Instant WebKiosk/UB is an open source kiosk operating system based on the award winning and highly acclaimed Debian GNU/Linux distribution. It’s designed from the ground up to be deployed on Internet Cafès, offices, educational institutions, hotels, hospitals, and public libraries.
It is a browser-only distribution in the style of JustBrowsing or Google’s Chrome OS operating systems. It is designed to be primarily used as a live environment, but if can be easily installed to a local disk drive if the user wants.
Distributed as a dual-arch Live CD
The project is distributed as a single Live CD ISO image archived as a zip file. It can be deployed onto a USB flash drive, from which users can boot the live environment directly without installing anything on the computer.
Build around the Google Chrome web browser
The distribution relies on the well known Google Chrome web browser, providing users with a modern and efficient Internet surfing experience that will protect their privacy, support Adobe Flash, office and compressed files, viewing of PDF, image and video files, as well as i18n internationalization.
The live session is fully persistent, allowing users to save network, printer, sound, video, and localization configurations and reuse the system whenever they want. The administrator can also save the web browser’s state, including bookmarks, history, extension and custom settings.
Another interesting feature is that the entire operating system is immune to viruses and malware, especially because it uses a stable and reliable Debian base, but most certainly because of the Linux technologies it uses. Additionally, it offers built-in support for both wired and wireless networks, as well as common USB printers.
Bottom line
All in all, Instant WebKiosk/UB provides users with a full-screen browser-only kiosk operating system that is extremely stable, being based on Debian GNU/Linux, and very secure, thanks to the open source technologies it is based on.
What is new in this release:
- Underlying system update: Linux kernel 4.9 with the newer Chrome, which fixes the SSL certificates issues originated after the infamous SHA1 collision discovery.
What is new in version 14.0:
- Backend operating system switched to Debian 8 Jessie, so a new world of hardware compatibility is born.
- Adobe Flash removed (latest Chromium versions do not support it).
What is new in version 13.0:
- Added the possibility to lower resolution (it defaults to highest possible).
- Debian 7.5 backend upgrade; most important updates follow.
- Printer drivers updated.
- Chromium version 34.
- Adobe Flash plugin is no more: it is now replaced by Chrome Pepper Flash plugin.
What is new in version 11.4:
- Backend updated as of 2014-04-05.
What is new in version 11.3:
- Backend updated to Debian 7.4
What is new in version 11.2:
- Backend updated to Debian 7.3.
What is new in version 11.1:
- Fixed Portuguese and Russian Libreoffice locales.
What is new in version 11.0:
- Admin interface makeover;
- Dutch locale added.
What is new in version 10.5:
- Backend updated to Debian 7.2.0;
- Extensions icons fix.
What is new in version 10.4:
- Some localization bugs fixed;
- Added battery status information (on admin interface).
What is new in version 10.3:
- Modifiable screensaver image.
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