The official Q4OS blog
Q4OS 5.8 Aquarius, stable
27 March, 2025
We are proud to announce the immediate availability of Q4OS 5.8 Aquarius, the latest stable version
of our lightweight Linux distribution. This release brings significant improvements in performance,
hardware compatibility, and user experience while maintaining our commitment to efficiency and stability.
Q4OS 5.8 Aquarius is based on Debian 12 Bookworm and features the latest Trinity Desktop Environment
and KDE Plasma options. Key improvements include updated drivers for modern hardware, enhanced security
features, and optimized performance for both legacy and contemporary systems.
What's New in Q4OS 5.8:
• Updated to Debian 12 Bookworm base
• Improved hardware detection and drivers
• Enhanced Trinity Desktop Environment
• Updated KDE Plasma desktop option
• Better support for ARM devices including Raspberry Pi
• Improved Windows installer (WinSetup)
• Security updates and bug fixes
Download the new version from our Downloads page. For installation
guidance, please refer to our comprehensive Documentation section.
Download Q4OS 5.8
Q4OS 5.7 Aquarius, maintenance release
15 December, 2024
Q4OS 5.7 Aquarius maintenance release is now available. This update includes security patches,
bug fixes, and minor improvements to enhance system stability and performance. All Q4OS 5.x
users are recommended to upgrade to this version.
This release maintains full compatibility with existing Q4OS 5.x installations and includes
updated packages from the Debian repository along with Q4OS-specific optimizations.
Download Q4OS 5.7
Q4OS 3.8 Centaurus (Legacy)
15 July, 2019
We are proud to announce the immediate availability of the brand new stable Q4OS 3.8 version,
codenamed 'Centaurus'. This is a long-term support LTS release, to be supported for at least
five years with security patches and software updates.
The primary Q4OS aim is stability. As we want to provide as stable as possible operating system
for companies as well as for individuals, once installed and configured, Q4OS will work reliably
in a long standing way, getting security fixes and updates. Adopting a new feature into the core
system could be committed in a highly exceptional cases only. We treat such possible cases as
best as possible, doing testing and investigating consequences carefully before such a
change.
Q4OS Centaurus is based on Debian Buster 10 and Plasma 5.14, optionally Trinity 14.0.6, desktop
environment, and it's available for 64bit and 32bit/i686pae computers, as well as for older i386
systems without PAE extension. We are working hard to bring it for ARM devices too.
One of the Q4OS specific goals is the ability to have Plasma and Trinity desktop alongside each
other installed. Users can switch back and forth between more advanced Plasma or efficient
Trinity desktop. Both desktops can independently coexist side by side and don't interfere with
each other. Plasma is being the logical primary choice for most of users, so it's considered to
be the default option, which is also obvious from the Q4OS downloads site.
We are coming with our own exclusive utilities and features, especially with the 'Desktop
profiler' for profiling your computer into different professional working tools, 'Setup utility'
for the smooth installation of third-party applications, a 'Welcome Screen' with several
integrated shortcuts to make system configuration easier for novice users, LXQT, XFCE and LXDE
alternative environments installation scripts and many more. As installed, a user gets a minimal
system with possibility to expand it, no other operating system features a tool like Q4OS's
Desktop profiler.
The Desktop profiler does more then desktop environments installation. Its primary purpose is to
offer "application profiles", a set of predefined applications, and install them easily in a
single click. A .deb as well as .esh package format is supported. Packages can be defined as cpu
architecture, as well as desktop environment, dependable. In addition, each desktop environment
may keep its own applications profiles. A user can even create customized profiles on his
own.
Enjoy Q4OS and feel free to download installation media images from the Downloads section of the Q4OS website.
Q4OS 3.7 Centaurus, testing
15 June, 2019
We are entering the final phase of the Q4OS 3 Centaurus development, so it's now officially
frozen. On this occasion we have released a brand new 32bit Q4OS Centaurus installation media
designed for older computers, as well as 64bit media cumulative update. Users can now easily
deploy the Q4OS 3.7 testing release, if they want to become early adopters or just help with the
testing. Please download 64bit, as well as 32bit iso images on the dedicated Testing releases webpage.
Please note, there is also a Q4OS for Windows installer on the downloads page available for
users who want to install Linux from within Windows as easy as an application, even without need
of partitioning.
The Freeze phase is now in effect for Q4OS 3 Centaurus, which means that no new features, nor
significant changes are permitted, exception making only critical bugs and anything else, that
might block the final release. Now that Q4OS 3 Centaurus is frozen, it won't be long until the
final release is announced. It should become stable on about 6th July 2019, it's the next major
Q4OS release based on the acclaimed Debian operating system and will be supported at least five
years from the official release date.
Q4OS 2.7 Scorpion, stable
31 December, 2018
A significant update to the Q4OS 2 Scorpion stable LTS is immediately available for download. The
new 2.7 series brings some important improvements for the Trinity desktop. An essential change
is much improved scaling ability for hi-dpi screens, making this operating system better adapted
for modern computers. Desktop profiler, Software centre, Welcome screen, Setup utility, and
other Q4OS specific tools have been updated to be rendered correctly for higher screen
resolutions. Apart from the scaling capabilities, Q4OS 2.7 brings numerous improvements and
fixes, for example better GTK3 themes integration, fixes to XDG standard implementation and
others.
