I have been running KDE’s upcoming Plasma 5 on a test system for a while now. Today I gathered some courage to install it on a production machine which I use to files stories on The Mukt, and also as my primary computer. So far everything seems to be working fine.

LXLE has been kicking around for a while now and, for a supposedly lightweight distro, it’s looking fearsomely feature-packed right now. Having said that, it’s hard not to love LXLE, as it’s treading the line between resource efficiency and usability pretty well, and is borderline addictive when it comes to the DE itself. The clue’s in the updated acronym; rather than standing for ‘Lubuntu eXtra Life Extension’, as it did in the days before Lubuntu LTS releases, when LXLE was around to fill that niche using the LXDE desktop environment, it’s now pitched as the ‘LXDE eXtra Luxury Edition’.

Now that the CentOS 7 Linux kernel-based operating system has been officially released, the time has come to enjoy some screenshots of this beautiful distribution of Linux based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

Deepin 2014 is the latest version of Deepin, a Linux desktop that’s based on Ubuntu Desktop. Deepin 2014 is actually based on Ubuntu 14.04. It was released yesterday.

Deepin has always been on my list of the best desktop distributions, and Deepin 2014 just vaulted it to the top-2 of that list. The aim of this post is to show you why that happened and why I highly recommend that you should take Deepin 2014 out for a spin. I guarantee that you will like practically all it brings to the table.

Historically, Linux and gaming were like oil and water -- it did not mix. For the most part, this was just accepted as a fact of life. Quite frankly, this was OK as users were more interested in maintaining their box and chatting with other Linux users anyway. However, as time went by, jealousy of DOS, and then ultimately Windows, definitely grew as more and more amazing games were released for Microsoft's operating system. Even Linus Torvalds himself dual-booted Linux and DOS to play Prince of Persia.

Generally speaking, I enjoyed my time with LXLE. The distribution got off to a good start with a smooth installation process and the project features clear documentation and release notes, letting people know exactly what to expect from the distribution. I like the LXDE desktop as I feel it does an excellent job of balancing user friendliness, performance and features. The LXLE feature which allows us to change the look of our desktop session is a nice bonus and may make it easier for Linux newcomers to navigate the LXDE interface. The distribution ships with a lot of great desktop applications, almost all of them worked well for me. I feel that most people will be able to sit down and just start using this distribution without worrying about configuring software or downloading additional applications. The interface was responsive, the distribution doesn't use a lot of memory (even with preload enabled) and all of my hardware was handled properly.

Linux Mint 17 ‘Qiana’ KDE and Xfce editions were released late last month, just a few weeks after the main editions (Cinnamon and MATE) were put out. This release will have the same lifespan as the distribution which is based on, Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr, so it will be supported until 2019, for no less than five years.

Cinnamon has come a long way in terms of both usability and responsiveness, and Mint 17 ‘Qiana’ stands proof of this. As mentioned in my review of Mint 17 KDE edition, this release will be supported for five years, and it will also be the base for development of future Mint releases.

Redhat has recently released RHEL7 Operating system. Some of the Changes in RHEL7 are listed below as compare with RHEL 6 .

Peppermint Five, the latest release of the distribution formerly called Peppermint OS, features a brand new Control Center to manage settings, as well as a rebuilt Ice SSB (Site Specific Browser) manager. Since it’s built on the Ubuntu 14.04 code base, Peppermint Five is also a long term support release.

I used to believe that in the next stage of evolution we'd grow a third arm. That would be a sign that our bodies have adapted to one of the greatest physical impediments in human history: constantly having to pull out our smartphones to see if we have important messages.

But there's a less genetically drastic solution. A smartwatch can now deliver the most important and timely information straight to one of your existing wrists. And where Samsung 005930.SE +1.53% and some smartwatch startups have failed to gain momentum, Google's new Android Wear may be the first viable wrist-top platform.

The development team behind the HandyLinux operating system had the pleasure of announcing on June 30 that version 1.5.1 has been released and is now available for download. This build introduces several new features, updated packages, and fixes various bugs.

Linux Mint 17 is very impressive, but it is often said that the devil is in the details. With Linux Mint 17, the accumulated details are very devilish indeed. The development team did a hell of a job making this Linux distro smoother and better. The GUI for System Settings has a more consistent look. The categories are better organized and separated into subsections.

As the world increasingly moves to cloud-based infrastructure and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, the needs of traditional desktop users are changing. The Peppermint OS Linux platform is an effort to integrate the cloud SaaS world with the desktop in a seamless hybrid approach. Peppermint had its 1.0 release back in 2010, and the technology has been steadily updated ever since. The Peppermint Five Linux distribution was officially released on June 23, providing an updated software base and new features for Peppermint OS users. Peppermint Five is based on the recent Ubuntu 14.04 Long Term Support (LTS) Linux release that debuted on April 17.

• Ubuntu 14.04 KDE 5 20140627

• StartOS 5.1

Based on some recent experience, I'm of the opinion that smartphones are about as private as a gas station bathroom. They're full of leaks, prone to surveillance, and what security they do have comes from using really awkward keys. While there are tools available to help improve the security and privacy of smartphones, they're generally intended for enterprise customers. No one has had a real one-stop solution: a smartphone pre-configured for privacy that anyone can use without being a cypherpunk.

After years of rumours, months of teasing and weeks of waiting, SteamOS is finally here. The beta release of the gaming distro signalled the start of Valve’s tentative entry into the hardware market. The same day as the release, the first wave of Valve’s own Steam Machines went out. These beta units, while never truly meant to grace store shelves, are the first examples of many more third-party offerings to come. This massive step from Valve is making waves around the tech and games world, so we decided to talk to a few of the people that could help us truly understand the position Valve is in, and what their next move might be.

I’ve done the release team duty for the GNOME 3.13.3 release this week. As I often do, I took some screenshots of new things that I’ve noticed while smoketesting.

There is quite a bit of good new stuff in this release, starting with an rewritten and improved Adwaita theme that is now part of GTK+.

With the release of Linux Mint 17 "Qiana" Xfce, the collection of Mint flavors is now complete. Cinnamon, MATE, KDE, and Xfce are the main versions, but the developers have been dabbling for some time in a Mint release based on Debian. We'll have to wait a little more until those experimental OSes make their entrance in this branch.

Just like all the other releases in the new 17 "Qiana" series, the Xfce flavor is also based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, a distribution that will be supported until 2019. This extended support period will also be adopted by Linux Mint developers and the next three editions of this distro will use the same base, 14.04 LTS