INSTALL AND CONFIGURE A NEW INSTALLATION

1 Create a VM and load the installer

Open VirtualBox or your virtualisation environment of choice and create a new virtual machine (VM). When prompted, pick a suitable name, then select the downloaded ISO file and set the basic hardware specification, which should be 25GB of disk space, 4GB of RAM and two vCPUs. Boot the VM and the installer should load.

2 Install the OS

Once booted, the live environment starts and the installer loads. Use the wizard to set your time zone, keyboard language and any other localisation settings. During the installation, select your disk partitioning options and create a new user account. You are also asked if you wish to configure full-disk encryption. When completed, reboot into your new installation.

3 Complete the first-run wizard

Once you have rebooted your machine, if disk encryption was selected, you need to enter your decryption password. You now reach the login screen. When prompted, enter your username and password and when login has completed, the wizard loads. Follow through the steps to add any online accounts and set relevant options.

4 Adding software

By opening the Pop!_Shop app from the dock, you can install DEBs from the Apt repositories as well as Flatpaks – this provides you with an excellent selection of applications. Where the same application has options for both Flatpaks and DEBs, your choice can be made using the pull-down menu underneath the Install button.

5 Customise your dock

Once applications have been opened, they can be added to your dock by right-clicking on the icon and selecting the relevant option. Applications can also be removed from the dock by right-clicking and selecting the Remove option. You can explore the other options that the dock makes available by using the Settings option.

6 Experiment with tiling mode

Use the option on the right-hand side of the top bar to enable tiling mode. When selected, this automatically tiles windows on the screen, allowing multiple windows to be open at the same time. The menu also shows how to use keyboard shortcuts. Don’t forget that applications can also be excluded from tiling mode.