Current users only need to perform regular update of their systems to activate scaling
capabilities, however we recommend for new users to download and make a fresh Q4OS 2.7
installation. Other changes include Q4OS installer improvements, Firefox 64 and LibreOffice
6.1.3 installers, important security and bug fixes as well as cumulative upgrade covering all
changes since the previous Q4OS 2 Scorpion stable release. You can download installation media
images from the Downloads section of the Q4OS website.
Q4OS 3.4 Centaurus, testing
22 September, 2018
A significant update to the Q4OS Centaurus testing version is available for download, you can
find 64bit iso image at the dedicated Testing releases site.
Anybody is invited to try it out and report bugs and glitches.
This release brings quite significant changes and improvements, the most important one is that
Q4OS switched to the Calamares installer. That offers nice new installation features, for
example fully encrypt target system, easy disk drive partitioning and many others. Another
important change is move to the new Trinity 14.0.6 development version. All dependencies from
the current stable Q4OS Scorpion has been removed, so the Centaurus now becomes fully
independent getting its own repositories and dependencies. Secure boot support has been improved
too. The Calamares installer detects, if secure boot is active and adjusts the target system
accordingly. If secure boot is switched off in the firmware, no Secure boot stuff is
installed.
Q4OS Centaurus 3.4 is based on the current Debian 'Buster' and Trinity desktop 14.0.6
development branches. Q4OS Centaurus will be in development until Debian Buster becomes stable,
and will be supported at least five years from the official release date.
Q4OS 2.6 Scorpion, stable
08 September, 2018
An update to the Q4OS 2 Scorpion stable LTS is immediately available for download. The new 2.6
release is based on and upgrades to the latest stable versions of the Trinity R14.0.5 desktop
and Debian 9.5 Stretch projects. Q4OS specific fixes and
patches are revised and provided as well. All the updates are immediately available for existing
Q4OS users from the regular Q4OS repositories. You can download installation media images from
the Downloads section of the Q4OS website.
Q4OS Scorpion LTS release supported for 5 years is based on Debian 9 Stretch featuring the
Trinity 14.0.5 and KDE Plasma 5.8 LTS desktop environments, it's available for 64bit/x64 and
32bit/i686pae computers as well as i386 systems without PAE extension. ARM 64bit/arm64 and
32bit/armhf ports are provided as well. Q4OS offers its own exclusive utilities and features,
specifically the 'Desktop profiler' application for profiling your computer into different
professional working tools, 'Setup' utility for smooth installation of third-party applications,
a 'Welcome Screen' with several integrated shortcuts to make system configuration easier for
novice users, LXQT, XFCE, Cinnamon and LXDE alternative environments installation options and
many more.
Q4OS 2.5 Scorpion for Raspberry Pi, stable release
13 August, 2018
We are proud to announce a new major stable release of the Q4OS 2.5 Scorpion ARM port, optimized
for the Raspberry Pi series of single board
computers. It is based on the latest stable Raspbian Stretch distribution and Trinity desktop
R14.0.5 version. Q4OS is one of a few distributions offering the full desktop environment on the
ARM architecture.
Feel free to download the Q4OS RPI image from the Downloads section
of the Q4OS website and install it on a SD card, please read the Installation guide. It's possible to buy preinstalled SD card in our
e-shop too.
Q4OS on Raspberry Pi performs at lightning speed due to its exceptionally low hardware
requirements. All the native Q4OS features, for example 'Desktop profiler' and 'Setup tool', are
available and fully functional within the Raspberry Pi Q4OS edition.
Q4OS Plasma desktop edition
23 June, 2018We have just released a new Q4OS 2.5 Scorpion edition with KDE5 Plasma desktop environment pre-installed by default. It is based on Debian Stretch stable with KDE Plasma desktop and Trinity desktop environment as an option. Anyone is welcome to download from the Q4OS Downloads site.
Q4OS 2.5 Scorpion, stable
03 June, 2018
A significant update to the Q4OS 2 Scorpion stable LTS is immediately available for download. The
new 2.5 series brings an essential change adding KDE Plasma to be an equal option to the Trinity
desktop, as Q4OS is now pre-configured for both desktops to coexist alongside each other. System
installer configures the system the usual way, but decides afterwards to offer additional
installation of the KDE Plasma desktop, if sufficient hardware resources detected. So a user can
login and switch forth and back between lightweight efficient Trinity desktop and more advanced
KDE Plasma desktop environment according to his choice.
Other changes include PulseAudio better system integration for easier audio management, Q4OS
installer improvements, Firefox 60 and LibreOffice 6 installers, important security and bug
fixes as well as cumulative upgrade covering all changes since the previous Q4OS 2 Scorpion
stable release. You can download installation media images from the Downloads section of the Q4OS website.
Q4OS 3.1 Centaurus, testing
29 January, 2018
We introduce the initial development build of the new major Q4OS version 3, codenamed
'Centaurus'. This release is based on Debian 'Buster' and Trinity desktop 14.0.5 development
branch. Q4OS Centaurus will be in development until Debian Buster becomes stable, and will be
supported at least five years from the official release date. Anybody is invited to try out the
brand new version and report bugs and glitches, you can download live CD's for x64 cpu
architecture from the dedicated Testing releases page.
