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elementary OS


Last Update: 2024-02-02 02:44 UTC


elementary OS is an Ubuntu-based desktop distribution. Some of its more interesting features include a custom desktop environment called Pantheon and many custom apps including Photos, Music, Videos, Calendar, Terminal, Files, and more. It also comes with some familiar apps like the Epiphany web browser and a fork of Geary mail.



Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 14 (499), 6 months: 15 (478), 3 months: 16 (431), 4 weeks: 17 (455), 1 week: 22 (461)

Average visitor rating: 4.88/10 from 140 review(s).


elementary Summary
Distribution elementary OS
Home Page https://elementary.io/
Mailing Lists --
User Forums --
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://elementary.io/docs/learning-the-basics
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://elementary.io/DistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker https://bugs.launchpad.net/elementary
Related Websites --
Reviews 7.x: MichlFranken (German) • DistroWatchMichlFranken (German)
6.x: DistroWatchHeise (German)
5.x: DistroWatchCMS CriticLinux JournalOrdinatechnicDistroWatchHeise (German)
0.4: DedoimedoDistroWatchThe Tao of MacDedoimedo
0.3: elastic2ls (German) • DistroWatchLinux.com
0.2: Pro-Linux (German) • derStandard (German) • BinaryTidesWordpressLWNLinux Za Sve (Croatian) • WEB UP8LinuxBSDosWordpress
0.1: DedoimedoLWNBlogspotTech Drive-inBlogspotMuyComputer (Spanish) • OMG! Ubuntu!
Where To Donate, Buy, or Try The Linux ShopDonate

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2023-10-03: Distribution Release: elementary OS 7.1
 • 2023-01-31: Distribution Release: elementary OS 7.0
 • 2021-12-20: Distribution Release: elementary OS 6.1
 • 2021-08-10: Distribution Release: elementary OS 6.0
 • 2021-06-16: Development Release: elementary OS 6.0 Beta 2
 • 2021-05-01: Development Release: elementary OS 6.0 Beta
 • 2020-05-02: Distribution Release: elementary OS 5.1.4
 • 2020-02-07: Distribution Release: elementary OS 5.1.2
 • 2019-12-03: Distribution Release: elementary OS 5.1
 • 2018-10-16: Distribution Release: elementary OS 5.0
 • 2018-09-21: Development Release: elementary OS 5.0 Beta 2
 • 2018-07-04: Development Release: elementary OS 5.0 Beta 1
 • More elementary releases...

  Headlines:
 • 2023-11-07 elementary OS outlines plans for version 8
 • 2023-07-07 elementary OS introduces new warnings in software centre to protect privacy
 • 2023-04-06 elementary OS improves sideloading experience
 • 2023-03-06 elementary OS offers new file manager and network widget improvements
 • 2022-12-02 elementary OS team fixes delta updates
 • 2022-11-04 elementary provides Flatpak, GNOME updates
 • 2022-10-06 elementary OS fixes Gala regressions, introduces software centre features
 • 2022-09-07 elementary OS explores responsive designs
 • 2022-05-04 elementary team updates settings, plans for version 7
 • 2022-02-01 elementary OS improves its mail and calendar functions
 • More elementary headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
Feature 7.1
horus
6.1
jolnir
6.0
odin
Release Date 2023-10-03 2021-12-20 2021-08-10
End Of Life      
Price (US$) Free Free Free
Image Size (MB) 2600-2700 2200-2300 2200-2300
Free Download ISO ISO ISO
Installation Graphical Graphical Graphical
Default Desktop Pantheon Pantheon Pantheon
Package Management DEB DEB DEB
Release Model Fixed Fixed Fixed
Office Suite -- -- --
Processor Architecture x86_64 x86_64 x86_64
Init Software systemd systemd systemd
Journaled File Systems Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS
Multilingual Yes Yes Yes
Asian Language Support      
Full Package List 7.1 6.1 6.0
abiword (3.0.5) -- -- --
alsa-lib (1.2.11) 1.2.6 1.2.2 1.2.2
amdgpu (23.0.0) -- -- --
bash (5.2.21) 5.1 5.0 5.0
bind (9.18.21) -- -- --
chromium (121.0.6167.139) -- -- --
cups (2.4.7) 2.4.1 2.3.1 2.3.1
dhcp (4.4.3-P1) 4.4.1 4.4.1 4.4.1
e2fsprogs (1.47.0) 1.46.5 1.45.5 1.45.5
firefox (122.0) -- -- --
freetype (2.13.2) 2.11.1 2.10.1 2.10.1
gcc (13.2.0) -- -- --
gimp (2.10.36) -- -- --
glibc (2.39) 2.35 2.31 2.31
gnome-shell (45.3) -- -- --
gnucash (5.5) -- -- --
gnumeric (1.12.56) -- -- --
grub (2.12) 2.06 2.04 2.04
gtk (4.12.5) 4.6.9 -- 3.24.20
httpd (2.4.58) -- -- --
inkscape (1.3.1) -- -- --
k3b (23.08.4) -- -- --
kmod (31) 29 27 27
krita (5.2.2) -- -- --
LibreOffice (24.2.0) -- -- --
linux (6.7.3) 6.2.0 5.11 5.11
lxpanel (0.10.1) -- -- --
mariadb (11.1.3) -- -- --
mate-desktop (1.26.2) -- -- --
mesa (24.0.0) 23.0.4 21.0.3 21.0.3
mysql (8.3.0) -- -- --
nautilus (45.2.1) -- -- --
NVIDIA (545.29.06) -- -- --
openbox (3.6.1) -- -- --
openjdk (21.0.2) -- -- --
openssh (9.6p1) 8.9p1 8.2p1 8.2p1
openssl (3.2.1) 3.0.2u 1.1.1f 1.1.1f
perl (5.38.2) 5.34.0 5.30.0 5.30.0
php (8.3.2) -- -- --
plasma-desktop (5.27.10) -- -- --
postfix (3.8.5) -- -- --
postgresql (16.1) -- -- --
Python (3.12.1) 3.10.6 3.8.2 3.8.2
qt (6.6.1) 5.15.3 5.12.8 5.12.8
samba (4.19.4) 4.15.13 -- --
systemd (255.3) 249.11 245.4 245.4
thunderbird (115.7.0) -- -- --
vim (9.1) 8.2 8.1 8.1
vlc (3.0.20) -- -- --
wayland (1.22.0) -- -- --
xfdesktop (4.18.1) -- -- --
xorg-server (21.1.11) 21.1.4 1.20.13 1.20.11


Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for elementary OS

Average rating
4.9
from 140 review(s)



What are your thoughts on elementary OS?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
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Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 7.1
Rating: 7
Date: 2024-01-30
Votes: 2


I had been a Windows user for 15 years. In 2018, I switched to Elementary OS and never looked back.

First off, what do I LOVE about the distro?

1.Files app. It's so awesome to create web-browser-like tabs and transfer files and folders between those tabs. Having as many different tabs as you'd like and going back and forth between them.
2.MULTITASKING. With a literal press of a button or a swipe on a touchpad, you create new workspaces, transfer applications between said workspaces, go back and forth between active apps and workspaces, or see all the apps open at the moment and choose the window you want to go to. Again, all of that with the press of a button or a swipe on a touchpad.

Too bad that the project is drawing dead. Updates are too slow (even by FOSS standarts). A key founder left the team, and the company is loosing money as we speak. And there’s one key concept that devs refuse to understand:

1.Most people who don’t know how computers work want a GUI for everything. They want to click icons with their mouse. For them, if a function in your app has no icon to click on, that function doesn’t exist.
2.Most people are never going to use Terminal.

There are a lot of must-have utilities that should be preinstalled by default but aren’t:

Eddy (GUI.deb file installer)
Monitor (Task Manager from Windows)
Mixer (a Windows-like sound panel to control multiple sources of sound separately)
AppEditor (GUI editor for the Applications menu)
Desktopius (put files and folders on your desktop)
wingpanel-indicator-ayatana (System Tray-like icons from Windows for apps that run in the background)
Warehouse (GUI Flatpak manager)
Synaptic or Apper (GUI package manager)

AppCenter...
1.Is completely unreliable (buggy, unstable, fails to fetch updates, fails to see installed apps and/or drivers).
2. Updating Nvidia drivers with it results in having conflicting packages. AppCenter doesn’t actually delete your Nvidia drivers; it puts one on top of the other. You are forced to use Terminal if you want your drivers to work.
3. It has no packages to begin with because, in OS 6, support for both Ubuntu and Flatpak repositories was removed from the utility. You can still install everything manually in the Terminal, but no Lunux noob is going to do that. Your average user is going to enter AppCenter, see that there are no apps, and bail.

If you love Mac OS looks and functionality and you know how to use Linux (or are willing to learn), Elementary OS looks like the best distro out there. It’s beautiful and cohesive. It’s fast and capable. It gives you what you want out of it. It saves you time.

But nowadays, I would suggest using OpenSUSE Tumbleweed with GNOME 45. It’s better in almost every way, has actual support from the devs, has an Elementary OS founder working for them (GNOME), and is not going to die.

And if you like Windows and/or want to have a great experience out of the box, or to do things only by clicking things with a mouse... Try Linux Mint Cinnamon. Or OpenSUSE with KDE Plasma.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 7.1
Rating: 9
Date: 2023-12-03
Votes: 0


Here's my review: Pretty. Simple.

To elaborate a little, this is a very pleasant and beautiful OS with a unique ("Pantheon") interface. It looks Mac-like and has similar usability. But for some, it's too simple. Just add apps, you say? The app store is slow, buggy, and may need restarting to work at all. That's the most half-baked part of this distro.

In any case, it's worth a try. If I was setting up something for an aging relative this might be it. But I've also used it myself for months at a time and enjoyed the experience.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 7.1
Rating: 8
Date: 2023-11-14
Votes: 6


I've been using the eos since the introduction of Freya and didn't have any problem switching to 7.1, but I also skipped the 6* after trying it as I didn't like that changes wrt to Freya already in the 5-th one, so it was kind of easy to change to 7.1 for me personally and the interface was like nothing changed. I don't use most of the native tools like calender of music and use the CLI for the most of my tasks, that is why I like the philosophy of asceticism of the eos and don't need to spend much time to get rid of the bloatware which I would do in other distros. On my HP laptops it works well, except for minor problems with the Realtek WiFi and the toughpads of the newest hardware. Realtek is known to be Linux unfriendly, although in the last updates that problem has already been fixed. Still I give 8 for initial problems and broken dependencies right after the installation. But one needs to say that many of those problems descend to the native distro of Ubuntu and to the version of the kernel specifically, so I had to patch. I also don't like that the semitransparency of the terminal which was nice and useful was abandoned and that you can't paste commands into the command line.


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