Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 3

Excerpts from the release announcement.

MEPIS has released Beta3 of SimplyMEPIS 7.0. The isos and beta2-beta3 iso deltas for 32 and 64 bit processors are available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and the MEPIS public mirrors.

The kernel in Beta3 is version 2.6.22.5 which contains minor patches from the Kernel Development Team. The ipw3945 driver was updated. The MEPIS System Assistant was repaired to fix a problem when formatting USB keys. Package updates include xine 1.1.7, kino 1.1.1, kmplayer 0.10.0, k3b 1.0.3, kipi-plugins 0.1.4, knetworkmanager 0.2, and dcraw 8.77.

Due to user requests for updated compiz and other important gtk related packages, gtk was updated to version 2.10.13 and in the MEPIS pool metacity was updated to gnome version 2.18.5 Mepis-looks was updated to be compatible with gtk 2.10. Other gtk app updates are planned for Beta4.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: MEPIS antiX 7.0 RC1

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Anti and Warren announce the 7.0 RC 1 release of antiX, a lightweight derivative of MEPIS. AntiX is built and maintained by MEPIS community member anticapitalista, as a free version of MEPIS for very old 32 bit PC hardware. The antiX web site is at antix.mepis.org and an antiX forum is hosted at www.mepislovers.org

AntiX 7.0 RC 1 is like AntiX 7.0 Beta2 except that the look has been updated including the wallpaper and the packages have been updated to be in sync with MEPIS 7.0 Beta 4. Anti also reports that he has fixed the reported bugs that are unique to AntiX.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 5

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Warren Woodford has decided to release a 5th Beta of SimplyMEPIS 7.0. The isos and beta4-beta5 iso deltas for 32 and 64 bit processors are available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and public mirrors.

The big change that resulted in another Beta release is the availability of OpenOffice 2.3. In addition, ksynaptics and spamd were added to the iso images; and Firefox, 915resolution, and the ALSA Utilities were updated. And the latest version of Audacity was added to the MEPIS pool.

Good news for MEPIS users! The MEPIS documentation team has released a new MEPIS User's manual under a Creative Commons License. With over 60 pages, the manual covers many questions from installation, to network configuration, to using applications. Upon reviewing the manual, Warren said "I am very grateful to the documentation team. I've wished for a long time, that MEPIS would have a manual like this. One that will help new and old users alike to get the most out of MEPIS Linux."

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 4

Excerpts from the release announcement.

The 4th Beta of SimplyMEPIS 7.0 has been released by Warren Woodford. The isos and beta3-beta4 iso deltas for 32 and 64 bit processors are available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and public mirrors.

The kernel in Beta4 is version 2.6.22.6 which contains more patches from the Kernel Development Team. The MEPIS kernel was tweaked to eliminate some boot time warning messages. The fglrx ATI video driver was updated to eliminate an annoying AMD watermark bug.

Wireless-tools and wpasupplicant were updated. Configurations were adjusted to improve k3b, wireless networking, keyboard and language support, video defaults and boot options.

In the MEPIS pools gnome-games, sylpheed-claws, evolution, and gtk-qt-engine were updated in response to user requests. The MEPIS OSX Assistant was recompiled and tested for OSX Leopard and to use the 0.10 version of rEFIt.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: MEPIS antiX 7.0 Beta 2

Excerpts from the release announcement.

MEPIS has announced the 7.0 beta 2 release of antiX, a lightweight derivative of MEPIS. AntiX is built and maintained by MEPIS community member anticapitalista, as a free version of MEPIS for very old 32 bit PC hardware. The antiX web site is at antix.mepis.org and an antiX forum is hosted at www.mepislovers.org

AntiX 7.0 beta 2 is very similar to AntiX 6.5 except that it is built using the MEPIS Linux 7.0 core including the MEPIS 2.6.22 kernel and utilities, but mostly it has a different set of default user applications: fluxbox and ice window managers, Abiword, Gnumeric, Leafpad, Scite, Nano, mtpaint, xpdf, Firefox2, Sylpheed-claws, Dillo, Links2, Xchat, gftp, Pan, Irssi, Snownews RSS reader, Gtk-Gnutella, bittorrent, flash, mozilla-mplayer, xmms, mplayer, gmplayer, Midnight Commander, rox-filer, xarchive and brasero.

