ElementaryOS is a really popular Linux distro for new users. It looks and feels like macOS. It’s fast, free and slick. It’s loosely based on Ubuntu (it uses 16.04 at the moment as it’s base, so the software you can download for it will be familiar to most).
In this quick article, we’ve got two treats for you; a video tutorial showing you how to install it, as well as a brief intro to the apps and usage of the OS, as well as a review of the OS, below.
This review is for elementaryOS 0.4 (Loki). It was written in November 2016.
Video Guide
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQUBcePrpiE[/embedyt]
Review
The good:
- Looks like a mac. If you are a mac user and like macOS but just got fed up of Apple’s continued annoying changes and fancied dipping your feet into the world of Linux, this is a great distro.
- It’s pretty. Real pretty.
- Really easy to pick up and use straight away, especially if you are a mac user, but any novice computer user can get to grips with it’s simplistic interface in moments.
The bad:
- Looks like a mac! Perhaps too much like a mac.
- Doesn’t come with an office suite pre-installed! Fortunately, you can install LibreOffice really easily from the AppCentre.
- The new apps, which have been mostly written and designed for elementaryOS from the ground up, whilst looking lovely, are somewhat feature lacking. The epiphany web browser lacks the ability for the usual plugins you will need in real life – Java, Flash, etc. You’ll also get the usual swathe of websites saying that they don’t know your browser. The Mail client is a bit buggy and the calendar client, whilst pretty, isn’t great for anything more than local calendars. All of this really isn’t a major drama though, since you can install any of the traditional productivity apps from the AppCentre.
Conclusion:
- The team at elementaryOS obviously spent a hell of a lot of time designing this slick, gorgeous system. They definitely have their UI cues down right, that’s something a lot of Linux distros lack.This version (Loki), is still a 0.x release, we expect that once elementaryOS hits 1.0, the built-in apps will be strong enough on their own right to make this the go-to desktop Linux distro.