I’ve tried just about every flavor of Linux available. Not a desktop interface has gone by that hasn’t, in some way, touched down before me. So when I set out to start kicking the tires of Elementary OS Freya, I assumed it was going to be just another take on the same old desktop metaphors. A variation of GNOME, a tweak of Xfce, a dash of OSX or some form of Windows, and the slightest hint of Chrome OS. What I wound up seeing didn’t disappoint on that level—it was a mixed bag of those very things. However, that mixed bag turned out to be something kind of special … something every Linux user should take notice of.
Download elementary OS for free. A fast and open replacement for Windows and OS X. Elementary is a software platform; a unified computer operating system. Scrcpy is an open-source free android screen mirroring tool that enables users to control Android on PC (USB and wirelessly), without even installing an application. Elementary OS 6 Will.
Why? Because Elementary OS Freya gets a lot of things right, including some things that other distributions have failed to bring to light. True user-friendliness.
Elementary OS Freya takes all of the known elements of a good UI, blends them together, and doesn’t toss in anything extraneous that might throw the user for a loop. The end result is a desktop interface that anyone (and I do mean anyone) can use without hiccup.
Before I dive any further into this, I must say that Freya is still in beta (and has been for quite some time). That being said, the beta release of Freya is rock solid. You can download the beta here and install it alongside your current OS or as a virtual guest in VirtualBox.
With that said, let’s examine what it is about Elementary OS Freya that makes it, quite possibly, the most ideal Linux desktop distribution (and maybe what it could use to draw it nearer to perfection).
Design
This is where Freya truly nails just about every possible aspect of the desktop interface. Upon installation (or loading up the live image), you are greeted with a minimalist interface that, at first glance, looks like a take on GNOME Shell with an added dock for good measure (Figure 1).
You only need scratch the surface to find out that Freya has taken hints from nearly every major interface and rolled them into a coherent whole that will please everyone. Consider this:
OSX dock
Chrome OS menu
GNOME Shell panel
Multiple workspaces
OSX consistency in design
Ubuntu system settings
Ubuntu Software Center.
Do you see where that is going? With those pieces working as a cohesive unit, the Freya desktop is already light years ahead of a number of platforms. And they do work together very well.
The foundation
Elementary OS did right by choosing Ubuntu as its foundation. With this, they receive the Ubuntu Software Center, which happens to be one of the most user-friendly package managers within the Linux ecosystem. This also adds the Ubuntu System Settings tool, which is quite simple to use (Figure 2).
Where Elementary OS Freya departs from Ubuntu (besides Unity) is the default applications. This also happens to be one area where Freya does stumble a bit. By this, I mean the default web browser. I get the desire to use Midori over the likes of Chrome or Firefox; but the reality is that choice limits the platform in a number of ways (think supported sites). For someone like me, who depends upon Google Drive, Midori simply does not work. When I try to access Google Drive, I receive the warning You are using an unsupported browser.
To get around this, I must install either Chrome or Firefox. Not a problem, of course. All I need to do is hop on over to the Software Center and install Firefox. If I want Chrome, I head over to the Chrome download location and download the installable .deb file. If you install either Chrome or Firefox, surprisingly enough, the design scheme holds true for both.
NOTE: If you want to install Chrome on the current Freya beta, I highly recommend against doing so. Every attempt to load the Chrome download page (through either Midori or Firefox) actually crashes the Freya desktop to the point where a hard restart is necessary. So install Firefox through the Software Center and then download Chrome with Firefox. I did, however, manage to download the .deb file for Chrome on one machine, transfer it (via USB), and then install Chrome on Elementary OS. Once this was done, the Chrome Download page loaded fine (from Chrome only) and Google Drive worked flawlessly.
Phoenix 82 Motor. While the Phoenix 82 sewing machine is made in Germany, the Phoenix motor appears to have been made in the U.S.A. The motor emitted a bit of smoke when we first fired up the machine and we are currently addressing that problem. The accessory box, with the Phoenix name on it, included all sorts of feet and attachments and three were duplicates, to be shared with my other Phoenix. There are 14 cams that can be stacked in sets of four and inserted into the back of the sewing machine. To the left of the stitch length lever on the front is a lever with markings one to four. Phoenix sewing machine manual.
Missing apps
Outside of a supported browser, the one area that Elementary OS needs a bit of attention is the application selection. Upon installation, you will find no sign of an office suite or graphics tool. In fact, the closest thing to a word processor is the Scratch text editor. There is no LibreOffice to be found (and with the state of Midori rendering Google Drive useless, this is an issue).
Yes, you can hop over to the Software Center and install LibreOffice, but we’re looking at a Linux desktop variant that offers one of the most well designed interfaces for new users. Why make those users jump through hoops to have what nearly every flavor of Linux installs by default? On top of that, when installing LibreOffice through the Software Center (on Elementary OS), you wind up with a very out of date iteration of the software (4.2.8.2) ─ which completely shatters the aesthetics of the platform (Figure 3).
Including LibreOffice (and an up-to-date version at that) would take next to nothing. The latest iteration of Ubuntu (15.04) includes LibreOffice 4.4. This release of the flagship open source office suite would be much better suited for Elementary OS Freya … on every level. I highly recommend downloading the main LibreOffice installer and installing with the following steps:
Open a terminal window.
Change into the Downloads folder (assuming you downloaded the file there) with the command cd Downloads.
Unpack the file with the command tar xvzf LibreOffice_XXX.tar.gz (Where XXX is the release number).
Change into the DEBS subfolder of the newly created directory.