The Q4OS Desktop is a powerful and reliable operating system based on proven desktop model,
represented by the recent 'Trinity desktop' environment. Q4OS comes with its own exclusive
utilities and features, especially with the 'Desktop profiler' for profiling your computer into
different professional working tools, 'Setup utility' for the smooth installation of third-party
applications, a 'Welcome Screen' with several integrated shortcuts to make system configuration
easier for novice users, KDE5, XFCE, LXQT, Cinnamon and LXDE alternative desktop environments
options and many more.
Q4OS is designed to work flawlessly on the latest laptops and desktops as well as older
computers, supports a wide range of different hardware. There is a native lightweight wireless
networks manager integrated and numerous drivers and firmware received from the famous Debian
base.
Windows 10 loves Linux, Windows 10 loves Debian, Q4OS loves Windows 10
29 November, 2017
We are happy to introduce a first stable release of the Q4OS for Windows 10 installer. It allows
everyone to install Q4OS alongside Windows in an easy way, with no need of modifying an existing
Windows operating system, nor any of software installed, even with no need of repartitioning
your disk drive. Simply download and run Q4OS installer, just like any other Windows
application, and follow the installer instructions. The installer will install and configure
your computer to be able to run Q4OS or Windows 10 in a dual boot mode. Once you perform the
setup, you will be able to switch back and forth between Windows and Q4OS each time you restart
your computer. This installer is compatible with Windows 10, as well as 7 and 8 version, and
it's able to use Secure boot feature, if available in the PC firmware. Secure boot will allow
you to boot Q4OS in a smooth and safe way.
The installer is immediately available for download from the
Downloads
section
of the Q4OS website, however we would recommend everyone to read installation
notes first, please see Q4OS documentation.
You will be able to remove Q4OS at any time using an integrated uninstaller. The uninstaller
completely erases the Q4OS installation, so your computer will be reverted into its original
status as before installation.
If your Windows becomes lagging, it's the right time to try Q4OS out, a lightweight, snappy and
easy to use operating system with variety of applications available in repositories. Q4OS is not
intended to be a replacement, but the perfect complement to an existing Windows installation.
Q4OS 2.4 Scorpion, stable
10 October, 2017
We are proud to announce the immediate availability of the brand new stable Q4OS 2.4 version
codenamed 'Scorpion'. This is a long-term support LTS release, to be supported for at least five
years with security patches and software updates. Q4OS Scorpion is based on Debian Stretch 9.2
and Trinity 14.0.5 desktop environment and it is available for 64bit and 32bit/i686pae
computers, as well as i386 systems without PAE extension. We are working hard to release Q4OS
Scorpion editions for 64bit and 32bit ARM architectures as soon as possible.
Q4OS offers its own exclusive utilities and features, especially the 'Desktop profiler' for
profiling your computer into different professional working tools, 'Setup utility' for the
smooth installation of third-party applications, a 'Welcome Screen' with several integrated
shortcuts to make system configuration easier for novice users, KDE5, XFCE, LXDE, Cinnamon and
LXQT alternative environments installation option and many more.
Q4OS 2.3.6 Scorpion, final beta
04 October, 2017
We announce the Final Beta release of forthcoming Q4OS Scorpion operating system, allowing anyone
to see how it performs. A preliminary release date for the stable new Q4OS Scorpion version is
scheduled to October 10, 2017, so if nothing exceptional will happen in the next few days, the
new Q4OS Scorpion version will be released very soon.
Anybody is invited to install Q4OS Scorpion and report bugs and glitches for us to be able to
make the final release as perfect as possible, you can download the final beta live CD's for x64
and i686-pae CPU architectures from the dedicated
Testing releases
page
.
Q4OS for Windows installer
20 September, 2017
We are happy to introduce a Q4OS for Windows installer, a testing release at the moment. The
installer allows to install Q4OS alongside Windows in an easy way, with no need of modifying an
existing Windows operating system, nor any of software installed. Once you perform the setup,
you will be able to switch back and forth between Windows and Q4OS each time you restart your
computer. This installer is compatible with Windows 7, 8 or 10 versions and it's able to use
Secure boot feature, if available in the PC firmware.
The installer is immediately available for download from
Testing
releases
section of the Q4OS website, however we would recommend everyone to read Installation notes first.
If your Windows becomes lagging, it's the right time to try Q4OS out, a lightweight, snappy and
easy to use operating system with variety of applications available in repositories. Q4OS is not
intended to be a replacement, but the perfect complement to an existing Windows installation.
Q4OS 1.8.8, Orion
14 September, 2017
The new Q4OS 1.8.8 stable release updates core system packages and implements improvements. Q4OS
Orion 1.8.8 is based on Debian 8.9 Jessie and Trinity R14.0.4 desktop environment, it's the
maintenance release of the Q4OS 1.8 'Orion' series, and is built on and updates the previous
version. Google Chrome, the default Live CD web browser, has been upgraded to its most recent
version 61.0.3163.79. Other improvements include polished GTK3 themes, new first boot Systemd
configuration script, and more.
Important security fixes and packages updates are provided as well. All the updates are
immediately available for existing Q4OS users from the regular Q4OS repositories.
