorsements/">experts</a> like Edward Snowden, Daniel J. Bernstein,
      Micah Lee, Christopher Soghoian, Isis Agora Lovecruft, Peter Todd, Bill
      Budington, and Kenn White use and recommend Qubes.
    </p>
    <p>
      Qubes is one of the few operating systems that places the security of
      its users above all else. It is, and always will be, free and open-source
      software, because the fundamental operating system that constitutes the
      core infrastructure of our digital lives <em>must</em> be free and
      open-source in order to be trustworthy.
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-6 col-md-6">
    <a href="/attachment/doc/r4.0-snapshot12.png">
      <img src="/attachment/doc/r4.0-snapshot12.png"
           class="center-block more-bottom" alt="Qubes desktop screenshot">
    </a>
  </div>
</div>

<hr class="add-top more-bottom">

<div class="row more-bottom">
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Video Tours</h3>
    <p>
      Want to see Qubes OS in action? Sit back and watch a guided tour!
    </p>
    <a href="/video-tours/" class="btn btn-primary more-bottom">
      <i class="fa fa-play-circle"></i> Video Tours
    </a>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Screenshots</h3>
    <p>
      See what using Qubes actually looks like with these screenshots of various
      applications running in Qubes.
    </p>
    <a href="/screenshots/" class="btn btn-primary more-bottom">
      <i class="fa fa-picture-o"></i> Screenshots
    </a>
  </div>
  <div class="col-lg-4 col-md-4 col-xs-12">
    <h3>Getting Started</h3>
    <p>
      Ready to get started with Qubes? Here's what you need to know after
      installing.
    </p>
    <a href="/doc/getting-started/" class="btn btn-primary more-bottom">
      <i class="fa fa-cubes"></i> Getting Started
    </a>
  </div>
</div>

<h2>More information</h2>

<p>
  This page is just a brief introduction to what Qubes is all about, and many
  technical details have been omitted here for the sake of presentation.
  <ul>
    <li>
      If you're a current or potential Qubes user, you may want to check out the
      <a href="/doc/">documentation</a> and the
      <a href="/faq/#users">user FAQ</a>.
    </li>
    <li>
      If you're a developer, there's dedicated
      <a href="/doc/#developer-documentation">developer documentation</a> and a
      <a href="/faq/#developers">developer FAQ</a> just for you.
    </li>
    <li>
      Ready to give Qubes a try? Head on over to the
      <a href="/downloads/">downloads</a> page, and read the
      <a href="/doc/installation-guide">installation guide</a>.
    </li>
    <li>
      Need help, or just want to join the conversation? Learn more about
      <a href="/support/">help, support, the mailing lists, and the forum</a>.
    </li>
  </ul>
</p>