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Raspbian is now Raspberry Pi OS, new 64-bit beta now available

The new Bookshelf app in the new Raspberry Pi OS. (Source: Raspberry Pi Foundation)
The new Bookshelf app in the new Raspberry Pi OS. (Source: Raspberry Pi Foundation)
Along with the recent launch of the new 8 GB variant of the Raspberry Pi 4, the Raspberry Pi foundation also decided to give its customized Linux variant a new name. Raspbian is now known as Raspberry Pi OS going forward and brings with it a new 64-bit beta variant designed to take full advantage of the RAM upgrade.

With people looking for electronic projects to keep themselves occupied or for a cheap desktop computer, the Raspberry Pi Foundation is selling thousands more units of its popular single board computers than ever before. Seeking to leverage this, the company launched a new upgraded version of its latest SBC, the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. The new Pi comes with 8GB, doubling the RAM of its previously most powerful model.

Along with the launch of the new 8GB model, the Raspberry Pi Foundation also announced that its Raspbian operating system will now be called Raspberry Pi OS moving forward. To celebrate, it has launched a new 64-bit variant of Raspberry Pi OS in beta so that it will be able to fully leverage the additional RAM. The Foundation has also updated the 32-bit version with some new features as well, in addition to the standard bug fixes and other performance improvements.

A highlight of Raspberry Pi OS is the new Bookshelf app, now built into the OS. It makes Raspberry Pi Press magazine publications like The MagPi, HackSpace and Wireframe more visible as well as freely available for download in PDF form. Users with visual impairment will appreciate the new Magnifier, which can be installed though the Recommended Applications list under Universal Access. Audio playback has also been tweaked to treat the headphone jack and the HDMI output as a separate ALSA device.

The new Raspberry Pi OS in 32-bit master and 64-bit beta are available as a free download from the Raspberry Pi Foundation website.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2020 05 > Raspbian is now Raspberry Pi OS, new 64-bit beta now available
Sanjiv Sathiah, 2020-05-31 (Update: 2021-09-28)