Q4OS 1.8.7, Orion
28 June, 2017
New Q4OS Orion version 1.8.7 is available. The default start menu named 'Bourbon' has been tuned
and polished a bit. First login Q4OS scripts, for example web browser automatic installer, now
work on all supported architectures, including arm64 and armhf. As reported recently, we have
made several significant modifications in Q4OS Orion to be ready for installation under other
Debian based operating systems, so anyone is now enabled to gain Q4OS Orion based on Ubuntu as
well as Devuan.
System packages updates and important security fixes are provided as well. All the updates are
immediately available for existing Q4OS users from the regular Q4OS repositories.
Q4OS 1.8.6, Orion
14 June, 2017
We announce the release of a new Q4OS Orion version. Q4OS GTK+3 themes has been significantly
improved in this version, supporting Google Chrome 59, which has definitively moved to GTK+3
libraries. We have made several relevant modifications in Q4OS Orion to be ready for
installation under other Debian based operating systems, so anyone is now enabled to gain Q4OS
Orion based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Xenial Xerus as well as Devuan Jessie, see Q4OS based on Ubuntu and Q4OS setup on Devuan. More under
the hood improvements and Q4OS specific fixes are delivered as well. All the updates are
immediately available for existing Q4OS users from the regular Q4OS repositories.
As claimed, the forthcoming Debian GNU/Linux 9.0 "Stretch" operating system has entered the
final phase of development and should be released in a few days or weeks, so we are currently
finishing in making to release new Q4OS Scorpion branch based on Debian Stretch. The new Q4OS
Scorpion edition should be available in about a month or two after the official release of
Debian Stretch.
Q4OS 1.8.4, Orion
26 April, 2017
The new Q4OS 'Orion' 1.8.4 stable release is out to implement several improvements and fixes. The
most significant new feature is integration of alternative desktop environments into the native
Q4OS 'Desktop profiler' utility. Users can now select alternative desktops to install and use
alongside the default Q4OS Trinity desktop. LXQT support has been depreciated in Q4OS Orion,
while we intend to support it thoroughly in the Q4OS 'Scorpion' edition. Icedove messaging
application is no more available by the Q4OS installer, as it has been replaced by the real
Thunderbird 45.8 release.
Another minor improvements have been implemented and security fixes have been received from the
stable Debian base. All mentioned updates are immediately available for existing Q4OS users from
current Q4OS repositories.
Pine64 port
06 March, 2017
Q4OS development team is pleased to announce brand new edition of the full desktop environment
for Pine64 boards, the family of 64bit ARM single board
computers. Dedicated images are immediately available for download from the Q4OS downloads site. Pine64 port is based on Debian Jessie
distribution and includes a kernel optimized for the targeted Pine64 devices. Anyone is welcome
to download the image and create a bootable SD card, please read Pine64 setup guide.
Q4OS on Pine64 hardware runs stably and swiftly, due to its lightness and typical low hardware
requirements. The full set of Debian stable and Trinity repositories is included and available
for software installation. Please see the
official Pine64 wiki
entry
for Q4OS.
Q4OS 1.8.3, Orion
01 March, 2017
New update of stable Q4OS 'Orion' desktop is available. Bunch of important packages updates and
security patches has been delivered, as well as improvements of the native Q4OS update manager
application. All the changes are available for existing Q4OS users via the automatic update
process.
Work on the next major version, Q4OS 2.3 'Scorpion' continues as the Debian Project also nears
end of development cycle for the Debian GNU/Linux 9 'Strech' operating system, upon which Q4OS
2.3 will be based. The release date is preliminarily scheduled at about the turn of April and
May 2017. Q4OS 'Scorpion' will be supported at least five years from the official release date.
Q4OS 1.8.2, Orion
16 January, 2017
New version 1.8.2 is based on the the most recent release of stable Debian Jessie 8.7, important
security patches have been applied and core system packages have been updated. Q4OS Update
manager has been rewritten from scratch to provide a robust and reliable tool for safe system
upgrades. Other Q4OS specific fixes and under the hood improvements are delivered as usual. All
the updates are immediately available for existing Q4OS users from the regular Q4OS
repositories.
Most attention is now focused on the development of the testing Q4OS 'Scorpion' version 2.2,
based on Debian 9 Stretch. Q4OS 2.2 Scorpion continues to be under development so far, and it
will stay as long as Debian Stretch will be testing, the release date is preliminarily scheduled
at about the turn of April and May 2017. Q4OS 'Scorpion' will be supported at least five years
from the official release date.
Firefox 50 for ARM devices
18 December, 2016
We have released a special edition of the recent Mozila Firefox, currently version 50, webbrowser
for ARM architecture. It's specifically compiled and optimized for Raspberry Pi boards
processors, nonetheless this Firefox Release runs smoothly on any device equipped with ARM
hard-float processor, for example Chromebooks, tablets, embedded ARM devices and more. Anyone is
welcome to follow instructions published on the
Raspberry Pi
forum
in order to install Firefox 50 on an ARM device.
The ARM Firefox repository will be kept up to date as a new Firefox versions will be released,
so Q4OS users always automatically get the recent ARM Firefox version.
