Distro watch
What’s behind the free software sofa?
Firefox 59.0
The popular open source web browser received a brand new engine – Quantum – last year. Yet development work hasn’t slowed down, with the latest release continuing to focus on performance gains as well as adding more features. So, we’re getting improved page load times, improved graphics rendering, new tools for annotating and editing screenshots, and improvements to how Top Sites is arranged on the Home page. For more information on what’s new, head over to www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/59.0/releasenotes.
Zorin OS 12.3
This Ubuntu-based distro aimed at beginners has recently been updated, and it now comes with Wine3.0, which enables Windows programs to run on the distribution. This is an excellent addition for helping new users make the switch from Microsoft’s OS to Linux, and Wine3.0 not only makes Windows applications run better in Zorin OS, but with Direct3D 10 and 11 support, Windows games are also improved. Visit https:// zoringroup.com/blog/2018/03/15/zorin-os-12-3released-a-stronger-more-versatile-system to find out what else is new in the distro.
Raspbian 2018-03-13
There’s good news for Raspberry Pi owners who want to hook up their mini computers to large monitors that operate at a range of resolutions. The latest version of its Raspbian operating system now includes improved support for different screen sizes. This is great news for visually impaired people who currently find it difficult to operate the Pi on a small screen. The options for this can be found in the Appearance Settings. There are also plenty of bug fixes and support for the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+. Head over to www.raspberrypi.org/blog/ raspbian-update-screen-sizes/ for the full release announcement.
Netrunner 18.03
With the latest release, this Debian-based distro builds on Debian’s Testing branch, and comes with the Plasma 5.12 LTS desktop, version 4.14 of the Linux kernel, LibreOffice6 and Firefox58.0.1.
If you like listening to music while you work, you may also be pleased to see the inclusion of Yarock, a Qt-based music player that supports a wide range of free online radio stations, using the TuneIn, ShoutCast and Dirble web services. To find out more about this release head over to www.netrunner.com/netrunner18-03-idolon-released.