Now powered by Ubuntu's Linux kernel 3.16

May 2, 2015 15:20 GMT  ·  By

Roberto J. Dohnert, the lead developer of Black Lab Linux and owner of Black Lab Software, announced the immediate availability for download and testing of the second and last Release Candidate (RC) version of the forthcoming Black Lab Enterprise Desktop 6.5 computer operating system based on Ubuntu.

Being based on Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn), Black Lab Enterprise Desktop 6.5 RC2 is powered by Linux kernel 3.16, but it also includes the Linux 3.13 kernel that is compatible with the Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) operating system. The distribution now uses the MATE 1.8 and KDE 4.14 desktop environments.

"Today we have announced the release of Black Lab Enterprise Desktop 6.5 RC2. This is the last Release Candidate for Black Lab Enterprise Desktop before the final release," says Roberto J. Dohnert. "With this we have finalized the desktop and features that will be in the final release. Although this is the final Release Candidate we recommend testing on non production systems."

RC2 of Black Lab Enterprise Desktop 6.5 updates many apps

In addition to the updated Ubuntu base and desktop environments, the second and last Release Candidate of the Black Lab Enterprise Desktop 6.5 Linux operating system updates many of the pre-installed applications, including the Mozilla Firefox 37.0.1 web browser and the Mozilla Thunderbird 31.6.0 email and news client, which comes pre-installed with the Lightning Calendar extension.

Among other applications that have been pre-installed and updated in Black Lab Enterprise Desktop 6.5 RC2, we can mention the LibreOffice office suite, Oracle VirtualBox virtualization manager, GIMP image editor, Calibre ebook library manager and converter, InkScape vector graphics editor, Fogger web app utility, and Citrix Receiver for accessing XenDesktop and XenApp installations.

Lastly, the Braindump whiteboard program and GNOME Maps map application are also included and have been updated to their latest versions. Desktop search has been integrated into the distribution as well. Download Black Lab Enterprise Desktop 6.5 RC2 right now from Softpedia, but keep in mind that it's a pre-release version, and we don't recommend installing it on production machines.