Q4OS 1.8, Orion
09 November, 2016
Q4OS development team is pleased to announce immediate availability of the new significant
release of the Q4OS 'Orion' desktop, version 1.8. This is a stable version of the Q4OS desktop,
based on the recent Debian Jessie 8.6 release and the brand new version of the Trinity 14.0.4
desktop environment, complete release notes are available on the
Trinity desktop
environment
website.
Some of the Q4OS specific tools has been updated as well, the LookSwitcher tool has been
rewritten and users can now choose from different desktop themes. Live Installer offers an easy
way to automatically create set of partitions to install Q4OS system to. Support for UEFI
systems has been enhanced, important bug fixes and various improvements are provided as usual.
All the updates are immediately available for existing Q4OS users from the current Q4OS
repositories.
Q4OS 1.6.3, Orion
05 October, 2016
New version 1.6.3 adds initial UEFI support for both, live CD and install CD. Q4OS media are now
ready to boot on UEFI machines, install Q4OS system in UEFI mode as well as automatically insert
an entry into the boot manager.
Q4OS Orion 1.6.3 is re-based on the the latest release of Debian Jessie 8.6, system packages
have been updated and important security patches have been applied. Q4OS specific fixes and
under the hood improvements are provided as usual. All the changes will be pushed via the
automatic update process for existing Q4OS users in the days to come.
Q4OS 2.2, Scorpion, testing
20 September, 2016
Q4OS development team is pleased to announce immediate availability of the new significant update
of the Q4OS 'Scorpion' desktop, version 2.2. This is a testing version of the Q4OS desktop,
based on the recent Debian 9 Stretch release with the upgraded Linux kernel 4.6, GCC 6 and the
Trinity 14.0.4 desktop environment. The alternative LXQT desktop is supported in Q4OS, so users
can have Trinity and LXQT desktops alongside installed and choose which one to log in. Q4OS 2.2
'Scorpion' continues to be under development so far, and it will stay as long as Debian Stretch
will be testing. Q4OS 'Scorpion' will be supported at least five years from the official release
date.
Anybody is invited to try out the brand new version and report bugs and glitches, you can
download live CD's for x64 and i686-pae CPU architectures from the dedicated Testing releases page.
Q4OS 1.6.2, Orion
15 September, 2016
Another update of Q4OS 'Orion' desktop is available, version 1.6.2 stable. It's a maintenance
release of the Q4OS 1.6 'Orion' series, and it's built on and improves the previous version.
There are several internal improvements, a bunch of bug fixes and security fixes included.
All the updates will arrive into repositories in the days to come, update manager or unattended
upgrades mechanism will take care about to update computers of current users.
Q4OS 1.6, Orion
28 August, 2016
The significant Q4OS 1.6 'Orion' release receives the most recent Trinity R14.0.3 stable version.
Trinity R14.0.3 is the third maintenance release of the R14 series, it is intended to promptly
bring bug fixes to users, while preserving overall stability. The complete list and release
notes you will find on the
Trinity desktop
environment
website.
New Q4OS 1.6 release includes set of new features and fixes. The default desktop look has been
slightly changed, Q4OS 'Bourbon' start menu and taskbar has been polished a bit and has got a
few enhancements, for example the icons size varies proportionally to the system panel. Native
Desktop profiler tool has got new, optimized 'software to install' list.
We are currently pushing all the changes mentioned above into the Q4OS repositories, automatic
update process will take care about to update computers of current users.
Q4OS 1.4.12, Orion
27 June, 2016New update of Q4OS 'Orion' desktop is available, version 1.4.12, it is based on the latest release of Debian Jessie 8.5. Important bug fixes and various improvements are provided. The Q4OS native Desktop profiler tool has got new optimized 'software to install' list. All the updates are available for existing Q4OS users from the current Q4OS repositories.
Q4OS 1.4.11, Orion
06 June, 2016NVIDIA card detection and proprietary driver installer has been improved a bit, as well as Welcome screen configurator of the Start menu properties. In order to keep current 1.4 Orion line healthy, the new Q4OS version applies security patches and solves a few minor issues. The Orion 1.4.11 has been released for all supported architectures, x64, i386/i686, armhf and a special Raspberry Pi edition. It is currently pushing into the official repositories, for computers of current users to be updated from.
Q4OS 1.4.10, Orion
23 May, 2016
Orion 1.4.10 introduces after install NVidia graphics card detection and related proprietary
drivers easy to use 'qinst-ipvideo' installation script. The default Q4OS 'Bourbon' start menu
has been polished and improved a bit. Another new script to switch between category and Q4OS
menu structure is available, see Q4OS documentation. There is a fix for the annoying delay prior
to show logout dialog, this annoying glitch is now completely gone. Numerous under the hood
improvements is provided as usual.
All the updates will arrive into repositories in the days to come, update manager or unattended
upgrades mechanism will take care about to update computers of current users.
Real desktop on Raspberry Pi-3
19 May, 2016One of Q4OS users has installed and configured Q4OS Orion on the recently released Raspberry Pi-3 ARM device, read the nice review.
Q4OS 2.1 Scorpion, testing
23 April, 2016
New significant update of Q4OS 'Scorpion' desktop is available, version 2.1. This is testing
version of the Q4OS desktop based on Debian 9 Stretch with the upgraded Linux kernel 4.5 and the
Trinity 14.0.4 desktop environment. Q4OS 'Scorpion' will become stable, as soon as Debian
Stretch will do so.
