14 DAY TRIAL // Evolve OS, a new Linux distribution built from scratch that's using a fresh desktop environment called Budgie, has just received a new update and has advanced to Alpha 4.
The Evolve OS distribution appeared out of nowhere and it seems to be on track for fast release. The developer is making very good progress with it and the new distro promises to provide an interesting and very different experience.
The one thing that everyone will notice is the fact that the Evolve developer didn't stray too far from familiar territory. The desktop design is somewhat similar with some of the existing projects, but it looks much more polished and modern.
In fact, the new Budgie desktop should prove to be quite interesting for the more conservative users, like the people who still love GNOME 2, for example. It doesn't mean that Budgie and Evolve OS won't be appealing to the users who only enjoy new and shiny toys, quite the contrary.
What's new in Evolve OS Alpha 4
"Hello all. Contrary to the last post we have decided to release an updated Evolve OS ISO. This is in essence, a refreshed version of Evolve OS Alpha 3, with some minor differences. Note this ISO can be booted on EFI machines, however it cannot (and should not) be installed under EFI environments."
"This release of Evolve OS features a preliminary version of 'evoassist' - which is designed to help you with basic system tasks. The current revision is designed to enable you to easily install Google Chrome, and in future revisions we'll add support for Steam, Skype, Google Earth and other commonly requested packages," says the developer of Evolve OS, Ikey Doherty.
Other changes that have been implemented to Evolve OS Alpha 4 include a new Linux kernel, 3.16.1. This is one of the newest kernels available right now and it should provide premium hardware support, among other important features.
The developer has also explained that the new Budgie Desktop v7 version has been implemented, the Roboto font is now used by default, a modified Vertex GTK theme has been implemented, and the Firefox 32.0 and Thunderbird 31.1.0 packages have been added as well.
You can download Evolve OS Alpha 4 and give it a spin if you are curious about the new operating system. This is a live CD and it seems to work just fine in VirtualBox, so you might want to try it there first.
Remember that this is a development version and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.
