U.S they had promised and it's already here. The Raspberry Pi 5 is just around the corner, and it couldn't arrive without a good evening dress. That suit will be Raspberry Pi OS based on Debian 12 which I arrive in June, and that is the most notable novelty of everything that the update includes. It is in the base where components such as the version of Python, PipeWire, networks and everything that makes an operating system move with more modern software reside.
The kernel that this Raspberry Pi OS uses is the same as that of the previous version, since the fact that this distribution for raspberry boards is based on Debian does not mean that they have to use everything the same as its predecessor, and if Not that they tell it to their favorite son. In short, the kernel is Linux 6.1, and below you have a list with the highlights that have come with this Bookworm for the Pi.
Highlights of Raspberry Pi OS “Bookworm”
- Based on Debian 12.
- Linux 6.1, supported until December 2026. Change raspberrypi-kernel to the Debian-based linux-image-rpi.
- Now use Wayfire Wayland as a window manager, but only for RPi4 and RPi5. In previous versions it still uses Openbox.
- LXpanel has been modified by wf-panel-pi, this change motivated by the previous point. Other components have followed the same or similar path, with updates or changes in their entirety to improve support and consistency with Wayland.
- PipeWire is now used by default.
- The network manager becomes NetworkManager.
- Firefox as an option, leaving behind the times of Chromium that I had always used.
32bit as main version
There were no rumors circulating nor did anyone expect anything else, but it must be mentioned that the image of 32bit is still the main option. There is a 64-bit one, but as an option.
Is this important? No and yes. Offering the 32-bit image as the main option ensures that support with everything that exists is good, but there is no "pressure" for an advance. Without that pressure, developers will not update their software for 64-bit and it will not be usable in that version.
The Raspberry Pi 4/5/400 have an option with 8GB of RAM. If someone wants to take advantage of all that memory, they have to use the 64-bit image, and if third-party developers are not up to the task there will be less compatibility.
Install Raspberry Pi OS
The Raspberry Pi OS images are all on the project download page. But my recommendation is to use Raspberry Pi Imager, also known as Imager only. Its name comes from image (from CD), and in a very free, direct and poor translation we could say that in Spanish it would be something like "Imageador." That's if we wanted to translate it into one word, but I think the best thing would be to translate it as "image creator."
If you are interested in installing Raspberry Pi OS based on Bookworm on your Raspberry Pi 5, all you have to do is the following:
- It can be done with Etcher, Rufus and many other applications to burn CD images, but we said that we are going to explain how to do it with Imager. So the first thing will be to install it. It can be installed from Flathub (link), and there are also packages for Ubuntu on its official website (here). Some distros like Manjaro have it in the official repositories.
- With Imager installed, the next step is to open the program. We will see something like the following:
- To begin the process, you must choose a device by clicking on, you guessed it, “CHOOSE DEVICE” (if it is in other languages, you should know that the order is always from left to right).
- In the window that opens, we choose "Raspberry Pi 5". If you came here with an older version of the board, the process is basically the same.
- It will return to the main screen, and now we have to choose the operating system, so we click on "CHOOSE OS":
- A window will open in which we will have to choose the operating system. There are several to choose from, the truth is that less than a long time ago, but we have to choose "Raspberry Pi OS". Which? Well, I leave it to your choice. On the website they recommend the 32-bit version for most cases, but Imager recommends the 64-bit version. My recommendation: try the 64-bit one, check that nothing is missing and, if something does not go as expected (like a Kodi add-on), then we repeat the process with the 32-bit one.
- In the next step we have to choose the drive where we want to install the operating system. Although the Raspberry Pi has a slot for microSD cards, I recommend using a USB 3.2 with good read and write speed, or even an SSD disk. The cards promise a lot, but the performance is usually lower. We click on "CHOOSE STORAGE" and then select the drive where it will go.
- Here we arrive at a one-way street, that is, we have no choice but to click on "NEXT".
- The next thing we will see will be a question about whether we want to customize the installation (EDIT SETTINGS) or continue with the default settings. I prefer to customize them, so my device won't be called rpi or anything like that; I decide what it's called. But you can also say "NO" and stay with the default settings. Anyway, the key and all that can be configured later, starting on the RPi.
- If we have chosen EDIT SETTINGS we will see a window like this in which we tell the name of the host, also known as host, the username, the password and even Imager takes the configuration of our WiFi network. I recommend taking a look at the settings and configuring what interests us from here, so everything will be faster later.
- The last step remains, which is to confirm the installation and wait for the image to download and burn.
Be careful what you do with these types of tools, as it will erase everything on the destination drive. It is even possible to screw up something in our installation.
Boot from the Raspberry Pi 5
What remains is take the unit where we have installed the system operational, put it in the Raspberry Pi 5 and start it. It is likely, or rather certain, that it will take a while to start the first time. What we have done with this process is rather start the installation, and during the first run it will resize the partitions and do whatever work it needs to do.
If we have not chosen the configuration before, we will have to do many steps when starting Raspberry Pi OS for the first time. We will also have to make some configurations, such as checking if the image remains inside the screen or protrudes. In the past this type of configuration had to be done manually, but now it is possible to do it from the installation wizard.
We will cover what to do after installing Raspberry Pi OS on the Raspberry Pi 5 in another article, but we will tell you three things that can be done:
- Enable support for flatpak packages. Many of them support the ARM architecture and a world of possibilities opens up.
- Install Kodi, of course.
- Install an emulator, although the best of them has not been updated for a long time...
And with these simple steps, your Raspberry Pi 5 will now have the latest version of Raspberry Pi OS, based on Bookworm and with many improvements. Enjoy it.