We have included the 'Bourbon' start menu, the brand new default start menu in Q4OS. The two
panel 'Bourbon' menu is highly efficient and customizable and features a search line, favorites,
history and more options. System packages have been updated and some improvements have been
ported from Q4OS Orion stable version.
We invite anyone to try out this testing Q4OS Scorpion 2.1 and report bugs and glitches, you can
download live CD's for x64 and i686-pae cpu architectures from dedicated Testing releases webpage. Keep in mind, testing versions are not
intended for daily use in production environments.
Q4OS 1.4.9, Orion
10 April, 2016
We introduce 'Bourbon' start menu, the brand new default start menu in Q4OS. The two panel
'Bourbon' menu is highly efficient and customizable and features a search line, favorites,
history and more options.
Q4OS 1.4.9 'Orion' is based on the most recent Debian 8.4 'Jessie' stable version released a few
days ago. System packages have been updated and important security patches have been applied. A
significant update for the native Q4OS uninstaller fixes the unintentional removal of the
'locales' package. Numerous under the hood improvements is provided as usual.
All the updates will arrive into repositories in the days to come, update manager or unattended
upgrades mechanism will take care about to update computers of current users.
Q4OS 1.4.7, Orion
07 February, 2016
Another update of Q4OS 'Orion' desktop is available, version 1.4.7. A complete Trinity repository
has been added to the system as the main new feature. Access to all the Trinity software were
given to users by default, there is no need to add external Trinity repositories anymore. Bunch
of important packages updates and security patches has been delivered as usual.
All the changes will be pushed via the automatic update process for existing Q4OS users in the
days to come.
Q4OS ARM edition
05 February, 2016
We are introducing a brand new Q4OS edition designed for use on various ARM devices. Q4OS 1.4
'Orion' on ARM architecture is a free operating system based on Debian Jessie 'armhf' port. It
runs on wide variety of hardware equipped with ARM processors, including Chromebooks, tablets,
single board computers, embedded devices and more.
Q4OS is now one of the few distributions offering the full desktop environment on ARM
architecture. If you want to install Q4OS on your device, please read the detailed Installation guide.
Q4OS 1.4.6, Orion
25 January, 2016
This new release updates printing system structure, adds several different improvements, for
example a script to revert default desktop settings, and redefines keyboard shortcuts to be more
efficient and intuitive. The most recent version of real Mozilla Firefox webbrowser compiled
from sources and optimized specifically for Q4OS has been integrated into the default
repositories. As announced before, Google will drop support for Google Chrome browser in 32bit
version soon. We had to replace it with Chromium webbrowser for i686 architecture, while Google
Chrome will continue to be the default browser for x64 Q4OS systems.
Numerous bug fixes and under the hood improvements is provided as usual. All the updates will
arrive into repositories in the days to come, update manager or unattended upgrades mechanism
will take care about to update computers of current users.
Q4OS 2.0.2 Scorpion, testing
06 January, 2016
The main purpose of the new Q4OS 2.0.2 'Scorpion' development build is to fix bugs and update
packages and core system. This release is based on the latest Debian 'Stretch' and Trinity
desktop 14.0.3 preliminary stable branch, brings improved installer, Linux kernel 4.3 and recent
version of most packages and applications. Despite beta status, Q4OS 'Scorpion' flies fairly
stably and smoothly.
Q4OS 'Scorpion' will be in development as long as Debian Stretch will continue to be testing,
and becomes stable together with it. Official 'Scorpion' support is set at least five years from
official stable release date. Anybody is invited to try out the brand new version and report
bugs and glitches, you can download live CD's for x64 and i686-pae cpu architectures from
dedicated Testing releases page.
Q4OS 1.4.4, Orion
02 December, 2015
The Q4OS development team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the new Q4OS 1.4.4
release. It's the maintenance release of the Q4OS 1.4 'Orion' series, and is built on and
improves the previous version.
The new Q4OS release ships with brand new update notifier and manager, as well as several
different improvements. Update notifier pops up an icon in system tray, when updates are
available from system repositories and lets administrator to apply them on request. Other
improvements include optimized desktop profiles, fast data transfer from Android devices,
broader support for various multimedia formats and more. Bunch of more or less important bug
fixes, packages updates and security patches has been delivered as usual.
We are currently pushing all the changes mentioned above into the Q4OS repositories, automatic
update process will take care about to update computers for current users.
Q4OS for Raspberry Pi becomes stable
24 November, 2015
We announce Q4OS stable port for the Raspberry Pi / Pi2
series of single board computers. It is based on Raspbian
distribution optimized for the Raspberry Pi hardware. Q4OS is now one of the few distributions
offering the full desktop environment on the ARM architecture.
Anyone is welcome to download the Q4OS RPI image from the Downloads
section of the Q4OS website and install it on a SD card, please read our installation guide. It's possible to buy preinstalled SD card in our
e-shop too.
Q4OS on Raspberry Pi runs reliable and fast, due to it's very low hardware requirements. All the
native Q4OS features, for example 'Desktop profiler' and 'Setup tool', are fully functional and
stable now.
