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elementary OS RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: elementary OS

elementary OS


Last Update: 2025-09-20 21:38 UTC


elementary OS is an Ubuntu-based desktop distribution. Some of its more interesting features include a custom desktop environment called Pantheon and many custom apps including Photos, Music, Videos, Calendar, Terminal, Files, and more. It also comes with some familiar apps like the Epiphany web browser and a fork of Geary mail.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 14 (590), 6 months: 17 (539), 3 months: 21 (554), 4 weeks: 25 (511), 1 week: 31 (482)

Average visitor rating: 5.0/10 from 164 review(s).


elementary Summary
Distribution elementary OS
Home Page https://elementary.io/
Mailing Lists --
User Forums --
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://elementary.io/docs/learning-the-basics
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://elementary.io/DistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker https://bugs.launchpad.net/elementary
Related Websites GitHub
Reviews 8.x: FOSS ForceLinux JournalDistroWatchFOSS Force
7.x: MichlFranken (German) • DistroWatchMichlFranken (German)
6.x: DistroWatchHeise (German)
5.x: DistroWatchCMS CriticLinux JournalOrdinatechnicDistroWatchHeise (German)
0.4: DedoimedoDistroWatchThe Tao of MacDedoimedo
0.3: elastic2ls (German) • DistroWatchLinux.com
0.2: Pro-Linux (German) • derStandard (German) • BinaryTidesWordpressLWNLinux Za Sve (Croatian) • WEB UP8LinuxBSDosWordpress
0.1: DedoimedoLWNBlogspotTech Drive-inMuyComputer (Spanish) • OMG! Ubuntu!
Where To Donate, Buy or Try https://store.elementary.io/The Linux Shop

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2025-03-19: Distribution Release: elementary OS 8.0.1
 • 2024-11-26: Distribution Release: elementary OS 8.0
 • 2023-10-03: Distribution Release: elementary OS 7.1
 • 2023-01-31: Distribution Release: elementary OS 7.0
 • 2021-12-20: Distribution Release: elementary OS 6.1
 • 2021-08-10: Distribution Release: elementary OS 6.0
 • 2021-06-16: Development Release: elementary OS 6.0 Beta 2
 • 2021-05-01: Development Release: elementary OS 6.0 Beta
 • 2020-05-02: Distribution Release: elementary OS 5.1.4
 • 2020-02-07: Distribution Release: elementary OS 5.1.2
 • 2019-12-03: Distribution Release: elementary OS 5.1
 • 2018-10-16: Distribution Release: elementary OS 5.0
 • More elementary releases...

