14 DAY TRIAL // Linux Lite developer Jerry Bezencon and his team have recently started working on the next major release of the Ubuntu-based GNU/Linux distribution designed for old computers or PCs with little RAM and CPU power.
The current version of Linux Lite is 3.4, and it's based on the Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system, using the Linux 4.4 LTS kernel, but the team is now preparing the Linux Lite 3.6 release, which they say will bare two major new features while remaining based on Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS and Linux kernel 4.4 LTS.
"Linux Lite 3.6 Beta is now available for testing. There have been a number of changes since the 3.4 release. In this release, we introduce two major new features, Lite Sources and the Linux Lite Help Manual search engine for both online and offline mode," said Jerry Bezencon in the forum announcement.
Linux Lite 3.6 Beta available today, final release arrives September 1
The first new feature of Linux Lite 3.6 is the introduction of Lite Sources, an in-house built tool that lets Linux Lite users choose a software repository with apps that have been designed specifically for the distro, such as Lite Software, Lite Tweaks, and Lite Welcome.
The second new feature of Linux Lite 3.6 is the implementation of a search engine in Linux Lite Help Manual, which is designed from the offset to allow Linux Lite newcomers to find topics they are interested in much easier than before. Best of all, the search engine and Linux Lite Help Manual are both mobile friendly.
Work continues on the unification of the system theme of Linux Lite, and for the upcoming Linux Lite 3.6 release, the developers added the popular Arc GTK theme to Mozilla Thunderbird. Of course, they've also improved Bluetooth and Broadcom wireless support and added a bunch of new wallpapers.
As for the pre-installed apps, it looks like Linute Lite 3.6 Beta ships with the Mozilla Firefox 54.0 web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird 52.2.1 email and news client, LibreOffice 5.1.6.2 office suite, VLC Media Player 2.2.2 video player, and GIMP 2.8.22 image viewer and editor.
Those who don't want to use the default Linux 4.4 LTS kernel from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS will find a wide range of Linux kernels in the main repos, including the latest Linux 4.12 kernel. Other than that, it looks like the share name in the Samba config file was shortened to "liteshare" from "linuxliteshare."
Linux Lite 3.6 Beta is now available for download through our website if you want to take it for a test drive, but please try to keep in mind that this is a pre-release version that's not suitable for daily use or any production work. Also, keep in mind that you can't upgrade from Linux Lite 3.4 to Linux Lite 3.6 Beta, so you'll need to perform a fresh install.
