14 DAY TRIAL // We've talked some time ago about a new partnership between Linspire and Canonical, and two days ago, Freespire (the free version of Linspire) development team has made the first steps in this partnership by announcing a new development cycle of their operating system, this time based on Ubuntu Linux: "This is the first Alpha build based on Ubuntu that might not be good for the health of a production machine. Expect improvements as future builds are released.". The 2.0 version of Freespire was already at the Alpha 3 build, but because of the new partnership between the two companies, they restarted the development process.
This new Alpha is built on a 2.6.20 Linux kernel with the KDE 3.5.6 desktop environment. Release notes include:
￭ Automatic boot menu management does not always work. Do not install if you are not experienced at repairing Grub configurations and MBRs. ￭ No upgrade path available from Freespire 1.0 or previous versions of Freespire 2.0 Alphas (apt-get dist-upgrade might produce anomalies due to package name differences). ￭ NVidia and ATI drivers are not automatically installed. ￭ Jack has been removed -- any applications which do not use ALSA may not work properly.
Freespire is a free version of the Linspire Linux operating system that combines the best that free, open source software has to offer (community driven, freely distributed, open source code, etc.), but also provides users the choice of including proprietary codecs, drivers and applications as they see fit.
Here are some features of Freespire:
￭ It's a community-driven, Ubuntu-based Linux distribution. ￭ It's always made available for free use, distribution and modification, now and forever. ￭ It's powerful enough for the most sophisticated Linux user or developer, yet easy enough for someone completely new to Linux. ￭ It's available with 100% free, open source software or with the option to include legally licensed, 3rd party codecs, drivers and software. ￭ Legally supports (or has one-click access to support): MP3, DVD, Windows Media, QuickTime, Java, Flash, Real, ATI drivers, nVidia drivers, Adobe Acrobat Reader, proprietary WiFi drivers, fonts, and so on. ￭ Provides free access to the entire Freespire open source application pool using apt-get. ￭ Offers optional use of the Linspire CNR (click and run) Service. The CNR Client is open source. ￭ Includes a total development environment, which can be easily expanded using apt-get or CNR. ￭ Provides easy-to-use yet advanced installation and configuration options. ￭ Utilizes the community IRMA project to provide Freespire in dozens of different languages. ￭ It's community supported at no charge, with optional enhanced support available.
Now we have to wait for Ubuntu to make their steps in this partnership, by integrating the popular CNR package installer from Linspire in their upcoming version, Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) due for release on April 19.
Download Freespire now from Softpedia.