AriOS

AriOS is a multimedia-ready and full featured computer operating system designed for Iranian-speaking users. It includes a Persian keyboard layout enabled by default, tons of extra applications, themes and wallpapers.

An Ubuntu-based OS distributed as Live DVDs for mainstream architectures

AriOS is an Ubuntu-based operating system, it is distributed as Live DVD ISO images of approximately 1.5GB in size and supports both 32-bit and 64-bit instruction set architectures. As usual, after download you must write these ISO image to either DVD discs or USB thumb drives.

Users can try the distribution without installing it

When the user boots either of the Live DVD ISO images from the BIOS of a computer, it will encounter a boot prompt that is very similar in functionality with the one of the Ubuntu operating system.

From there, the user can try AriOS without installing it, install the distribution permanently on a local drive, check the disk for defects (only if using a DVD media), perform a system memory diagnostic test, as well as to boot an existin OS from the first disk drive detected by the BIOS.

It features a beautiful graphical desktop interface powered by GNOME

The operating system features a beautiful graphical desktop interface powered by GNOME, which uses an old-school, two-panel layout and a dark/white theme.

Includes a vast selection of open source applications

AriOS includes a vast selection of open source applications, among which we can mention the Blender 3D modeller, GIMP image editor, Shotwell image viewer and organizer, HandBrake video converter, Rhythmbox music player, VLC Media Player, Cheese webcam viewer, Audacious audio player, Audacity audio editor, Wine and Ubuntu Software Center.

A fast distribution for Iranian/English-speaking users

During our tests, the distribution proved to be very fast and easy to use. It provides support for both English- and Iranian-speaking users.

What is new in this release:

• A beautiful, productivity-oriented desktop session using Avant Window Navigator + Compiz/Metacity.
• A script to auto-detect Nvidia Optimus chips and install Bumblebee software
• GUI to turn on/off auto-mounting of partitions at boot
• A handpicked selection of multimedia, graphics and office software
• Important package versions:
• Linux kernel 3.2.0-23
• GNOME Shell 3.4.1
• Firefox 15.0.1
• Thunderbird 15.0.1
• Libreoffice 3.5.4.2
• VLC 2.0.3
• GIMP 2.8.2
• Chromium 20.0.1132.47
• Choqok 1.3
• Virtualbox 4.1.12

What is new in version 4.0 Beta:

• Linux Kernel 3.2.0.20
• GNOME 3.3.92
• Unity 5.8.0
• Firefox 11.0
• Chromium 17.0.963
• VLC 2.0.1

What is new in version 3.0:

• Noteworthy points and changes in this version:
• -No Unity! Unity has been removed as I think it still lacks a lot of features and customization options.
• -Downgraded compiz. AriOS comes with compiz 2:0.8.6-0ubuntu9.2.1 to avoid the problems reported about the new version shipped in Natty.
• -Sessions: You can choose between 3 sessions at login: AriOS, AriOS-2D and Gnome Classic. The default session (AriOS) uses compiz as window manager, if your video card is capable of running compiz and you have the proprietary drivers installed (Nvidia & ATI). Otherwise it will revert to AriOS-2D session which uses Metacity for managing windows.
• -Alt+F2 shortcut has been re-assigned to Synapse, the smart, semantic launcher. There are 3 ways to summon Synapse: pressing Alt+f2, pressing Ctrl+Space and using the "Run Command" button in the main menu.
• -Offline driver installer: This is a utility meant for computers with poor or no internet connection. It installs proprietary drivers (Nvidia, ATI, Broadcom STA, etc.) It should only be run before any software is updated, added or removed. To use it run "AriOS Driver Installer" from the "Administration" menu or type "driver-install" in a terminal. (Many thanks to hacktolive.org for helping me to make this work.)
• -Multimedia codecs and two powerful media players (VLC and GNOME Mplayer) for playing all kinds of audio and video files as well as video DVDs.
• -Evolution replaced by Thunderbird.
• -LibreOffice has replaced OpenOffice.org
• New Additions:
• Clementine: A powerful, feature-rich music player which looks like the famous Amarok 1.4 series.
• Angry Birds: A very popular game which you can play directly inside Chromium web browser even while you're offline!
• Choqok: A very powerful and easy-to-use Twitter and Identi.ca client.
• Openshot: A video editor
• Gnote: A good note-taking application. t has replaced Tomboy.
• GShutdown: A simple utility for scheduling shut-down and reboot.
• Geeqie: A very fast and light-weight image browser and viewer.
• Uget: A download manager that can use aria2 for downloading files.
• Skype: Make quality voice calls.
• Super Boot Manager: A utility to modify Grub, Burg and Plymouth.
• Boot Repair: A utility to backup and recover Grub