This is a maintenance update for the 5.x branch

Feb 26, 2015 10:22 GMT  ·  By

OpenELEC is an embedded operating system built specifically to run the famous KODI (XBMC) media player solution. A new maintenance version has been released and is now ready for download.

A new maintenance update has been released by the OpenELEC developers and it comes with a ton of upgrades, including for the Linux kernel. It might look like just another version, but it's actually an important one and users should really consider upgrading their systems.

The operating system recently switched from the XBMC base for Kodi, but it's actually the same media hub. The XBMC developers have rebranded their application and OpenELEC has to follow them. So, if you haven't used OpenELEC in a while and you notice Kodi plastered everywhere, don't worry, it's supposed to be that way.

OpenELEC 5.0.4 is based on Linux kernel 3.18.7

Even if Raspberry Pi 2 was launched after the stable version of OpenELEC 5.x was made available, the developers added support for that particular platform later on. That was to be expected and users can now install OpenELEC on RP2 as well.

"OpenELEC-5.0 is the next stable release, which is a feature release and the successor of OpenELEC-4.2. The headline change is the update from XBMC 13 (Gotham) to Kodi 14.1 (Helix) and the big switch from XBMC to Kodi branding. Both project teams have conducted a major find/replace but if you spot residual mentions of XBMC anywhere please let us know," wrote the developers.

Also, the Kodi base has been upgraded to a more recent version, Samba has been upgraded to version 3.6.25, org-server-1.16.4 has been implemented by default, a home key ID has been added for the Rii i7 remote, GCC 4.9 now has support for armv7ve, and more.

More details about the changes and improvements can be found in the official announcement. You can download OpenELEC 5.0.4 right now from Softpedia, but you also have to keep in mind that this is not a regular image. Still, you can run it from a USB key by using the regular tools.

Photo Gallery (5 Images)

OpenELEC 5.0 main menu
Help menu in OpenELEC 5.0Video add-ons in OpenELEC 5.0
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