Kwheezy

Kwheezy is an open source and freely distributable Linux operating system built around the KDE desktop environment and based on the Debian GNU/Linux distribution. It comes with built-in support for multimedia codecs and a plethora of applications.

Distributed as 32-bit/64-bit Live DVDs

The system is available for download as two Live DVD ISO images, one for each of the supported hardware platforms (32-bit and 64-bit). It is suitable to be used directly from a bootable USB thumb drive, as well as from a DVD disc.

Recommended hardware components include a modern CPU (Intel Core 2 Duo or above/AMD K10 (Phenom) or above), 1GB or RAM for the 32-bit version and 2GB for RAM for the 64-bit one, 30GB of free disk space, a recent graphics card with at least 64MB and OpenGL 3.0 support, as well as a 16-bit audio, AC'97 or above sound card.

Minimalistic boot prompt

We find the boot prompt to be very minimalistic, allowing users only to run a memory test using the Memtest86+ software or boot the live environment in failsafe mode, in case the first option doesn’t recognize a certain hardware component, such as the graphics card.

Features a highly customized desktop environment

The KDE desktop environment has been highly customized, comprised of a system monitoring widget, as well as a single, yet powerful taskbar that allows users to access the main menu, launch applications, switch between virtual desktops, and interact with running apps.

Default applications

Default applications include the Rekonq and Mozilla Firefox web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird email client, Clementine music player, VLC Media Player, LibreOffice and Calligra office suites, GIMP image editor, and digiKam photo manager.

In addition, the Steam for Linux client, Audacity audio editor, Google Earth, Google Gadgets, Linphone, TeamViewer, Inkscape, WinFF, PlayOnLinux, and all the default KDE applications are also included in this Live DVD.

Bottom line

Summing up, Kwheezy is a well-crafted Debian-based operating system that supports numerous hardware components and runs very well on "mid-high end" machines. It is very stable, reliable and comes with a large collection of applications.

What is new in this release:

• Impoved installer: add boot flag to root partition, try to fix progress bar not updating.
• New App! "Kwheezy Connector" will easily setup mounted WebDAV and SFTP connections. Auto-mount available.
• Updated to Debian 7.4
• Default font changed to Deja Vu Sans.
• Google Earth updated to version 7, now supporting proper Qt4, stable...ish.
• PDF-Shuffler replaces PDFmod. Same functionality, but pygtk instead of mono.
• Quick USB Formatter is installed by default.
• KDE Print Manager in System Settings is installed.
• Firefox and Thunderbird 24 ESR are updated to latest.

What is new in version 1.4:

• Fix for entering accents in LibreOffice (disable iBus by default).
• Firefox and Thunderbird 24 ESR are now default.
• Cdrtools (original and best) replaces wodim and genisoimage as default Burning/ISO tools.
• Kopete and Linphone replace Jitsi as default XMPP chat and video calling.
• Kwheezy Autostart Chooser has addition choices, including iBus.
• Make KGet and Kopete "Always Visible" in system tray by default.
• Allow kwheezy-livecd package to be uninstalled without removing Kwheezy icon.
• Disable transitions (effects) in KScreenSaver's "Slide Show", making it usable.

What is new in version 1.3:

• Updated to Debian 7.2
• Added GPT partitioning support to the installer (requires BIOS/Legacy boot).
• A new post-installation wizard adds polish. Hopefully the need to add a regular user account will be clearer.
• A few redundant (duplicate functionality) applications have been removed.
• The administrator account has UID/GID changed to 999, so the first real user will be 1000. Thus, more compatable with other distro's.
• The menu has been tidied up, so it should be easier to browse.
• Kwheezy Keyboard Selector now has a textbox for testing the new configuration.
• Some other minor tweaks and polish.

What is new in version 1.2:

• Incorporates a couple of remaining installer bug fixes.
• Kwheezy Profiler, a new GUI tool to backup and restore user profiles.
• Rekonq browser updated to 2.3.2.
• Steam client installed by default.
• PlayOnLinux installed by default.
• Some open source games (kdegames, dreamchess) included.
• deb-multimedia.org packages replaced by official Debian packages. The necessary codecs / decoders included from Kwheezy repo instead.
• Some minor tweaking here and there.

What is new in version 1.1:

• Minor improvements to the installer. Including the hardware clock to local-time fix.
• Keyboard selection before and after installation. New app called "Kwheezy Keyboard Selector".
• Locale (language) support. New app called "Kwheezy Localizer".
• Firefox/Thunderbird language extensions.
• Firefox now supports magnet links out-the-box and Flashgot addon enabled with Kget as download manager.
• KDE Touchpad Configuration now installed by default.
• No login sound in Live session (speeds it up a bit).
• A few other minor stuff.