Q4OS 1.4.3, Orion
15 October, 2015
Another update of Q4OS 'Orion' desktop is available, version 1.4.3. Bunch of important packages
updates and security patches has been delivered. There are quite significant under the hood
improvements, for example the 'Desktop Profiler' tool to be able to handle and fix possible
software database inconsistencies automatically. Proprietary multimedia codecs installation
script has been superseded by native Q4OS 'Setup' tool, that enables smooth and user friendly
installation of external applications.
The new version brings slight look and feel improvements, updates in the Q4OS Start menu
structure, support for Asus Eee-PC devices and more. If someone misses to install specific
language package during Q4OS setup, the desktop shortcut for easy additional language
installation will be created.
All the changes will be pushed via the automatic update process for existing Q4OS users in the
days to come.
Q4OS for Raspberry Pi
28 September, 2015
We announce the first Q4OS port for the ARM hardware, specifically for the Raspberry Pi / Pi2 series of single board computers.
It is based on Raspbian distribution optimized for the
Raspberry Pi hardware. Q4OS is now one of the few distributions offering full desktop
environment on the ARM architecture.
Anyone is welcome to download the Q4OS RPI image from the
Testing
downloads
section of the Q4OS website and install it on a SD card, please read our installation guide. It's possible to buy preinstalled SD card in our
e-shop too.
Q4OS on Raspberry Pi runs stable and fast, due to it's very low hardware requirements. A few of
the Q4OS specific features, for example 'Desktop profiler', are not fully functional yet, we are
targeting to get them to work as soon as possible.
Development Pack for Q4OS 'Orion' released
23 September, 2015
The first stable version of Development Pack for Q4OS 'Orion' has been released. Development Pack
is the recommended starting point for Q4OS developers, it contains programming IDE and various
tools for developers to simplify creation of custom Q4OS applications and native installers. We
offer the complete support for independent developers via e-mail develop@q4os.org or public developer forum.
Please visit Developers section of the Q4OS website to get
instructions on DevPack installation and read developer manuals in the Documentation section before starting your work.
Q4OS 1.4
04 September, 2015
The significant Q4OS 1.4 'Orion' release adopts new Trinity R14.0.1 version. Trinity R14.0.1 is
the first maintenance release of the R14 series, and is the result of several months of ongoing
effort by the TDE development team. It brings numerous improvements and fixes, the complete list
and release notes you will find on the
Trinity desktop
environment
website.
The changes mentioned above will be pushed via the automatic update process for current users in
a few days.
Project of the Week on SourceForge
31 August, 2015Q4OS is a featured Project of the Week and will be listed on the front page of SourceForge.net site this week.
Q4OS 1.2.8
22 August, 2015
This Q4OS release delivers redesigned 'Setup' utility, the native Q4OS tool, that enables smooth
and user friendly installation of external applications. It has been improved to be able to
solve dependencies of packages in deeper complexity and automatically install extra useful
software without the need of additional user intervention. An integrated message-box now
displays installation messages much clearer. Several system bug fixes and under the hood
improvements has been closed as usual. All the updates will arrive into repositories in the days
to come, automatic unattended upgrades mechanism will take care about to update computers of
current users.
Now we focus our effort into better integration of GTK themes into Q4OS user interface, it will
be introduced within some of the next minor Q4OS releases.
Q4OS 2.0, development version
04 August, 2015
We introduce the initial development build of the new major Q4OS version 2.0, codenamed
'Scorpion'. This release is based on Debian 'Stretch' and Trinity desktop 14.1 development
branch. Q4OS Scorpion will be in development as long as Debian Stretch becomes stable and will
be supported at least five years from official release date. Anybody is invited to try out the
brand new version and report bugs and glitches, you can download live CD's for x64 and i686-pae
cpu architectures from dedicated Testing releases page.
The Q4OS Desktop is a powerful and reliable operating system based on proven desktop model,
represented by the recent 'Trinity desktop' environment. Q4OS comes with its own exclusive
utilities and features, especially with the 'Desktop profiler' for profiling your computer into
different professional working tools, 'Setup utility' for the smooth installation of third-party
applications, a 'Welcome Screen' with several integrated shortcuts to make system configuration
easier for novice users, KDE4, XFCE, LXDE and LXQT alternative environments installation scripts
and many more.
Q4OS is designed to work flawlessly on the latest laptops and desktops as well as older
computers, supports a wide range of different hardware. There is native integrated wireless
networks manager and numerous drivers and firmware received from the famous Debian base.
Q4OS Live CD, stable
10 July, 2015The stable version of Q4OS live CD is available for free download and use. Users are now able to perform safe Q4OS testing on a real hardware without installation. Anybody is welcome to try out and see Q4OS system in action. As an option, it's possible to proceed Q4OS installation directly from the live environment using integrated graphical live installer. You can download the live CD iso from our website and burn it onto CD/DVD or create bootable USB stick, we can recommend to use 'unetbootin' or similar tools for this purpose.
Live CD, beta
29 June, 2015The first beta version of Q4OS Live CD is available for download from our sourceforge archive. Anyone is welcome to give it a spin and report issues.
