Elementary OS "Freya" Beta Released

jjoelc (1589361) writes One year after their last release "Luna", Elementary OS (a Linux distribution with a very heavy emphasis on design and usability which draws a lot of comparisons to Mac OS X) Has released the public beta of their latest version "Freya." Using core components from Ubuntu 14.04, "Freya" sports many improvements including the usual newer kernel, better hardware support and newer libraries.Other updates include a GSignon-based online accounts system, improved searches, Grub-free uEFI booting, GTK+ 3.12, an updated theme, and much more. This being a beta, the usual warnings apply, but I would also point out that the Elementary OS Team also has over $5,000 worth of bugs still available on Bountysource which can be a great way to contribute to the project and make a little dough while you are at it.

Comments

Re:Usability is THE killer feature that Linux need

[serviscope_minor]

* No GUI for a lot of small-thing configuration activities;
* Invariably having to drop to terminal to do this and that;

I wouldn't know. I spend my life in the terminal anyway, so "dropping down" to the terminal is a no-op.

* When I double-click on an "executable" I want it to execute, not open it in whatever equivalent of Notepad there is;

Never seen that but I can believe it. Not sure why you go double clicking executables though.

* I want my updates to install as seamlessly as possible, e.g. download and install updates in the background then let me know I need to restart (if that's the case), much like Android does;

Um package managers have done this for years. Linux had this type of feature before anything else.

* App store for my favorite flavor, where I could sort by features, not by category;

I don't know what you mean by that. A category is broadly a collection of related features.

* While you're at it, give the applications proper names. A Text editor named "Kate"? A streaming application called "XBMC"? A music placer called "Clementine", "Banshee" or "Amarok"? Please...

We'll start doing it when everyone else starts I guess. Or not, because programs need to be googlable these days. But things like Ubuntu are in fact ahead of the curve on this one. Instead of on Windows or OSX or any mobile OS where you get a thing like "Safari" or "Excel" with no explanation as to what they might be, on Ubuntu you get something like "Banshee music player".

So... you're complaining about the aspect where Linux clearly leads the competiton by your comparison.

* Make it absurdly easy to mount an ISO or browse a network/network share.

Never had a problem but OK.

* Enable "Win" key functionality and try to replicate as many "Win"+key commands to make former Windows-based power users feel at home (Win+R, Win+Arrows).

Well this really is a question of familiarity. Your complaint is "its not Windows". Well no it's not. I have no idea what the Win key even does under Windows these days. This sort of complaint is really that you're just not familiar with Windows, not that there's anything inherently wrong with it.

* Make it easy to search for files and folders. Many times I copied a file or downloaded a file and I had no idea where it was, searching for it yielded no results but manually browsing around eventually found it. Y U NO SEARCH???

I find slocate and/or find work well enough, but then I work from the terminal all the time.

I don't know how to best emphasize on this: as a desktop user, I simply loathe having to open terminal and drop to root 50 times a day, when whatever I have to do should involve a right-click and picking a menu entry or a couple checkmarks selected in a configuration GUI window. People eventually start doing everything as root and then they are laughed at for "not being secure". Well, doh. It's the OS pushing that behavior, not the user choosing it deliberately.

You seem to be confusing using a terminal with doing stuff as root. What specifically requies root access many times per day?