SimplyMEPIS 8.5
The last time I looked at SimplyMEPIS was the 8.0 release. In this review I’ll be taking a look at the latest version, SimplyMEPIS Linux 8.5. SimplyMEPIS is based on Debian, and it uses KDE as its desktop environment.
What’s New In This Release
Here’s a sample of the new stuff you’ll find in this release:
2.6.32 kernel
KDE 4.3
The SimplyMEPIS Welcome Center
NDisWrapper Manager
The Welcome Center
SimplyMEPIS now comes with the MEPIS Welcome Center. The welcome center provides helpful links to support resources, language packs, popular applications and additional community software. The welcome center is a nice addition to SimplyMEPIS though it’s not quite as slick as the one that comes with Linux Mint.
The new SimplyMEPIS welcome center provides helpful links.
KDE 4.3
I love the fact that the SimplyMEPIS developers did not default to the heinously annoying sliding KDE 4 menus. It is so much easier using the KDE 3 style menus. This was a smart move on the developer’s part and I wish more KDE-based distros would emulate it. The sliding menus in KDE 4 are atrocious and counter-intuitive.
SimplyMEPIS uses KDE 3 style menus in KDE 4.3.
The NDisWrapper Manager
If you need to use legacy drivers for wireless access, you’ll love this new tool.
Use the NDisWrapper for legacy drivers.
On the next page I’ll cover hardware requirements, and I’ll show you the install routine.
(7 votes, average: 4.57 out of 5)
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It is a little sad that Mepis is not a rolling release…
[...] Read More… [...]
Cons: Drab desktop wallpaper. Lacks the cloud integration of Peppermint OS One.
:)
@ Sandro:
That’s kind of the whole point of MEPIS. It’s built on a stable base and has a long release cycle, making it great for people who don’t want to constantly update.
Besides, sidux already has the “debian rolling release” thing covered. MEPIS fills an important “Debian stable but friendly and with updated apps” niche.
I nominate SimplyMEPIS as the top Linux desktop distribution on the market today IF these are your selection criteria:
1. Stability: SimplyMEPIS is based on Debian Lenny, the current stable Debian version. To that solid Debian core SimplyMEPIS adds additional hardware configuration support and a number of excellent system management tools as described in the review.
2. Support: The MEPIS Lovers Community, at least to me, is the top vendor supported community in terms of providing excellent documentation, prompt and even mannered responses to requests for help (and that can be rare, as we frequently hear about “blow ups” in various forums), and the software is solid enough to require very infrequent change.
3. Flexibility: The default SimplyMEPIS distribution is primarily designed for simplicity rather than the ultimate flexibility, yet in spite of that it remains a flexible platform. In support of this assertion, the MEPIS project officially recognizes two significant efforts, the antiX distribution, which allows highly customized systems to be developed at will, and the MEPIS Community Repository, which allows the base MEPIS project to retain only very stable software, yet allows those who want certain additional software to request it and get it.
In the MEPIS Community Repository, we have seen not only the further advancement of antiX, but we’ve also seen very early versions of KDE 4 applied to a stable MEPIS core, we’ve seen LXDE and XFCE remasters, and we’ve seen a lot of discussion about personal projects to set up a MEPIS based system for either stable, testing, or cutting edge use, taking MEPIS and nearly revamping it in every conceivable fashion.
Whether it is art work, the latest software, or just experimentation, the MEPIS Community provides it and helps you get it. Yet, for those whose only aspiration is to have a system that works, SimplyMEPIS offers it better than anything that I’ve seen in over 35 years of computer system experience.
Alan hits it on the mark as far as a rolling release goes. You can get that with sidux and you can also get it with antiX, an official alternative to SimplyMEPIS.
Some of the antiX advocates start with an antiX BASE build and create their own completely different system. They may change the kernel – the smxi tool provided allows you, for example, to enable and grab Xen extended kernels written by Damentz, which are well regarded. You can also grab sidux kernels using the same tool, and of course, you can grab any stock Debian kernels as well. When you do so, it begins to require more expertise to understand what you are changing and the implications of those changes. Suffice it to say that if you want it, with MEPIS you can get it and you can do it, and there are those who can help when you have questions too.
Jim, you forgot to mention the most important help feature available for this distro. It is the Mepis manual icon right on the desktop. It launches in Konquerer but is actually local on the disk. If there is a finer manual out there I have yet to see it. It has excellent general Linux info as well as Mepis specific.
Tlmck, I think I did mention it in the desktop section didn’t I?
Tlmck, I think I did mention it in the desktop section didn’t I?
Read more: http://desktoplinuxreviews.com/2010/05/25/simplymepis-8-5/6/#ixzz0pu6jnS68
You did, but be honest now, was it there all along or did you add it in after Tlmck mentioned it? ;-)
I like MEPIS.