Raspberry Pi
There are different versions of Raspberry Pi OS. Unless you need to have a desktop environment, it is recommended to use a Lite version of the OS, as it requires less current to power the Raspberry Pi.
Raspberry Pi has made an Imager to install Raspberry Pi OS or other OSes on a microSD card. If you have issues with Imager, you can use Balena Etcher, which has proven to be very reliable to install OSes on microSD cards.
You can use a console cable (or a USB to UART adapter) to connect to a Raspberry Pi through a serial port. Adafruit has a good tutorial on how to use this cable.
