Black Lab Professional Desktop

Black Lab Professional Desktop (previously known as Black Lab Enterprise Linux) is a commercial computer operating system based upon the world’s most popular free distribution of GNU/Linux, Ubuntu. It can be easily described as Black Lab Linux with muscle, because it includes a ton of applications and technical support for one year.

Easy-to-use and professional looking operating system

It has been created because of the demand for an easy-to-use and professional looking operating system based on the latest Linux technologies. This means that it supports a wide range of hardware platforms and comes with top-notch applications from a wide range of fields, including accounting, multimedia, graphics, presentation and database management.

Built around the GNOME desktop environment, using GNOME Shell

The default and only desktop environment of this operating system is GNOME, which features the controversial, beautiful and modern GNOME Shell user interface. It offers a fast and traditional desktop experience that has been tweaked and customized to look very professional.

Available as a freely distributed demo Live DVD for 64-bit computers

Black Lab Professional Desktop is available for download as a free, but limited Live DVD ISO image that contains software packages optimized only for modern, high-end 64-bit (amd64) computers. The Live DVD offers the standard Black Lab Linux boot menu that allows users to start the live session with normal settings or in safe graphics mode, as well as to start the installation directly, test the RAM for errors or boot an existing OS from the local disk drive.

Includes powerful, open source applications

Default applications includes the Mozilla Firefox web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird email and news client, Pidgin multi-protocol instant messenger client, Transmission BitTorrent client, VLC Media Player, Audacity audio editor, OpenShot video editor, Audacious music player, LibreOffice office suite, Calibre e-book library management software, GIMP image editor, and Scribus desktop publishing tool.

In addition, applications like gFTP, Dropbox, Audacity, Brasero, GNOME PPP, XChat, gMTP, Mixxx, SimpleScreenRecorder, Arista Transcoder, FocusWriter, Cheese, Blender, GnuCash, Glom, Simple Scan, Inkscape, and Shotwell are also included in this professional edition of Black Lab Linux, which also supports Google Apps.

Designed for small to medium sized businesses

As mentioned, Black Lab Enterprise Linux is a commercial operating system especially designed to be deployed on small to medium sized businesses. It can only be purchased from its official website and it’s designed for people who need a professional and professionally supported computer operating system that uses state-of-the-art Linux technologies and applications.

What is new in this release:

• KDE 4.14
• Mate 1.8
• Kernel 3.16
• Ubuntu Compatible Kernel 3.13
• Firefox 37.0.1
• Thunderbird 31.6 with lightning extension
• LibreOffice
• VirtualBox
• Citrix Receiver
• Gimp
• Inkscape
• Calibre
• Braindump
• Fogger webapp utility
• Maps
• Integrated desktop search

What is new in version 6 Service Release 3 / 6.5 RC2:

• KDE 4.14
• Mate 1.8
• Kernel 3.16
• Ubuntu Compatible Kernel 3.13
• Firefox 37.0.1
• Thunderbird 31.6 with lightning extension
• LibreOffice
• VirtualBox
• Citrix Receiver
• Gimp
• Inkscape
• Calibre
• Braindump
• Fogger webapp utility
• Maps
• Integrated desktop search

What is new in version 6 Service Release 3:

• GNOME Shell 3.10.4
• Firefox 35.0.1
• Thunderbird 31.4
• GTK+ 3.14
• QT 5
• LibreOffice
• Pidgin
• GLOM
• Kexi with PostgreSQL and MySQL drivers
• Simple Screen Recorder
• GNUCash
• Kmymoney
• Updated Flash Player
• Kernel 3.13.0-45
• DWM
• Nanny parental controls for
• system access controls
• Gnome EncFS Manager for creating
• encrypted data folders

What is new in version 6 Service Release 2:

• We also have some new additions to the /opt/Black Lab Extras/ folder:
• Kernel 3.17.2 Installer
• Skype 4.3
• Black Lab SDK 1.9
• Along with security updates we have also included:
• Kernel 3.13.0-39
• Appgrid 0.13
• GNOME Clock
• GNOME Weather
• GNOME 3.10.3
• Calibre 1.48
• GNUCash 2.6
• The Black Lab SDK 1.9 also installs and configures Docker for you for full container integration.

What is new in version 6:

• GNOME 3.10
• Firefox 32
• Modified Fogger web app utility with full Java and HTML5 support
• Thunderbird with full GOOGLE Apps for Business support
• Maps
• LibreOffice
• GLOM Desktop Database system
• PostgreSQL 9.3
• Calibre Ebook suite
• Refrencer Document indexing system
• Dropbox
• Scribus
• GNU Cash
• Inkscape
• Blender
• Full Oracle 12c support
• WinUSB Creator, allows you to create bootable Windows install USB keys with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows Threshold support.
• Active Directory utility.
• Skype, installable from /opt/Black Lab Extras/

What is new in version 6 Preview:

• GNOME 3, Our default desktop is now a customized GNOME 3. We bring to Black Lab Enterprise the most popular and some would say defacto standard of enterprise Linux distributions.
• Based on the Ubuntu 14.04 system. Using Ubuntu 14.04 we bring alot of things aside from a newer kernel. We ensure compatibility with the #1 Linux distribution in the world this includes application support and OpenStack support.
• LibreOffice 4
• Evolution 3.10.4
• Firefox 31
• PostgreSQL 9.3
• OpenLDAP
• Samba
• GLOM Database Creator
• PowerBroker Identity Services Open 8
• Remmina and Vinagre for RDP and Remote Support
• VNC support
• GUFW
• Terminal Services Support
• VMWare Manager, allows you to manage VMWare Virtual Machines from Black Lab Linux.
• Timekeeper - System Access utility