Issue the command sudo dpkg -i *deb
Once the installation is complete, you’ll need to run the new install from the command line (since the entries for LibreOffice in the Applications menu will still be the old 4.2 release). The command to run the new version of LibreOffice is libreoffice4.4. Once opened, you can lock the launcher to the dock by right-clicking the LibreOffice icon in the dock and selecting Keep in Dock.
There is so much to love about Elementary OS Freya. Considering this platform is still in beta makes it all the more impressive. Even though there are areas that could use a bit of polish, what we are looking at could easily take over as the single most user-friendly and well designed Linux distribution to date.
Have you given Elementary OS Freya a try? If so, what was your impression? Will you be ready to hop from your current distribution to this new flavor, once it is out of beta? If not, what keeps you from jumping ship?
Ready to try it out? Here are 7 Elementary OS Freya tweaks to make the platform even better.
I’ve been a big fan of Elementary OS Freya since it released in 2015. So, when I heard the developers had released the beta of the next iteration, Loki, into the wild, I immediately downloaded and installed. I went into this wondering how the Elementary team could improve on their already unbelievably smooth Freya. Well…they did; and in doing so created what I believe to be one of the most elegant and well-designed Linux desktops on the planet.
Before I get into this, you should know that, to some, the Elementary desktop looks and feels like that of OS X. Some time ago, however, I said that Elementary OS was not just the “poor man’s Apple” and that still holds true. It should also be said that Elementary OS Freya was downloaded over 1.2 million times with 73 percent of those downloads coming from closed source OSes.
Elementary OS founder, Daniel Foré says: “Rather than competing directly with existing open source projects, elementary seeks to grow the market share for open source software in general. And as we’ve seen with previous releases, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Elementary has also made progress on their mission to create Open Source jobs. With about $8,700 in bounties paid out during the Loki development cycle, their total payout comes to $17,521. But, what will interest you more are the improvements made over Freya—which is a very impressive feat.
Let’s take a quick glance at what has improved in the new release of Elementary OS.
Kernel
First, note that Loki ships with kernel version 4.4. That is a marked improvement over Freya (which was based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS). Freya only recently upgraded to the 4.x kernel, which went a long way to improve performance and extending support for even more hardware. The changes between the 3.x kernel and 4.x are many. For more information on the Linux 4.4 kernel, check out this Linux.com article.
Beyond the kernel, we have to look at specific bits of the desktop—all of which come together to make a seriously impressive whole.
Indicators
The developers have completely revamped the indicator system for Loki. The audio, network, bluetooth, power, and Notification Center indicators have all undergone major changes. Take a look at Figure 1. On the left, you’ll see the Notification Center for Freya and on the right for Loki.
With Freya, you were only given new mail counts in the notification. Loki makes this much more user-friendly by listing the sender and subject of the incoming email. The only caveat is that you cannot enable/disable more or less information. It’s all or none. With the Notifications settings window (Figure 2), you can enable/disable Bubbles, Sounds, and Notifications for each supporting app (but you cannot define what kind of information is displayed—maybe a feature for the future?).
New software
Loki adds a few “new” pieces to the puzzle. Some of them are serious improvements over previous releases.
Elementary OS Freya shipped with Midori. For some, that minimal browser was fine. However, the developers saw to it to make a shift in choice to Epiphany—a Webkit2-powered browser. You’ll still get that annoying message (from the likes of Google Drive) that you’re using an unsupported browser, but it works significantly better than Midori. Epiphany uses the same rendering engine as Apple Safari and brings improved performance, better website compatibility, per-tab processes, improved SSL support, security and stability enhancements, and an all-new web inspector. Epiphany also utilizes the OS keychain for saved passwords (which translates to your private data being encrypted and safe).
Another welcome addition comes by way of forking the Geary email client, from the now-defunct non-profit Yorba. The developers previously announced they would be continuing Yorba’s Geary email client, in the form of Mail. The new client looks very much like Geary, although it is very much improved. The Elementary team has added a new Always Show Images setting, redesigned the toolbar, and improved the overall look and feel throughout the app (Figure 3). Mail also now integrates into the new Online Accounts feature.
Mail is a much-needed breath of fresh air, considering how the Linux desktop mail client space has become stagnant.
Speaking of online accounts, Loki does include a new system that will enable users to add their online accounts (which will then seamlessly integrated into the desktop). As of the initial release, however, the only supported services are Last.fm and FastMail. More services are under development (hopefully that means the likes of Google, Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox, etc.).
Calendar
The improved Calendar app does something really impressive. If you open up the new event window (by clicking the + button in the Calendar main window) and typing something like “Meeting with Amber tomorrow at Starbucks” in the Title field (Figure 4), and hit Enter, the details will auto-fill in the correct places.
There is one caveat to using the Calendar app. You will notice that the location feature is broken. As of July 11, 2016, when Mapquest discontinued direct title access, which effectively brought GNOME Maps to a halt. This isn’t a deal breaker, as it will still fill out the details for the meeting (you just won’t be given a map of your location).
New App Store
We can all rejoice that the Ubuntu Software Center is no more. The Elementary team has developed their own app store, called AppStore, that works as well as GNOME Software. It’s fast, reliable, includes an update section (Figure 5), and makes the process of installing and updating apps so simple any and all users will immediately feel at home.
The final conclusion
If you have been using Elementary OS Freya, you should be incredibly excited about the prospect of seeing your platform of choice gain even more polish. For those that have never given Elementary a chance, Loki will be a perfect introduction to one of the most elegant and user-friendly Linux desktops on the market.
I highly recommend that every Linux user at least kick the tires of Elementary OS Loki. Elementary was the first distribution to permanently sway me from Ubuntu and it shows no signs of releasing me any time soon. And since today, September 9, 2016 is the official release day of Loki, now is the perfect time to find out if Elementary OS Loki can sway you.
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