Evolve OS

Evolve OS is a next-generation Linux kernel-based operating system, built from scratch and based on powerful, modern open-source technologies, such as the systemd init system and the groundbreaking Budgie Desktop graphical environment.

It’s distributed as a 64-bit Live CD

Currently, the Evolve OS is still in heavy development, but you can download it via Softoware or directly from its official website as a Live CD ISO image suitable for computers supporting only 64-bit instruction set architectures.

You can start the live system or boot an existing one

The ISO image will fit perfectly on a CD disc or a USB flash drive of 1GB or higher capacity, allowing the user to start the live system with the default kernel or boot an existing operating system that is installed on the first disk drive detected by the BIOS.

Budgie Desktop looks really amazing, modern and productive

We have a separate entry for the Budgie Desktop graphical environment here on Softoware, but seeing in action on top of Evolve OS makes us want to remove Ubuntu and install this jawbreaking operating system.

The desktop session is comprised of a fully transparent taskbar that is located on the bottom edge of screen and designed to provide quick access to pre-installed apps. It also acts as a taskmanager, allowing you to easily interact with running programs.

Uses its own package management system, based on PiSi

Another interesting thing is that Evolve OS uses its own package management system called EOPKG and forked from the PiSi package manager, designed from the ground up to keep maintenance times and code debt at a minimum.

Features only a few applications

Being in heavy development, the Evolve OS distribution comes with only a few applications, such as the GIMP image editor, Mozilla Firefox web browser, Nautilus file manager, GParted partition editor and Gedit text editor.

An image viewer, a terminal emulator, a screen capture utility, an archive manager, a weather app, a clock app, a maps app and a chess game are also included. The distribution can be easily installed using the built-in installation script.

What is new in this release:

• Evolve OS now features a preliminary version of evolve-sc, the Evolve OS Software Center. It's aim is to simplify the updating and installation of software, providing a simple interface to get the job done.
• Budgie Desktop is currently in sync with our latest development version, and is now built upon the GNOME 3.14.2 stack. Consequently many existing issues with the desktop have been resolved, and as such provides a far more stable experience than previous.
• Evolve OS now ships by default with support for many formats, and includes many codecs within the ISO download. As an example, H.264. MP3 and DVDs all work right away with no configuration, and you can access these using the preinstalled Totem or Rhythmbox packages. During the development process of this beta, we spent some considerable time optimising towards desktop usage, and consequently this has led to a spat of "GPU testing" by the team, or "slacking off to play games". After beta1 we will be pushing automatic driver management and 32-bit support via our update mechanism, however for a sneak preview you can see here Kerbal Space Program running perfectly on Evolve OS Beta 1.

What is new in version Alpha 4:

• This is in essence, a refreshed version of Evolve OS Alpha 3, with some minor differences. Note this ISO can be booted on EFI machines, however it cannot (and should not) be installed under EFI environments.
• Evo Assist:
• This release of Evolve OS features a preliminary version of "evoassist" - which is designed to help you with basic system tasks. The current revision is designed to enable you to easily install Google Chrome, and in future revisions we'll add support for Steam, Skype, Google Earth and other commonly requested packages.
• Changes:
• With this release we've switched to the 3.16.1 kernel, Budgie Desktop v7, as well as addressed some outdated packages present in the last ISO. The default look was refreshed, with us switching to Roboto as our primary font, a move away from Droid Sans. Our current default theme is a modification of the Vertex GTK theme, which features Evolve OS specific improvements.
• We now also include Firefox 32.0 and Thunderbird 31.1.0, as well as updated core libraries, bash 4.2.047 and fixes to os-prober, amongst others. Please note this is officially the last Alpha ISO, with beta1 expected in the following weeks.
• User Guide:
• If you are new to Evolve OS, please take some time to read through the Condensed User Guide. It contains useful information on how to update your system, as well as some common links and how tos.
• Notes:
• The installer was not adapted for this release, so it still contains the Alpha3 brand and release notes. This was a simple decision to reach, as the installer requires an overhaul for Beta 1. If you are currently an Evolve OS user, please just upgrade your installation per the instructions in the Condensed User Guide.
• The recommended command line tool for writing the ISO to a USB is "dd", though users have reported success with both "SUSE Studio Image Writer" and "mintStick".

What is new in version Alpha 3:

• This image is only suitable for 64-bit machines, and is not yet EFI capable. This release incorporates all recent updates, including X.Org 1.16.0, MesaLib 10.2.4, Linux Kernel 3.15.6, Firefox 31.0 and the GNOME 3.12 stack.
• This represents the third and final alpha of the Evolve OS images, as we're moving towards daily-builds and then beta stages. Please help to identify issues within the system so that we can make Evolve OS as enjoyable an experience as possible.
• Explaining the missing EFI image:
• It became painfully obvious today the installer needs an overhaul to handle EFI nicely,
• so we're going to publish a delayed EFI image later this week as a daily, keep checking
• and a blog post will go up as and when its ready. For the curious we'll be using gummiboot
• only for (U)EFI machines. GRUB2 will not be supported in this configuration.
• Main changes:
• As previously stated all updates have been included in this release, bringing the main
• components of the stack up to date. Please also note that this is the very last alpha
• release of Evolve OS, as we're now moving to daily builds. We'll branch again for the
• beta1 release, as and when its ready.
• ALSA should now be correctly configured and integrated with PulseAudio - you can verify this by attempting to listen to a flash video in YouTube via headphones. The volume should also stay set now. On the first start of your fresh install note you'll still need to unmute.