The KaOS operating system is a Linux that was created from scratch, without being based on any of the other distributions such as Ubuntu and Debian. However, while KaOS is considered a modern operating system, it comes with a single desktop environment (KDE), as well as targeting only devices with x86_64 architecture.
Recently, following the monthly update cycle, the operating system development team announced the release of the next version of KaOS. The new version 2020.07 comes with many updates to the system packages, while also containing some minor changes and improvements.
What changes does KaOS 2020.07 contain?
The main purpose of the new version is to update various system packages, such as Cfitiso 3.480, Poppler 0.90.1, Pciutils 3.7.0, Git 2.27.0, Libacp 2.39 and Pam 1.4.0. In addition, the new version contains improvements for all parts of the operating system, which contain one of the following packages: ICU 66.1, Boost 1.72.0, Krb5 1.18, Glib2 2.64.3-based stack, Guile 2.2.6, Mesa 20.1.3, NetworkManager 1.26.0, Perl 5.30.3, Linux 5.7.8 and Qt 5.15.0.
In addition to package updates, version 2020.07 also includes some improvements to the installer. For example, the keyboard and 'local module' code has been rewritten using QML. This makes the installer look even more modern and efficient.
Additionally, the 'welcome screen' can now display various messages or other information, which are in the form of a qml file in the calamares installer window.
Improvements to the appearance of the Operating System:
Speaking of the appearance of KaOS 2020.07, we come to the new 'KaOS Midna' theme, which now features the 'Kvantum theming system' instead of 'QtCurve'. In addition to changes to the above theme, the operating system also includes the latest Plasma 5.19 Desktop, which comes with an even better look.
KaOS Application Updates:
The 2020.07 release contains all the applications from the KDE 20.04.3 bundle. In addition, the Calligra application has been replaced with LibreOffice, which is now the default application for managing Office.
In addition to these changes, the development team added some new applications and Wifi Modules, such as: Photoflare, VVave player, Kdiff3, sof-firmware, rtl8723de and rtl8821ce.
How to update the operating system:
If you are using a version of KaOS, you can update your system by typing the command:
sudo pacman -Syu
Otherwise, you can download the Kaos installation file and then create a bootable USBfrom which to install the operating system.