  Headlines:
 • 2025-02-26 elementary seeks new ideas
 • 2024-02-07 elementary OS 8 to split system and application updates
 • 2023-11-07 elementary OS outlines plans for version 8
 • 2023-07-07 elementary OS introduces new warnings in software centre to protect privacy
 • 2023-04-06 elementary OS improves sideloading experience
 • 2023-03-06 elementary OS offers new file manager and network widget improvements
 • 2022-12-02 elementary OS team fixes delta updates
 • 2022-11-04 elementary provides Flatpak, GNOME updates
 • 2022-10-06 elementary OS fixes Gala regressions, introduces software centre features
 • 2022-09-07 elementary OS explores responsive designs
 • More elementary headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature 8.0.2
circe
7.1
horus
6.1
jolnir
6.0
odin
5.1.7
hera
5.0
juno
0.4.1
loki
0.3.2
freya
0.2
luna
0.1
jupiter
Feature
Release Date 2025-09-20 2023-10-03 2021-12-20 2021-08-10 2020-08-14 2018-10-16 2017-05-17 2015-12-09 2013-08-11 2011-04-01 Release Date
End Of Life                     End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB) 3100-3200 2600-2700 2200-2300 2200-2300 1400-1500 1400-1500 1000-1100       Image Size (MB)
Free Download ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation elementary Installer elementary Installer elementary Installer elementary Installer Ubiquity Ubiquity Ubiquity Ubiquity Ubiquity Ubiquity Installation
Default Desktop Pantheon Pantheon Pantheon Pantheon Pantheon Pantheon Pantheon Pantheon Pantheon GNOME Default Desktop
Package Management DEB, Flatpak DEB, Flatpak DEB, Flatpak DEB, Flatpak DEB, Flatpak DEB DEB DEB DEB DEB Package Management
Release Model Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed Release Model
Office Suite -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- GOffice Office Suite
Processor Architecture x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386, x86_64 i386 Processor Architecture
Init Software systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd systemd Upstart Upstart Upstart Init Software
Journaled File Systems Btrfs, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Btrfs, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS Journaled File Systems
Multilingual Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes         Multilingual
Asian Language Support                     Asian Language Support
Full Package List 8.0.2 7.1 6.1 6.0 5.1.7 5.0 0.4.1 0.3.2 0.2 0.1 Full Package List
Package 8.0.2
circe
7.1
horus
6.1
jolnir
6.0
odin
5.1.7
hera
5.0
juno
0.4.1
loki
0.3.2
freya
0.2
luna
0.1
jupiter
Package
alsa-lib (1.2.14) 1.2.11 1.2.6 1.2.2 1.2.2 1.1.3 1.1.3 1.1.0 1.0.27.2 1.0.25 1.0.23 alsa-lib (1.2.14)
amdgpu (25.0.0) 23.0.0 22.0.0 19.1.0 19.1.0 19.1.0 18.0.1 -- -- -- 8.780 amdgpu (25.0.0)
apparmor (4.1.2) 4.0.1 3.0.4 2.13.3 2.13.3 2.12 2.12 2.10.95 2.8.95 2.7.102 -- apparmor (4.1.2)
apt (3.1.12) 2.8.3 2.4.10 2.0.6 2.0.6 1.6.12 1.6.3 1.2.20 1.0.1 0.8.16 0.8.3 apt (3.1.12)
bash (5.3) 5.2.21 5.1 5.0 5.0 4.4.18 4.4.18 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.1 bash (5.3)
bind (9.20.16) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bind (9.20.16)
chromium (142.0.7444.175) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (142.0.7444.175)
cinnamon (6.4.13) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- cinnamon (6.4.13)
cups (2.4.15) 2.4.7 2.4.1 2.3.1 2.3.1 2.2.7 2.2.7 2.1.3 1.7.2 1.5.3 1.4.4 cups (2.4.15)
e2fsprogs (1.47.3) 1.47.0 1.46.5 1.45.5 1.45.5 1.44.1 1.44.1 1.42.13 1.42.9 1.42 1.41.12 e2fsprogs (1.47.3)
ffmpeg (8.0.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ffmpeg (8.0.1)
firefox (145.0.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 42.0 -- -- firefox (145.0.2)
flatpak (1.16.1) 1.14.6 1.12.7 1.12.2 1.10.2 1.6.3 -- -- -- -- -- flatpak (1.16.1)
freetype (2.14.1) 2.13.2 2.11.1 2.10.1 2.10.1 2.8.1 2.8.1 2.6.1 2.5.2 2.4.8 2.4.2 freetype (2.14.1)
gcc (15.2.0) -- -- -- -- -- 7.3.0 5.3.1 4.8.2 4.6.3 4.4.4 gcc (15.2.0)
gimp (3.0.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gimp (3.0.6)
git (2.52.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- git (2.52.0)
glibc (2.42) 2.39 2.35 2.31 2.31 2.27 2.27 2.23 2.19 2.15 2.12.1 glibc (2.42)
gnome-shell (49.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnome-shell (49.2)
grub (2.12) 2.12 2.06 2.04 2.04 2.02 2.02 2.02beta2 2.02beta2 1.99 1.98 grub (2.12)
gtk (4.20.3) 4.14.5 4.6.9 3.24.20 3.24.20 3.22.30 3.22.30 3.18.9 3.14.15 3.4.2 2.22.0 gtk (4.20.3)
httpd (2.4.65) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- httpd (2.4.65)
inkscape (1.4.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- inkscape (1.4.2)
kmod (34.2) 31 29 27 27 24 24 22 15 -- -- kmod (34.2)
krita (5.2.13) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- krita (5.2.13)
LibreOffice (25.8.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- LibreOffice (25.8.3)
Package 8.0.2
circe
7.1
horus
6.1
jolnir
6.0
odin
5.1.7
hera
5.0
juno
0.4.1
loki
0.3.2
freya
0.2
luna
0.1
jupiter
Package
libselinux (3.9) 3.5 3.3 3.0 3.0 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.2.2 2.1.0 2.0.94 libselinux (3.9)
linux (6.18) 6.14 6.2 5.11 5.11 5.4 4.15 4.8 3.19 3.2 2.6.35 linux (6.18)
mariadb (12.1.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (12.1.2)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (25.3.0) 25.0.7 23.0.4 21.0.3 21.0.3 20.0.8 18.0.5 12.0.6 10.5.9 9.0.3 7.9git mesa (25.3.0)
mysql (9.5.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mysql (9.5.0)
nautilus (49.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.32.2 nautilus (49.2)
NVIDIA (580.105.08) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 260.19.06 NVIDIA (580.105.08)
openjdk (25) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openjdk (25)
openssh (10.2p1) 9.6p1 8.9p1 8.2p1 8.2p1 7.6p1 7.6p1 7.2p2 6.6p1 5.9p1 5.5p1 openssh (10.2p1)
openssl (3.6.0) 3.0.13 3.0.2 1.1.1f 1.1.1f 1.1.1 1.1.0g 1.0.2g 1.0.1f 1.0.1 0.9.8o openssl (3.6.0)
perl (5.42.0) 5.38.2 5.34.0 5.30.0 5.30.0 5.26.1 5.26.1 5.22.1 5.18.2 5.14.2 5.10.1 perl (5.42.0)
php (8.5.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- php (8.5.0)
plasma-desktop (6.5.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (6.5.3)
postfix (3.10.6) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postfix (3.10.6)
postgresql (18.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postgresql (18.1)
Python (3.14.0) 3.12.3 3.10.6 3.8.2 3.8.2 3.6.7 3.6.7 2.7.11 2.7.5 2.7.3 2.6.6 Python (3.14.0)
qt (6.10.1) 5.15.13 5.15.3 5.12.8 5.12.8 5.9.5 5.9.5 5.5.1 -- -- -- qt (6.10.1)
samba (4.23.3) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4.1.6 3.6.3 3.5.4 samba (4.23.3)
systemd (258.2) 255.4 249.11 245.4 245.4 237 237 229 -- -- -- systemd (258.2)
thunderbird (145.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- thunderbird (145.0)
vim (9.1) 9.1 8.2 8.1 8.1 8.0 8.0 7.4 7.4 7.3 -- vim (9.1)
vlc (3.0.22) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- vlc (3.0.22)
wayland (1.24.0) 1.22.0 1.20.0 1.18.0 1.18.0 1.16.0 1.14.0 1.9.0 1.6.0 -- -- wayland (1.24.0)
xfdesktop (4.20.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- xfdesktop (4.20.1)
xorg-server (21.1.21) 21.1.12 21.1.4 1.20.13 1.20.11 1.20.8 1.19.6 1.18.4 1.15.1 1.11.4 1.9.0 xorg-server (21.1.21)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for elementary OS

