Black Lab Linux

Black Lab Linux (formerly OS4 OpenLinux) is an open source Linux distribution that mixes the stable base of the Ubuntu Linux operating system with the lightweight Xfce desktop environment, providing users with a modern and user-friendly computing environment.

Distributed as a 64-bit Live DVD

The system is distributed as a single Live DVD ISO image that supports only the 64-bit instruction set architecture. The boot medium can be written to a USB flash drive using the UNetbootin application, or burned on a blank CD disc using a CD/DVD burning software.

It comes with built-in support for Nvidia, AMD Radeon and Intel video cards, as well as out-of-the-box support for numerous hardware components. The minimum hardware requirements for this operating system are a 64-bit 1Ghz CPU or newer, 1GB of RAM, 15GB free hard drive space, VGA graphics, keyboard, and mouse.

Boot options

Besides starting the live environment with default settings or in safe graphics mode, the boot medium can be used to run a memory test, boot an existing OS, or install Black Lab Linux directly without testing it (not recommended).

Uses the Xfce desktop environment

The live session loads pretty fast and the Xfce desktop environment is comprised of a single taskbar located at the bottom edge of the screen, from where users can start their favorite apps, interact with the system tray area, manage running apps, switch between virtual workspaces, and access the main menu of the system.

Includes a vast amount of applications

Default applications include the Google Chrome web browser, Pidgin multi-protocol instant messenger, Steam for Linux client, Mozilla Thunderbird email/news client, Transmission torrent downloader, XChat IRC client, GIMP image editor, Shotwell image organizer and viewer, Audacious audio player, VLC Media Player, and LibreOffice office suite.

In addition, it includes the official Dropbox client, gMTP tool for connecting portable devices, Audacity audio editor, MilkyTracker music production studio, OpenShot video editor, RecordMyDesktop screen recorder, Xfburn CD/DVD burning tool, Camorama webcam viewer, BleachBit system cleaner, and Scribus desktop publishing software.

Bottom line

All in all, the Black Lab Linux operating system proved to be reliable, stable and mature enough to be deployed on any type of computer, but it’s specifically designed to run on low-end machines.

What is new in this release:

• Chromium Browser 57
• Thunderbird
• LibreOffice 5.3
• kernel 4.4.0-71
• Parole Media Player
• Audacious 3.8.2

What is new in version 8.1:

• Kernel 4.4.0-45
• Chromium 54
• Thunderbird 45.4
• LibreOffice 5.2
• Gimp 2.8.16
• Dropbox
• Google Drive Integration (Unity and GNOME 3.18 Only)
• Ice SSB 5.2.1
• GNOME Video
• Rhythmbox
• Full UEFI support
• exFAT support
• Systemd support
• Upstart Support (Unity and GNOME 3.18 Only)
• GNOME Software Center (Unity, GNOME 3.18, LXDE)
• Plasma Software Discover center (KDE Plasma 5)

What is new in version 8.0:

• Kernel 4.4.0-45
• Chromium 54
• Thunderbird 45.4
• LibreOffice 5.2
• Gimp 2.8.16
• Dropbox
• Google Drive Integration (Unity and GNOME 3.18 Only)
• Ice SSB 5.2.1
• GNOME Video
• Rhythmbox
• Full UEFI support
• exFAT support
• Systemd support
• Upstart Support (Unity and GNOME 3.18 Only)
• GNOME Software Center (Unity, GNOME 3.18, LXDE)
• Plasma Software Discover center (KDE Plasma 5)

What is new in version 7.7 / 8 Beta 3:

• Full EFI support
• Kernel 4.4.0-38
• LibreOffice 5.2
• GNOME Video
• Rhythmbox
• Firefox 49
• Thunderbird
• GIMP
• Full multimedia codec support

What is new in version 7.6 / 8 Alpha 2:

• Linux Kernel 3.19.0-58
• LibreOffice 5.1.2
• Firefox 45.0.2
• Thunderbird 38.6.0
• Gmusicbrowser
• GNOME Documents
• Tracker fast search
• HexChat IRC client
• XFCE 4.12 Enhancements
• Skippy XD Expose style task switcher
• Spotify
• Steam Game Client
• All security updates until April 18, 2016

What is new in version 7.0.3 / 8 Developer Preview 4:

• Black Lab LInux 7.0.3 has been released with an updated kernel (3.19.0.43).

What is new in version 6.5 SR1:

• Kernel 3.16.0-36
• The Ubuntu LTS Compatible kernel 3.13.0-52
• Firefox 37.0.2
• Thunderbird 31.6
• KDE Desktop Sharing for remote access
• Timeshift which allows you to create "restore points" so you can restore your desktop to an earlier state
• KolourPaint for basic image editing
• Shotwell

What is new in version 6.0 SR1:

• Linux kernel 3.13.0-43.50
• Linux kernel 3.17.6 for kernel 3.17 users
• Firefox 34
• Thunderbird 31.3
• GNOME 3.10.4
• GTK 3.10.8

What is new in version 6.0:

• Ubuntu 14.04.1 Base
• GNOME 3 replaces XFCE as the default desktop
• Thunderbird 31.2
• Firefox 33
• AppGrid - an alternative app store available for Black Lab Linux
• TimeShift - A system restore feature for allowing full system backups
• Linux kernel 3.13.0-37, Kernel 3.17.1 is available as an easy to install script
• Abiword
• Gnumeric
• OpenShot
• GNOME PPP
• Steam Integration
• Pidgin
• GNOME Tweak tool integration
• Arista Transcoder
• VLC
• Cheese
• Audacity

What is new in version 6 Beta 1:

• Heavily customized GNOME 3.10 interface
• Ubuntu 14.04 LTS base
• Firefox 32
• System Restore
• Abiword and GNUMERIC
• Scribus
• Inkscape
• Openshot
• DVD and full multimedia codec playback
• Java 7
• VLC
• Audacious
• Pidgin IM client
• Updated WINE packages ready for installation
• Full LSB compliance and all basic development packages installed with a focus on letting people with custom kernels install them with minimal fuss and issue.

What is new in version 5.1 Alpha:

• GTK 3.8
• Linux kernel 3.8 (3.15 is available as a separate download)
• OpenSSH 6.6
• Updated OpenSSL
• KDE 4.13.2 Backported packages
• Firefox 30
• Thunderbird 24.6

What is new in version 5.0.1:

• Linux kernel 3.5.0-51
• Docky
• GTK 3.6
• Gstreamer 1.2
• OpenSSH 6.2
• Revelation Password Manager
• Ice (Webapp creation tool)
• Firefox 29
• Thunderbird 24.5
• Google Maps, Google Voice and Drive Web Apps
• Dropbox 1.6
• Audacious
• VLC
• Openshot Video Editor
• Audacity
• Maya Calendar
• Dates (32 bit)
• GNOME Disk Utility
• Abiword
• Gnumeric
• Font Manager

What is new in version 5.0:

• A GUI that rivals Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows in out-of-the-box usability, no tweaking or addons required.
• Linux kernel 3.5.0-49
• GTK 3.6
• QT 5.2.1
• Gstreamer 1.2
• OpenSSH 6.2
• Revelation Password Manager
• Google Chrome 34
• Thunderbird 24.5
• Google Maps, Voice and Drive Web Apps
• Dropbox 1.6
• Audacious
• VLC
• Openshot Video Editor Audacity
• Updated LibreOffice
• Maya Calendar
• Dates (32 bit)
• GNOME Disk Utility

What is new in version 5.0 Beta 2:

• XFCE 4.11
• Google Chrome 33
• Revelation Password Manager
• Google Maps
• Messaging Center
• LibreOffice 4.2
• Audacious
• Totem
• OpenSSH 6
• Bleachbit
• Bleachbit Administrator
• Nixnote

What is new in version 4.3 Beta 1:

• Functionality
• Hardware Support
• Stability
• XFCE 4.11
• Google Chrome 33/Chromium 32
• OpenShot 1.4.3
• Linux kernel 3.5.0-47
• Improved NVIDIA and ATI drivers
• Improved Wifi support
• Kinect and 360 wireless adapter support
• Thunderbird 24.3
• LibreOffice 4.2
• Gimp 2.8.10
• And many more application and system updates

What is new in version 4.2:

• Newer updated kernel which helps eliminate bugs and also brings driver support and improved hardware support.
• New X.org stack which is the engine which drives the GUI interface and features. With improved support for touch interfaces and input methods, Black Lab Linux can be installed on a variety of machines including first generation 64 bit machines to brand new Intel i7 systems..
• We also revamped the UI due to user demand so the OS gets out of the way of whatever task you are trying to accomplish.
• XFCE 4.11, with this highly innovative and light user interface it is low power and low memory so more of your system memory is dedicated to your applications than powering the UI.
• For the first time ever, we are also releasing a KDE release for users who prefer the KDE desktop and that release ships with KDE 4.12
• LibreOffice 4.1.4, this is the de-facto standard of open source office suites. With LibreOffice you have document compatibility with all Microsoft Office formats including the newer XML based formats, as well as other legacy document formats.
• Chromium 31. Web browsing and web applications are very important to the average user, and for this we have included the award winning Chromium Web Browser which is the standards based platform to host your web applications, very fast and very simple to use. Chromium being cross platform, its also the same across multiple platforms so you will feel right at home.
• Thunderbird 24 with the lightning extension for reading your mail and keeping up with important dates and times. You can also sync your Google calendar events for offline use.
• Audacious 3.4 for listening to streaming music as well as all your mp3, AAC and WMA music files
• VLC for watching streaming video as well as video files on your hard drive in all formats. VLC also supports DVD and Blu-Ray playback.
• Camorama for taking photos from your webcam
• Audacity 3, for audio production
• OpenShot Video editor for making your own home videos
• Steam Client for accessing all of your Valve Steam games. We are also compatible with the SteamOS.
• gMTP for managing files on your Barnes and Noble Nook devices, and Amazon Kindle Fire, Fire HD, and Fire HDX tablets as well as a plethora of other audio and video players.
• Calibre ebook management which allows you to read ebooks in all different formats from proprietary to free formats. We also include the LRF Viewer to read Sony's ebook format.
• These are only some of the application updates that you get with Black Lab Linux 4.2, they are to numerous to go over here. Overall you get over 200 system and application updates. With Black Lab Linux 4.2 you arent just upgrading your operating system, its like you are getting a brand new computer.

Limitations:

• 60 day evaluation version