What is new in version 4.2.5:

• XFCE 4.11
• Google Chrome
• Thunderbird + Google Apps support
• Audacity
• OpenShot 1.4.3
• VLC
• Audacious
• LibreOffice
• Calibre e-book management
• Gimp
• Scribus
• Maps
• Messaging Center
• Glom Database Manager
• GNUCash
• Active Directory Support
• Samba support
• Updated kernel and drivers

What is new in version 4.2:

• XFCE 4.11
• KDE 4.12 for users who prefer the KDE desktop
• DWM as our tiling interface for users who want a minimalist interface.
• Google Chrome, for we browsing and web application deployment. We have also worked to help certify Google Chrome with many enterprise class web applications which include Oracle Cloud, SAP, IBM Cloud Services and Salesforce.com. So its a robust delivery method.
• Thunderbird 24 Not just a mail reader, we also include MS Exchange support, Coogle Contact Sync, Google Task and Calendar Sync.
• Blender for 3D rendering
• Eclipse for Java development
• QT Development for developing QT based applications
• Monodevelop for developing and refreshing .NET based applications
• YUM and RPM for compatibility with custom Red Hat based packages and repositories.
• Red Hat Cluster suite, for creating clusters and adding your machine to an existing cluster network as a node.
• PostgreSQL 9
• LibreOffice 4.1.4 which is compatible with Microsofts office document formats and other formats as well.
• gMTP for transferring files to your Barnes and Noble Nook, Amazon Kindle Fire, Fire HD and Fire HDX tablets as well as Google Nexus devices
• XFCE based release is compatible with the Apple iTouch, iPhone and iPad
• Also included are a whole host of media applications for audio and video playback including DVD and Blu-Ray.
• Access controls are also available so you can set what times and what applications users are allowed to access.
• Overall there are over 300 application and system updates to these releases.

What is new in version 4.1.8:

• Complete re-branding and artwork change.
• Linux Kernel has been updated.
• XFCE 4.11
• The ElementaryOS PPA has been added to Black Lab Enterprise Linux and provides us with the Maya Calendar and the Noise Audio Player.
• Thunderbird 24.1.0 has been updated
• Google Chrome 30 has been updated
• QT 5.1 has been updated
• Eclipse 4.3.1
• Eclipse C++ environment
• QT Creator
• Gambas 3
• Due to Customer demand, Red Hat JBoss Developer Studio is now included
• Referencer for cataloging and now tagging of documents so they are easier to find.
• Global Menus
• The XFCE Whisker menu
• Ubuntu Software Center has been included
• SD Card available as installable media as well as USB Flash Drive

What is new in version 4.1.5:

• Updated kernel, this has increased driver support as well as many bug fixes
• Google Chrome as the default browser
• Updated webmin
• Integrated Oracle Virtualbox drivers so you can run PC/OS Enterprise Linux under VirtualBox as a guest from first install
• Evolution with Exchange support
• GNUStep, Eclipse, Mono, QT, Gambas3 development IDE's preinstalled
• System Imager 1.2
• APTonCD so you can make a local installation for your preinstalled apps
• Access controls so you can control system access times
• Caffeine to disable the screensaver and keep your system from going into hibernate or standby
• Likewise Active Directory integration
• Skype as the default IM application
• Support for Oracle Weblogic 12g as well as support for H&R Block web based tax applications.

What is new in version 4.1.3:

• Quick launch from the top panel to the tilebar, this allows us to make available to system admins quick launch utilities that have been requested.
• Web Browser for launching web apps,
• mail launcher to launch the mail client, terminal for accessing lower level functions and command line configuration tools.
• The log viewer for viewing system logs
• the system monitor for monitoring system activity.
• Permanent RAM disk. So why do we need a RAM disk in 2013? This allows system admins a place to put temporary files they may not want to keep on their user desktops that will be gone with the next reboot. For kiosk users, this will allow them to store configuration files so if the Kiosk gets compromised they can reboot and restore the machine quickly and efficiently. They can also use it as a store point if they allow users to download files so when that user leaves, they can clean up the desktop quickly.
• CPanel is now a part of the Server Expansion pack
• Illumination Software Creator 6.0 is available in the Server Expansion pack
• 3.2 kernel update that includes new drivers and new features. We have also sped up the system so its faster.
• Firefox 22
• Thunderbird 17.0.7
• QT 5.1 and QT Creator 2.7.2
• Microsoft Hyper V and Amazon EC2 support has been improved
• Install on Solid State drives has been improved. Swap Space easier to disable on Solid State drives
• *System Imager 0.1.1 our fork of Remastersys is included for backup of the system in an ISO
• Dropbox support has been improved and does not start on default
• OS4 Kernel 3.9 install script is included for users who wish to use the 3.9 kernel

What is new in version 4.1:

• Linux Kernel 3.2.0-41
• PostgreSQL
• Postfix
• LDAP
• Apache Web Server
• Jakarta Tomcat
• ZFS 0.6.2 for Linux
• support for Microsoft Hyper-V
• A completely redesigned Disk Utility so you can check disk health and view and create partitions not only on the physical computer but also on any computer in your network.
• DWM Window Manager so you have access to a tiling Window Manager for use as your central control.
• WebMin
• Firefox
• Thunderbird
• OpenJDK
• Eclipse
• QT Design suite
• Monodevelop
• Gambas 3
• Deja-Dup backup utility
• Full Red Hat cluster suite