At the end of one month or the beginning of the next, there are several different projects that publish their respective newsletters for the last 30 days. if a few moments ago o that Linux Mint 21.2 will arrive at the end of June and will bear the code name of Victoria, now we have to do the same with the basic operating system. Although the truth is that Danielle Foré's newsletter is more important than Clem Lefebvre's, since she has taken the opportunity to announce the launch de elementary OS 7.0.
This new major update comes more than a year after elementary 6.1 Jólnir, and elementary 7.0 bears the code name of Horus, the sky god in Greek mythology. Danielle begins her newsletter with the satisfaction of reporting that 6.1 has been downloaded over 400.000 times, which is about 150.000 more than 6.0. She then she and she goes on to talk about elementary OS 7.0 in which they've focused on three things: helping us get the apps we need, giving us new features and tweaks, and evolving their development platform.
Highlights of elementary OS 7.0
AppCenter It's the software center for elementary, and version after version they work to make it even better. In elementary 7.0 they have tried to make the descriptions more attractive, and also make it easier to update the apps to their latest version. On the other hand, the application is more responsive, that is, it looks better no matter how big we set it. Navigation has been improved and now supports two-finger swiping.
Continuing with the software store, now the descriptions are clearer, which helps the captures look better. They can be accompanied by descriptive text, and that will improve the user experience in a way that I think is better than GNOME Software, for example. As for updates, they are now easier and clearer thanks to a new menu. As if all this weren't enough, AppCenter now supports offline updates, making sure important services restart correctly and avoiding issues when updating. In these types of updates, the packages are downloaded and prepared while we use the operating system, and they are installed automatically when we restart.
Installing applications in "sideload" mode improved
I can't think of a good translation to refer to this type of installation, and part of the blame lies with Apple and some iDevices in which applications should only be able to be installed from their AppStore, but can also be loaded/installed by other means. On elementary OS 7.0 the installation of software that is not on AppCenter, either as individual packages or through third-party stores.
Among the improvements, there is no longer a warning every time we try to install an application that comes from an "alt store" (alternative store). Instead, they now display an icon next to the app's information to make it clear that elementary hasn't been able to review that app.
Web Apps on elementary OS 7.0
Danielle Foré says:
On the topic of accessing the applications you need, we are distributing the latest version of GNOME Web 43 which includes support for creating web applications that display in the applications menu. They can have their own settings including privacy controls and can even run in the background. Installed web applications can be managed from GNOME Web.
other developments
Among the rest of the novelties, it stands out:
- Possibility of sending reports directly to developers.
- Improvements in the installation and initial configuration.
- A new view is included to configure automatic updates, as well as the light and dark theme.
- The mail application now has a more modern and flat design, as well as more responsive. Supports Microsoft 365 accounts.
- Long requested, folder selection can now be done with a click instead of activating it in the file manager.
- The music app (Music 7) has been completely rewritten from scratch, with a focus on improving the design. In addition, it is able to better read the metadata, such as the cover art.
- General and all kinds of improvements in the settings application.
- Improved performance, partly thanks to having revised the code.
- New icons.
- More GTK4 and responsive design.
elementary OS 7.0 is now available from the developer's website.
I installed ELEMENTARY OS 7 on my DELL Dimension 5150, I can no longer install Windows on the computer in any of its recent versions, this is due to a problem with the BIOS. I installed other versions of linux but it loaded very slowly and even though it recognized the drivers, it just didn't run the processor well. At the moment of installing ELEMENTARY OS, I noticed the abysmal change, everything efficiently, it recognizes the processor, the 5gb of ram and the integrated graphics (basic). The truth is that it is very good for homework and for something else. I did not like your music application, but we will always have vlc. Your app store has a bug and closes, but with synaptic or whatever you write it's fine. In general terms I will stay with ELEMENTARY OS 7 for a long time and above all I will teach my children to use it.