14 DAY TRIAL // PC/Opensystems LLC and Black Lab Software have released the Freespire 3.0 and Linspire 7.0 Linux-based operating systems.
After giving users free copies of Linspire 7.0 for Christmas, Black Lab Software's CEO Roberto J. Dohnert is now also releasing the freely distributed Freespire 3.0 operating system, a slimmed down version of the commercial Linspire 7.0, which can now be purchased from the developer's website.
"While both contain common kernel and common utilities, they are targeted towards two different user bases. Freespire is a FOSS distribution geared for the general Linux community," reads the announcement. "Linspire is a commercial release which builds on the elegant Freespire foundation."
Here's what's new in Freespire 3.0 and Linspire 7.0
Those of you who managed to grab a free copy of Linspire 7.0 during Christmas already know that the distro is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) and runs the Linux 4.10.0-42 kernel. The distro also comes with popular apps like Google Chrome, Mozilla Thunderbird, LibreOffice, VLC Media Player, Rhythmbox, and Wine.
On top of that, Linspire 7.0 also comes with Oracle's powerful VirtualBox virtualization software, IceSSB for installing other popular web browsers, Microsoft .NET Core support, ClamAV virus scanner, BleachBit system cleaner, an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), and support for the Btrfs, XFS, JFS, and ZFS filesystem.
On the other hand, Freespire contains a smaller collection of apps, including Mozilla's latest Firefox Quantum web browser, the lightweight Geary email client, AbiWord word processor, Gnumeric spreadsheet editor, Pinta image drawing and editing program, Parole Media Player, IceSSB, and Font Manager.
As Freespire 3.0 is free to download, you'll have to buy a Linspire 7.0 license for $79.99 USD. Black Lab Software promises to support Freespire 3.0 for three more years, until 2021, and it looks like Linspire 7.0 will be supported for seven more years, until 2025, with software updates and security fixes.
