Black Lab Professional Desktop 6.5 uses the MATE desktop

Mar 30, 2015 10:37 GMT  ·  By

Black Lab Software, the creator of the Black Lab Linux series of computer operating systems based on the world’s most popular Linux distribution, Ubuntu, announced earlier today, March 30, on their Twitter account, that they will offer customers who use Ubuntu 10.04 LTS a fully supported upgrade path to their Professional Desktop edition.

We’ve reported a week ago that the Server edition of the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) operating system will reach end of life (EOL) on April 30, 2015, which means that Canonical will no longer update the distribution with security patches, software updates, and other small improvements.

“On April 30, 2015 Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx reaches end of life. We here at Black Lab Software are here to help. Black Lab Professional Desktop 6.5 offers the same interface as Lucid Lynx and based on the same Mate desktop we offer the same exact desktop experience as Lucid Lynx.” was stated in today’s announcement.

The limited offer is live until the end of March, but will you buy one?

Black Lab Software decided to offer a special upgrade to those who use still use the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on their computers, but their limited offer is for a professional desktop operating system, not a server OS. Above all that, upgrading to Black Lab Linux Professional Desktop 6.5 will cost users money, $19.99 (€18), plus $5.00 (€4.5) shipping and handling, per copy of USB flash drive, Live DVD or Live SD/MicroSD.

As an alternative, the company provides users with the ability to download a digital copy of their Black Lab Professional Desktop 6.5 for only $10.00 (€9.2). The operating system comes with a 1 year support license and uses the MATE desktop environment, which is quite similar to the desktop environment that was used in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Desktop, which is no longer supported by Canonical since May 9, 2013.

The offer sounds nice, but unfortunately not many users out there are using Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on the desktop, and those who are still using Lucid Lynx on server systems will be able to freely upgrade to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin), and then to the current LTS version, Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr). Will you buy Black Lab Linux Professional Desktop?