Netrunner OS 23 Available

Netrunner "Vaporware" version 23 has been made available by Blue Systems (https://blue-systems.com/), arriving some two years after the previous milestone release. Unlike Netrunner 21, version 23 migrates to Debian Bullseye, which means it also includes the 5.10.19 Linux kernel.

In addition, Netrunner 23 includes KDE Plasma 5.20, Qt 5.15.2, Firefox 102 ESR, LibreOffice 7.0.4, VLC 3.0.18, Audacious 4.0.5, Thunderbird 102.6.0, GIMP 2.10, and much more. But don't think you'll be getting a stock KDE desktop.

The developers have added a number of customizations to the desktop, such as an overview-like main menu, a unique theme that helps it stand out, simplified System Settings with Plasma Tweaks, a unified look for both KDE and non-KDE applications, GTK apps with standard Kwin borders, Task Manager with expanding icons, Show Desktop hotspot in the lower right corner, and more.

One nice addition is the inclusion of the VirtualBox guest additions, which makes it easier to run the distribution as a virtual machine without having to manually install the software. This means, out of the box, you can resize your Netrunner virtual machine window, without having to first install the guest additions.

Find our more about "Vaporware" on the official Netrunner overview page (https://www.netrunner.com/netrunner-overview/) and download an ISO (https://www.netrunner.com/download/) today.

New Linux Distribution Built for Gamers

PikaOS (https://pikaos.ferreo.dev/) wants to be your new favorite desktop Linux, especially if you're into games. This distribution is similar to what Nobara (https://nobaraproject.org/) offers, only instead of using Fedora as its base, it opts for Ubuntu.

PikaOS promises gaming "out of the box," so you don't have to bother with complicated configurations or complex third-party app installation. You'll find the best drivers installed or readily available via the Welcome App and a high level of compatibility for both software and hardware.

PikaOS goes with the XanMod kernel, which implements numerous customized settings to provide ultra-low latency and support for cutting-edge hardware. You'll also find the APX package manager, which is a wrapper for managing APT packages.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that PikaOS doesn't come with a large selection of pre-installed apps. Even the apps commonly associated with gaming on Linux aren't installed by default.

Apps such as Steam, Lutris, OBS Studio, and more are available to install from the Welcome App. This is the same location where you can apply updates, install hardware drivers, and add multimedia codecs.

PikaOS also includes GDebi, a driver manager, a firmware manager, the Synaptica Package Manager, Firefox, VLC, the Geary email client, the Transmission torrent client, and more. Finally, you can select from five different Gnome layouts to make using Gnome even easier.

To find out more about PikaOS, check out the features page (https://pikaos.ferreo.dev/#features) and then download (https://cdn.ferreo.dev/PikaOS-Gnome-2210-amd64_23.01.18.iso) an ISO image so you can install the OS on any machine you like.

System76 Beefs Up Popular Pangolin Laptop

System76 recently announced they would soon give their fan-favorite Pangolin laptop a boost with the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U CPU 2.7 up to 4.7 GHz with 8 cores and 16 threads, which includes an AMD Radeon 680M GPU. With the Ryzen 7, users get increased CPU clock speeds, doubled read/write speeds, and faster bandwidth at the tune of 40 percent faster.

The Pangolin chassis is built with magnesium and offers 150 degrees of flexibility for the screen. The display has a 1920x1080 FDH matte with a 144 Hz refresh rate.

Tucked inside the chassis is a battery with 10 percent more life than previous iterations, so you can expect to get roughly 10 hours of productivity from the new configuration.

Other specs include 32GB LPDDR5 RAM at 6400 MHz, 2 x M.2 SSD (PCIe NVMe) with up to 16TB total in storage, 3 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, an SD card reader, single color backlit keyboard, gigabit ethernet, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, video ports (including HDMI 2.0, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort), full-range speakers and 1 headphone/mic combo jack, a single 1.0 MP 720p HD webcam, and a 70 Wh Li-Ion battery.

As of now, there is no set release date, but the price for the base model will start at $1,299.00. Sign up for updates on the new Pangolin on the System76 teaser page (https://system76.com/laptops/pangolin-teaser).