SparkyLinux 4.5-dev20161107 now available for download

Nov 7, 2016 23:59 GMT  ·  By

The development team of the Debian-based SparkyLinux distribution announced the other day that a new development ISO image of the upcoming OS is available for public testing.

Based on the software repositories of Debian Testing, which will become Debian GNU/Linux 9 "Stretch" early next year, and powered by Linux kernel 4.7, SparkyLinux 4.5-dev20161106 shipped with the recently released Calamares 2.4.4 universal installer framework as default graphical installer, supporting 32- and 64-bit UEFI PCs.

"We (MoroS and me) been working yesterday to make the installer [operating] with UEFI both 32 and 64bit machines so [that] it can be tested via the latest development iso images already," explains one of the developers. "MoroS sent his bootloader patch to the Calamares devs, so we have a small part of our help to the Calamares project now."

CDE and Deepin desktop environments are now supported

Besides the Calamares 2.4.4 installer, Linux kernel 4.7 and latest updates from the Debian Testing repositories, the new SparkyLinux 4.5 development images also come with an updated Sparky Advanced Installer that offers support for the DDE (Deepin Desktop Environment) and CDE (Common Desktop Environment) desktops.

Users will be able to install these two desktop environments directly from the live medium. A day later, on November 7, 2016, the development team published an updated ISO image of SparkyLinux 4.5, version 4.5-dev20161107, which addresses a minor issue with the authentication agent.

If you want to take these early versions of SparkyLinux 4.5 for a test drive, you can download the 64- or 32-bit Live ISO images right now via our website. However, please try to keep in mind that these are pre-release versions, not suitable to be used in a production environment. Also, be aware of the known issues detailed in the announcement.