AntiX is designed to work on computers with as little as 64MB RAM and Pentuim II or equivalent AMD processors.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Alpha Release: SimplyMEPIS 6.9.51Prebeta

Excerpts from the release announcement.

SimplyMEPIS 6.9.51prebeta is a preview of upcoming SimplyMEPIS 7. It is available from the MEPIS subscriber site and the MEPIS public mirrors.

MEPIS has discontinued using Ubuntu binary packages in favor of a combination of MEPIS packaged binaries based on Debian and Ubuntu source code which is combined with a Debian Stable OS core and extra packages from Debian package pools.

Warren Woodford of MEPIS explains the change "By using the latest Debian and Ubuntu source code for building user applications, we can provide the best latest versions of the applications users want the most. And by building on top of a Debian Stable core, we can provide a release that has the the stability and long life that users want."

Warren continues "Most Linux users are tired of having to reinstall every 6 months in order to have up-to-date applications. We expect that with this approach MEPIS can offer a superior user experience that will be incrementally upgradeable for 2 years without reinstallation of the OS."

The prebeta includes a 2.6.22 kernel, Debian Etch core, KDE 3.5.7, Firefox 2.0.0.5, Thunderbird 2.0.0.4, and OpenOffice 2.2.1. This is an early release with many rough edges. In particular the splashy boot splash does not run reliably, some extra kernel drivers are not yet compiled for the new kernel, some gui components are not themed for MEPIS, and the prebeta has had very limited testing.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 2

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Warren Woodford of MEPIS has announced Beta2 of SimplyMEPIS 7.0. The isos and beta1-beta2 iso deltas for 32 and 64 bit processors are available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and the MEPIS public mirrors.

The kernel in Beta2 is version 2.6.22.4 which is a security update from the Kernel Development Team. All of the MEPIS Assistants and the Installer were updated to fix minor problems reported by testers. Amarok was updated to version 1.4.7. There were minor updates to some KDE 3.5.7 packages. Security updates to a few Debian Etch packages brought the MEPIS Debian Etch core in sync with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0r1, the Debian Etch update which was released last week.

The open source rtl8187 wireless driver was added to the kernel. For ndiswrapper, the Broadcom wireless drivers were updated and rtl8180 and rtl8185 drivers were added. Knetworkmanager was updated which resulted in more reliable automatic network startup for some users.

When asked about the release schedule, Warren said "At this point 7.0 is on schedule. I'll be speaking at the Ohio LinuxFest in Columbus on September 29th about the process used to create a MEPIS release, with an emphasis on the decisions and tradeoffs that have to be made when recompiling and integrating from upstream sources. I'd like to have 7.0 final at that time."

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: SimplyMEPIS 7.0 Beta 1

Excerpts from the release announcement.

MEPIS has announced the upload of the first official Beta of the upcoming 7.0 release of SimplyMEPIS. Version 6.9.60beta1 for 32 and 64 bit processors is available from the testing directory at the MEPIS subscriber site and the MEPIS public mirrors.

Since the prebeta of 2 weeks ago, there have been several changes which are included in Beta 1, a 2.6.22.3 kernel, kernel drivers for the ralink family of wireless cards, other updated drivers, KDE 3.5.7 updates, better appearance of splashy, and the latest Debian Etch security updates. The LiveCD now offers an option to boot with the aufs rw filesystem but this is not yet well tested.

MEPIS 7.0 is based on a Debian Etch core combined with up-to-date user applications that are recompiled by MEPIS from upstream Debian and Ubuntu common source code. Debian Etch users are welcome to get their updated applications from the MEPIS pools. Warren Woodford says "If you want the stability of Debian Etch and also the latest user applications, 7.0 was made for you. And if you are a Debian Etch user, you don't have to upgrade to MEPIS, in order to use the applications we recompile."

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Test Release: MEPIS KDE 4 Beta 1 Live DVD

Excerpts from the release announcement.

Warren Woodford of MEPIS has built KDE4-Beta1 Live DVDs to verify the compatibility of KDE 4 with SimplyMEPIS 7.x. The 32 and 64 bit DVD isos are available from the testing directory of the MEPIS subscriber site and the MEPIS public mirrors.

Warren said "I decided to share my KDE 4 Beta 1 isos, so others could take a first look at KDE 4 and also to demonstrate that I'm serious about the commitment that MEPIS 7.x will be incrementally upgradable. We plan to do another KDE 4 integration every few weeks. We expect that KDE 4 will not be final in time for the MEPIS 7.0 release, but by integrating KDE 4 now, we can insure that 7.0 will be "KDE 4 ready."

