OpenSearch emerged as a community-driven response to the relicensing of Elasticsearch, aiming to serve as a compatible yet independent alternative while incorporating all former Open Distro plugins and introducing new features like Docker images and visualization capabilities. Released as version RC1 (1.0.0) in June 2021, OpenSearch is feature-complete but not production-ready, and it requires Docker for installation. The setup process involves pulling Docker images for OpenSearch and OpenSearch Dashboards, ensuring there are no port conflicts with Elasticsearch or Kibana, and deploying nodes using a docker-compose.yml template. OpenSearch's architecture allows for customization through plugins, continuing the legacy of Open Distro by integrating both existing and new plugins for enhanced functionality. Future tutorials promise to delve deeper into advanced topics such as clusters, mapping, and queries.