Enginerd's Stuff

I seem to get busier that I ever thought imaginable the end of every semester and this spring is no exception. I addition to all my school work and student related duties I was offered the opportunity to take part in a private beta test of a new operating system.

For anyone that reads posts here regularly you know that I have taken quite an interest in Linux in the last few months. With this interest came a few new people I started following on twitter that share a passion for Linux. One of these people happens to be the developer responsible for maintaining the Linux Mint LXDE Distribution. He decided to start up a side project called Peppermint that is a fork of Lubuntu and Linux Mint. This is where I got to help in a small way.

The goal with Peppermint was to develop an Operating System that was centered around Web Applications / Cloud computing, Sleek, User Friendly, and Insanely Fast; and that is exactly what they have done. Mozilla Prism is used to load web pages and applications in dedicated browsers and integrate them with the task bar. Since it is Web oriented it will also be released with Aviary (a web based image and audio editor), and Seesmic to manage your twitter account right from your desktop.

I have been using the private beta on my netbook for about a week now and have been thoroughly impressed with how fast it boots and how responsive it is when running. This is my first interaction with LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) and I must say it is pretty easy to jump into and run with.

Before you get too curious…the system information on the desktop isn’t part of the default install, same thing goes for the centered window switcher and Chromium. I will say however that I am not a Linux expert by any means and I was able to get all that set up without much difficulty.

The official release should be available soon according to the Peppermint website and twitter account. You can also checkout #peppermintOS on twitter to see what people are saying.

Now that the Private Beta is closed I am eagerly awaiting the full release along side everyone else!