Average rating
5.0
from 164 review(s)



Version: 8.0.2
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-11-16
Votes: 1


The distro looks visually pleasing, moving away from the flat visual style that most operating systems follow today. It's simple, doesn't come with unnecessary apps preinstalled, and works well. The new dock is also fine, I guess? I understand the dock had to be remade because Plank isn't compatible with Wayland, but it's lacking some features. For me, the removal of the minimize button isn’t that bad, you can use Super + H to minimize windows or just move them to a new workspace. And the new Monitor app is awesome, keeping the UI simple while still managing to show a lot of information. It also introduced a new Wingpanel indicator, which is very useful.

Now for the cons. Pantheon still has some bugs here and there, like how the new dock extends off-screen when it's overflowing with apps, or how the system update section in the System category tends to break sometimes. The DE could also use some features, like update notifications or more Wingpanel indicators (I’m just covering the basic bugs and feature gaps). I really love the Mail app, but I had to install GNOME Online Accounts just to get my Google and Microsoft accounts linked. I really hope they add updates between major releases.

The Sideloader is kind of pointless now, AppCenter already has the Flatpak repo included, which means Sideloader is left only as an alternative in case there’s a problem with AppCenter. They could make Sideloader more useful by adding support for other package types like .deb.

Overall, if you ignore the bugs and missing features, elementary OS is a really great distro. I currently use it as my daily driver, and the experience is pretty good. I'm giving it an 8 out of 10. I’ve seen the upcoming features for 8.1 and they look awesome! I’m also really excited for OS 9.


Version: 8.0.2
Rating: 8
Date: 2025-10-30
Votes: 0


This is effectively an update to my review of 2025-10-28.

My previous review was on a system with an Nvidia RTX 5080 GPU, an AMD CPU, 64GB of DDR5 memory and a PCIe Thunderbolt 4 card installed.

Out of curiosity, I've just installed Elementary OS on a different PC, with an AMD RX 9070 XT GPU, 16GB of DDR5 memory an intel i5-14600K CPU and no Thunderbolt 4 card.

This time, Elementary OS has been very good - I've had none of the problems mentioned in my previous review.
After install, I was prompted to install updates through the System app and it worked perfectly. I've had no repeated "driver updates" notifications and, in the short while I've been using it, the OS hasn't hung or crashed - unlike before.

So, just on this basis, I'm upping my rating to 8. Assuming there hasn't been a significant update to the OS in the last 2 days, I'll try do a bit more investigation on what caused the issues in my other set-up and hopefully provide some feedback to the Elementary team.


Version: 8.0.2
Rating: 3
Date: 2025-10-28
Votes: 3


Sadly, one of the most "buggy" Linux distros I've tried.
I really like the look of it, but it is just so buggy. From the very start, just after install, the system updater told me there were 128 updates to install - so I click the "Download" button - nothing happens. Had to use the terminal.
Likewise, I kept getting notifications that 4 system drivers were available to install - but the Driver Installer panel in 'System' app was just permanently stuck on "Checking for Driver updates". Even after using the Ubuntu auto-install for drivers (in terminal) - which did install a few drivers- I still kept getting the "driver updates available" notification.
At least I managed to get my Nvidia drivers installed. Managed to install Brave Browser and Steam. However, every 5 minutes or so the system would freeze a couple of times and then crash to a black screen!
All this in the first hour after a clean install!

I've successfully used Arch, Bazzite, Fedora, Nobara, Endeavour, Mint and a few others but nothing has failed like Elementary. Such a pity.



See all 164 reader reviews of elementary OS...



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