14 DAY TRIAL // Salix MATE 14.1, a GNU/Linux distribution based on Slackware that is simple, fast, easy to use, and based on the MATE desktop environment, is finally out io the development stages and available for download.
It’s been a while since the previous MATE release for Salix, but the developer has made an effort and now a new version of the distribution is out, featuring this acclaimed desktop environment.
MATE is a good alternative for people who still want to have a conservative desktop experience. Despite the fact that it may look a little bit old at first glance, it’s actually sporting new software and comes with a number of very attractive features.
“Included in this release, along side the MATE desktop applications like the Caja file manager, the MATE Control Center and all the MATE panel applets and utilities, is the latest Firefox ESR browser, the LibreOffice suite, GIMP, the ClawsMail e-mail client, the Transmission torrent client, and the Totem (Videos) media player.”
“Also, the Exaile music library/player, the Pidgin IM client, the Zim desktop wiki and several more useful applications. Of course all the Salix System Tools, familiar to any Salix user, are also there, including the Gslapt package manager, the Sourcery SlackBuild manager, tools for managing Users, System Services, and the System Language and Keyboard settings have been added,” said the developer in the official announcement.
Salix MATE 14.1 also integrates quite a few interesting options. For example, SPI has been added (command line application for easy package/SlackBuild installation), which should make users who want to install things manually very happy.
The distribution can be installed in three different ways: a full mode that give users everything that is available in the images, a basic mode that only provides the MATE desktop environment and some basic applications such as Salix System Tools and the Firefox browser, and the core mode that only features a command line-based system, with the desktop environments.
It’s possible to install Salix MATE 14.1 on UEFI systems, but this is available only for the 64-bit architecture. This is not really an issue, because there are very few people that still have 32-bit processors. Also, GPT partitioned hard drives are now fully supported by both 32-bit and 64-bit installers, which is actually very good news.
A complete list of new features can be found in the changelog. You can download Salix MATE 14.1 right now from the website.