Solus is a next-generation Linux kernel-based operating system, built from scratch and based on powerful, modern open-source technologies, such as the systemd init system and the groundbreaking Budgie Desktop graphical environment.
It’s distributed as a 64-bit Live CD
Currently, the Solus is still in heavy development, but you can download it via Softpedia or directly from its official website as a Live CD ISO image suitable for computers supporting only 64-bit instruction set architectures.
You can start the live system or boot an existing one
The ISO image will fit perfectly on a CD disc or a USB flash drive of 1GB or higher capacity, allowing the user to start the live system with the default kernel or boot an existing operating system that is installed on the first disk drive detected by the BIOS.
Budgie Desktop looks really amazing, modern and productive
We have a separate entry for the Budgie Desktop graphical environment here on Softpedia, but seeing in action on top of Solus makes us want to remove Ubuntu and install this jawbreaking operating system.
The desktop session is comprised of a fully transparent taskbar that is located on the bottom edge of screen and designed to provide quick access to pre-installed apps. It also acts as a taskmanager, allowing you to easily interact with running programs.
Uses its own package management system, based on PiSi
Another interesting thing is that Solus uses its own package management system called EOPKG and forked from the PiSi package manager, designed from the ground up to keep maintenance times and code debt at a minimum.
Features only a few applications
Being in heavy development, the Solus distribution comes with only a few applications, such as the GIMP image editor, Mozilla Firefox web browser, Nautilus file manager, GParted partition editor and Gedit text editor.
An image viewer, a terminal emulator, a screen capture utility, an archive manager, a weather app, a clock app, a maps app and a chess game are also included. The distribution can be easily installed using the built-in installation script.
