Users can download the latest Q4OS version right now from Softpedia

Sep 9, 2014 12:36 GMT  ·  By

Q4OS is a desktop operating system designed to offer a classic style user interface and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Windows XP. A new version has been released and it comes with some pretty interesting changes and improvements.

Q4OS is an operating system that does everything to let users know it's modeled after Windows XP, although it's so much more than that. The devs have explained that Q4OS is actually quite good for cloud environments, but if you are looking to switch to Linux from XP, this operating system might be a very good place to start.

The resemblance of Q4OS with Windows XP is not something that just happened. The distribution is powered by the Trinity desktop environment, which is a fork of the old KDE 3.x branch. It's been around for ages, but it's still maintained and has been somewhat updated.

The Trinity DE is not something that is still used widely today and there are very few distributions that still implement it, and their numbers are dwindling.

Oh my God, this looks exactly like Windows XP

This is probably the first reaction from someone who hasn't seen this operating system before. Besides the visual cues from the theme, there are a number of other similar elements, although users will notice that the regular Linux file structure is being used. Also, everything important is done with the sudo password.

The Q4OS distribution can also run Windows applications by using Wine compatibility layer. Just enter the following command in a terminal:

sudo aptitude update sudo aptitude install wine

Wine works in Q4OS pretty much like it does in any Linux distribution. Some Windows apps and games will work, others won't.

Q4OS has a new version out, what’s changed?

This is what the developers are telling us that's new in the system. "The new version includes several security updates and updated packages. Lookswitcher, the tool to easy switch between classical and modern user interface, has been rewritten, bunch of GUI improvements has been made. Script for APT database lock detection ported to C programming language."

"Prepared underlying API for easy installation of recent applications versions from Backports repository and automatic detection of national environment and language. Q4OS is now stable enough to be recommended for everyday use."

Fine, I want to ditch Windows XP, where do I start?

Installing Q4OS on your system is actually pretty easy, although we do recommend that you use VirtualBox if you want to give it a spin without using an entire partition. The OS even has an option that does everything for you and you don't have to do anything until you need to log in.

More details about this operating system can be found on the official website. You can download Q4OS 0.5.18 right now from Softpedia.

Remember that this is a development version and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.

Enjoy!

Q4OS 0.5.18 (4 Images)

The basic Q4OS desktop
Q4OS has a really familiar launcherQ4OS' Trinity DE in all its splendor
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