Desktop-focused Solus 4.7 brings a new software center and improved video card support
Solus 4.7 Endurance Xfce desktop (Image source: Solus)
Available with several desktop choices, including Budgie and Xfce, the rolling release distro Solus returns with version 4.7 Endurance. Only available for 64-bit hardware, Solus 4.7 includes multiple package updates, a new software center with out-of-the-box Flatpak support, as well as improved video card compatibility.
Previously known as Evolve OS, Solus is a rather original Linux distro that targets 64-bit hardware platforms and is based on the Linux kernel, with several desktop environment choices. For the time being, there are four desktop options available integrated in the official images. Released yesterday, Solus 4.7 Endurance is built on top of the 6.12.9 kernel, up from 6.10.13 in version 4.6, and its main highlights include improved video card support and the replacement of the solus-sc (Solus Software Center) package manager with an alternative with Flatpak support.
In addition to the above, it should also be mentioned that those who would rather use an LTS kernel can choose Solus on top of 6.6.70. In the near future, the distro will be moved to the 6.12.x kernel series. These are the most important software packages that were updated in the new release:
While the Solus Software Center remains available in the 4.7 ISOs, GNOME Software and KDE Discover can be used instead.
Budgie 10.9.2.
GNOME 47.3.
KDE Plasma 6.2.5 with KDE Gear 24.12.1, KDE Frameworks 6.10.0, QT 6.8.1, and sddm 0.21.0.
Xfce 4.20 with Mousepad 0.6.3, Parole 4.18.2, Ristretto 0.13.2, Thunar 4.20.1, and Whiskermenu 2.8.3.
The four choices available on the official downloads page are: Solus Plasma, Solus Xfce-Beta, Solus GNOME, and Solus Budgie. Their sizes are between 2.8 GB and 3.2 GB and the system requirements are quite reasonable, starting below 10 GB of disk space and 4 GB of memory. As mentioned earlier, only 64-bit processors are being supported.
Codrut Nistor - Senior Tech Writer - 6682 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2013
In my early school days, I hated writing and having to make up stories. A decade later, I started to enjoy it. Since then, I published a few offline articles and then I moved to the online space, where I contributed to major websites that are still present online as of 2021 such as Softpedia, Brothersoft, Download3000, but I also wrote for multiple blogs that have disappeared over the years. I've been riding with the Notebookcheck crew since 2013 and I am not planning to leave it anytime soon. In love with good mechanical keyboards, vinyl and tape sound, but also smartphones, streaming services, and digital art.
