PC/OS 8.04 Final Ship date announced

PC/OS 8.04 Final will ship on June 16, 2008.  Everything is done and finalized.  Im just waiting for any last minute bug reports and will continue to hammer away.  The DVD ISO will ship on the 16th, the minimal install ISO will ship probably a few days after.  8.04 Server will ship in September.  8.04 Server RC1 will ship at the end of June with RC1 shipping in mid July.  Some noticable differences: ‘Places’ has been renamed ‘Tracker’ as in a way to “Track” your media.  Catfish is the default search tool.  The Industrial theme MAY replace Echo, depending on user feedback before the final master is mastered and the new GDM and default wallpaper are the same as in the Beta and RC1 releases.

Here are some screenshots of Final

PC/OS Server System 8.04 b1 released

This release is a test release of PC/OS Server System 8.04. It includes all the latest and greatest from Canonical as well as my own features. Some differences exist.

Postfix has been removed. This helps lean up the server install and gives the basic system. This was done to appease users who may use a commercial e-mail server or want a different e-mail server altogether

Firefox removed. For the server ONLY Firefox has been replaced by Epiphany. Epiphany is great for basic web surfing as well as for the browser based interfaces included in PC/OS Server System.

Mono has been removed. This was done by request of the users. For development PHP, Perl and Python has been included, OpenLDEV has been included by request for programming. For the final version I may include Glade for interface design.

For the final release I plan to include scripts to install things like PostFix and MySQL server and other server based features. Also different shells such as csh and ksh will be included to increase familiarity for users coming from UNIX based systems.  The server system will keep the Tango icon theme as well as use the NewBe theme.  No, I promise in the final version I will use the default and not Pink.  K3b also replaces Brasero in the server version.  MySQL, Postfix and other features will be included in a PC/OS Server System 8.04 Feature Pak which will be downloadable at the same time as the final release for those that want local media and not have to do a download from the internet.

You can get Beta 1 from the download section.

PC/OS 7.10 Maintenance Pack 1 released

PC/OS 7.10 Maintenance Pack has been released to the world.  This includes fixes for Client and Server.  You can get it from the Downloads section on the main site.

Please read the “readme’ first.  This includes a description of what folder you will need for your installation as well as install instructions.  PC/OS 7.10.2 is recommended but it will install on 7.10 and 7.10.1 as well.

PC/OS 8.04 RC1 posted

PC/OS 8.04 has been posted for your testing pleasure.  This release brings PC/OS up to the point of feature complete and cosmetic complete.  I have been asked to replace Brasero with K3b for the purpose of being able to burn VCD’s easily.  If anyone knows of a good GTK based app that does that I may replace Brasero with K3b.  PC/OS has a target audience of content creators and being able to burn VCD’s and Video DVD is a major part of that.

Some of you have commented on Firefox 2 replacing Firefox 3 Beta that ships with Ubuntu 8.04.  The reason for this is because I want the stable version of Firefox in the distro.  When 3 is complete FF3 will replace FF 2.

If everything with testing goes well we are looking at a late June release for PC/OS 8.04 gold.  Server Beta 1 will go live at the end of this week. The blog will be quiet for a few days in observation of memorial day.

New Window Decoration and layout

I went back to the two shelf layout I had in the beginning. It turns out it was the more popular of the single shelf or the full screen shelf. For those of you that like it positioned a different way its extremely easy to do and I will write my June how-to on how to do it. The exception to this will be PC/OS Appliance. The sole shelf on the bottom makes more sense real estate wise on smaller screens.

Another request I had was for different colors to the default theme. So I added two more options for that. So now the Window decorations are NewBe Default, NewBe Mint, and NewBe Metal. Below are screenshots for these decorations. I also fixed the funcky icons in Echo, for example the  pause button doesnt look so funky among others.  Also a few more application additions such as xsane and the Envy NG program. Im not planning to remove the Ubuntu hardware manager as it handles much more hardware than just video drivers, for video driver install use Envy. I got the package list back up to what it was in 7.10.2.

I havent removed ALL of the Ubuntu branding but most of it has now been replaced with PC/OS branding. Such as now when you go into Console mode or when you get to the login prompt on Server you see PC/OS and not Ubuntu.

EDIT:

For the ladies in audience I did a special request called NewBe Pink.

New logo

As some of you may have noticed, the logo has changed.  I personally think it looks better tho some may not agree.  As always the menu button for PC/OS follows that tradition of the new logo change.

PC/OS Workstation B3 XFCE released

As promised the XFCE build of PC/OS 804 B3 has been released for testing.  ndiswrapper is still not included with the build but everything else works extremely well.  So test it and get back to me as always http://www.pc-os.org/downloads.  No torrents set up for the betas.

804 Final Screenshots

All cosmetic changes have been made to PC/OS 8.04.  As you can see the icons are the same as with 7.10, the theme is the same as with 7.10.  The GDM theme has been changed and all that is left is functionality.

I decided to post some screenshots to let everyone know what the final look was going to be.

And the winner is…

After resounding feedback and hearing concerns and working with users both private and internet based.  PC/OS will be staying XFCE based.  I will be uploading an XFCE based B3 by tomorrow hopefully depending on weather and build time.

I want to personally thank everyone for their time.  If someone else is willing to maintain it I will consider a KDE release but as from the start XFCE is the premier desktop.

PC/OS 8.04 B3 released

Beta 3 based on KDE has been released.  This release has some extremely interesting features.  Its based on KDE 3.5.9, I have mixed several GTK apps with the KDE apps where it made sense and KDE went on a diet.  So much of a diet that it actually falls below the ISO size of 7.10.2 client with the same features.  Also another difference is the inclusion of the Medibuntu repositories.  None of the content from the Medibuntu repositories are loaded and you have to install manually but its there.

I have heard several voices from the community regarding KDE and XFCE.  Both are enthusiastic communities and the arguments range from Performance to desktop features.  GNOME didnt even make the cut.  Several of my testers have said NO to GNOME.  Some things to note are as follows.  Compiz fusion is not loaded with any desktop and the only reason I have released the experimental versions is due to user feedback and request and to see what ALL my users would like to see.

I have been in talks with Linspire to include the CNR application.  Before everyone starts freaking, I have not nor do I have any intention of signing a patent agreement with Microsoft.  I would if it made sense and there was a need to.  So far it doesnt make sense and I see no need to.  If I agree with Linspire to include CNR the patent agreement Linspire has with Microsoft will not come to PC/OS users, at ALL.  Its not even an issue. PC/OS will not get involved in the Microsoft/Linux coalition.

Download B3, let me know what you think and as always send your feedback.