Both 32 and 64 bit versions are available. They are about 1 GB each and include all of the KDE 4 applications that are working at this time.

KDE 4 Beta 1 is a very early release and is meant for developers, testers, and reviewers. Warren recommends "The release is sluggish, be patient when clicking to launch something. If you look past the rough edges, you will see the beginnings of a world-class desktop experience. If something doesn't work, you could consider reporting a bug at the KDE project, but I would recommend holding off until the next Beta release before submitting a lot of bug reports." For more information about KDE 4.0 Beta 1 see: http://www.kde.org/announcements/announce-4.0-beta1.php

Jos Poortvliet of the KDE Project said: "The KDE project is happy to see MEPIS Linux leading the way in bringing the next generation desktop technology to their users. This decision of early adoption of KDE 4 by the MEPIS developers will ensure a premier KDE experience for the users. We hope KDE 4 will be appreciated, and we look forward to the constructive comments from the Mepis community."

The Live DVDs were built using a MEPIS 7.0 Etch core and include the usual MEPIS kernel and hardware compatibility features. Since KDE 4 is functionally different than KDE 3 and also in an early Beta state, a minimal KDE 3 installation remains on the disk to facilitate exploration by the user.

The KDE4 packages were compiled from the Deb-untu developer upstream source. Experimental packages from Debian svn and from Ubuntu universe were tested. Both built and ran, but the ubuntu packages were more functional.

Read the full release announcement here.
Download here.

Final Release: antiX MEPIS 6.5

Excerpts from the release announcement.

MEPIS has announced the "Spartacus" release of antiX, a lightweight derivative of MEPIS. AntiX is built and maintained by MEPIS community member anticapitalista, as a free version of MEPIS for very old 32 bit PC hardware. The antiX web site is at antix.mepis.org and an antiX forum is hosted at www.mepislovers.org

Anticapitalista said, "After months of hard work, I am delighted to announce that antiX "Spartacus" is ready for release. antiX is a fast, stable, lightweight and easy to install livecd for those with old computers or for those who prefer a 'lean and mean' operating system on modern hardware. Enjoy antiX!"

AntiX is built using the MEPIS Linux 6.5 core including the MEPIS 2.6.15 kernel and utilities, but mostly it has a different set of default user applications: fluxbox and ice window managers, Abiword, Gnumeric, Leafpad, Scite, Nano, gimp, xpdf, Firefox2, Sylpheed-claws, Dillo, Links2, Gaim, Xchat, gftp, Pan, Irssi, Raggle RSS reader, Gtk-Gnutella, bittorrent, flash, mozilla-mplayer, xmms, mplayer, audacity, xine, Midnight Commander, rox-filer, xarchive, xcdroast and graveman.

Warren reported "Anti has demonstrated that you don't need to be a programmer to build a very useful derivative of MEPIS Linux. The MEPIS community is very impressed with his achievement."

AntiX is designed to work on computers with as little as 64MB RAM and Pentuim II or equivalent AMD processors. The new ISO images are available in the 'released/antix' subdirectory at the MEPIS Subscriber's Site and at the MEPIS public mirrors.

Read the full release announcement here.

Download the latest version here, currently antiX-Mepis6.5 (410MB) download

antiX is also available on the MEPIS mirrors. mirrors

antiX-Mepis6.5 md5sum and xdelta patches available. antiX

Here is a link to some screenshots. Screenshots1

Development Release: MEPIS AntiX 6.5 RC5

MEPIS AntiX is a new, unofficial derivative of MEPIS Linux aimed at computers with as little as 128 MB or RAM. A development release, offering the choice of Fluxbox or IceWM as window managers, is now available for testing: "MEPIS has announced that the release candidate of a community built and maintained ultra-lite derivative of MEPIS has been released for public testing. AntiX is the brainchild of a MEPIS community member, who wanted a version of MEPIS that would work well on very old PC hardware. AntiX is not a lite version of SimplyMEPIS and it is not an official product of MEPIS. It is built from the MEPIS Linux core, but mostly it has a different set of default user applications: Fluxbox and IceWM window managers, AbiWord, Gnumeric, GIMP, Firefox, Sylpheed Claws...." Read the full release announcement for further details. Download: antiX_6.5.rc5_32.iso (403MB, MD5).
(Source : http://distrowatch.com)