14 DAY TRIAL // PTS Desktop Live 2010.1, codenamed "Anzhofen," a live DVD distribution designed solely to run the Phoronix Testing Suite, has now been released, bringing the comprehensive benchmarking and testing software suite to those that want the most accurate results. Like previous releases, it's based on the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution and PTS Desktop Live 2010.1 comes with the latest Phoronix Test Suite 2.4.1. The idea is to give users a standard software stack to run the testing suite ensuring that the underlying operating system doesn't interfere with the validity of the results.
"PTS Desktop Live 2010.1 pulls in a very slim set of packages from the Ubuntu Lucid repository (the latest development packages as of mid-February) for its Linux base and to provide a limited GNOME desktop. Atop that, we then strapped on the Phoronix Test Suite 2.4.1 release and bundled it with the files for 43 tests (there are nearly 130 test profiles available in Phoronix Test Suite 2.4.1, just not all of the files are bundled with PTS Desktop Live 2010.1)," Phoronix Media's Michael Larabel writes in the official announcement revealed exclusively to Softpedia ahead of the public launch.
Highlights of PTS Desktop Live 2010.1:
· Custom Linux Kernel 2.6.33 Release Candidate 6; · Based on the latest Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx packages; · 43 tests from the Phoronix Test Suite 2.4.1; · Stripped-down version of GNOME 2.29; · Designed for relatively modern hardware.
Recommended System Requirements:
· Modern 64-bit AMD or Intel processor; · 2GB of RAM; · An ATI, NVIDIA or Intel graphics card; · Internet connection.
Phoronix has gone to great lengths to ensure that PTS Desktop Live 2010.1 squeezes every last ounce of performance out of the PC and that all unnecessary components are removed. As such, the developers have put the Linux Kernel 2.6.33 on a diet, taking out support for older hardware and platforms and the Anzhofen 2.6.33-rc6-phx10 kernel weighs in at just 16 MB, being some 40 percent smaller than the vanilla Linux Kernel in Ubuntu, Phoronix says.
The developers warn that this means that you'll likely need a machine not older than two or three years to ensure that everything works. Continuing with the minimal design, PTS Desktop Live 2010.1 comes with just a customized GNOME 2.29, a web browser and a text editor and, obviously, the newly released Phoronix Test Suite 2.4.1.
The next release, PTS Desktop Live 2010.2 (codenamed "Rottbach"), is expected to land at about the same time as the upcoming Phoronix Test Suite 2.6, in May 2010. A version of the live OS designed with netbooks in mind, PTS Netbook Live 2010.1, should be coming soon.
Download the PTS Desktop Live 2010.1 right now from Softpedia.