Q4OS 1.2.5
23 June, 2015
Q4OS 'Orion' 1.2.5 improves power management support and it's able to detect more types of
external disk drives partitions. Desktop profiler tool has been optimized to install more
accurate profiles. Several internal improvements and bug fixes has been closed. There is a new
'q4os-api' package, that establishes Q4OS specific application binary interface for C/C++
developers.
We exert considerable effort on the development of the Q4OS live installation media now. It
could be released in about a month.
Q4OS 1.2.3
08 June, 2015
The new Q4OS 1.2.3 version is out, brings numerous improvements and some new features. The most
significant is the new LXQT desktop environment installation option, users can simply run
'qinst-lxqt' script to install complete LXQT environment, and choose login into LXQT or default
Q4OS from the login screen.
Q4OS core system has been updated into just released Debian Jessie 8.1. Both Software Centre and
Desktop Profiler tools got numerous of improvements, Software Centre now supports direct
uninstallation of applications. Other updates include improvements in hardware support, for
example better synaptics touchpads configuration, better power management configuration,
Thinkpad laptops detection and more.
All the updates will arrive into repositories in the days to come, automatic unattended upgrades
mechanism will take care about to update computers of current users.
X2Go bugfix update
26 May, 2015
X2Go Server has been updated to fix the bug causing Server start crash on some platforms. The bug
is related only to Q4OS versions 1.2.x 'Orion' with X2Go Server installation. Admins are
encouraged to install the new X2Go Server release, the best way is to use Software Centre. The
buggy version of the X2Go Server has to be uninstalled first with the terminal command:
$ dash /usr/share/apps/q4os_system/uninst_q4inf/uninstall_x2goserver-q4.esh
Q4OS 1.2.2
22 May, 2015
We introduce the new 'Software Centre' in this version, now it makes management of free
applications much easier. We plan an important option for the Software Centre, which would allow
direct purchasing of non-free applications and installing them in Q4OS seamlessly. The other
notable change coming with the new Q4OS release is completion of several Welcome Screen
translations, thanks to excellent work of external translators from different countries. A few
internal improvements and bug fixes has been closed as usual.
All packages will arrive into repositories in the days to come, automatic update process will
take care about to update computers of current users.
Q4OS 1.2 final
27 April, 2015
We are proud to announce the immediate availability of the new Q4OS 1.2 release, codenamed
'Orion', supported until 1st May 2020 at least.
The Q4OS Desktop is a powerful and reliable operating system based on proven desktop model,
represented by the recent 'Trinity desktop' environment. Q4OS comes with its own exclusive
utilities and features, especially with the 'Desktop profiler' for profiling your computer into
different professional working tools, 'Setup utility' for the smooth installation of third-party
applications, a 'Welcome Screen' with several integrated shortcuts to make system configuration
easier for novice users, KDE4, XFCE and LXDE alternative environments installation scripts and
many more.
Q4OS is designed to work flawlessly on the latest laptops and desktops as well as older
computers, supports a wide range of different hardware. There is native integrated wireless
networks manager and numerous drivers and firmware received from the famous Debian stable
base.
We introduce the new official logo, it will be an integral part of Q4OS
branding. The legacy 0.5.x Q4OS branch will continue to be supported by the security team.
Q4OS 1.1-RC2
14 April, 2015
Users will find Q4OS 1.1-RC2 version, the second release candidate, in a new dedicated Testing releases webpage. Final Q4OS ver.1 will be supported for
at least 5 years, the release date is preliminarily set at about the turn of April and May. It
is based, as announced, on Debian Jessie and Trinity R14, inheriting new features and packages,
but preserving famous Debian stability. There are quite significant Q4OS specific improvements
and fixes, UEFI boot support, new firmware and more.
The most important Q4OS specific features include 'Q4OS Welcome Screen' with different
integrated shortcuts to make system configuration easier for regular user, XFCE and LXDE
alternative environments installation scripts, desktop smoothing effects pre-configuration and
many more.
Anybody is welcome to give the RC version a trial and report bugs and issues. Keep in mind we
don't recommend to use testing versions in production environments.
Desktop Profiler and Q4OS 0.5.27
05 March, 2015
We are happy to release the next Q4OS version and introduce brand new handy tool 'Desktop
Profiler' integrated. The Desktop Profiler enables one-click installation of different
predefined profiles and applications sets, it will help users to configure the Q4OS computer an
easy and quick way. Users will find Desktop Profiler in 'System' section of the Q4OS Start
Menu.
We are getting closer to release stable Q4OS version 1.0 in expectation of forthcoming Debian
Jessie release, stay tuned !
Q4OS 0.5.18 released
08 September, 2014New update of the Q4OS distribution is available, version 0.5.18. The new version includes several security updates and updated packages. Lookswitcher, the tool to easy switch between classical and modern user interface, has been rewritten, bunch of GUI improvements have been made. Script for APT database lock detection ported to C programming language. Prepared underlying API for easy installation of recent application versions from backports repository and automatic detection of national environment and language. Q4OS is now stable enough to be recommended for everyday use.
New applications available
26 August, 2014There is couple of new powerful applications in Downloads section. LibreOffice suite and Mozilla Firefox installers are ready to be downloaded, autodetecting of the specific system language is included. Firefox installer will always pick the latest stable release version, at the moment it's 31. Keep in mind Firefox is rebranded into Iceweasel for Debian systems, but any functionalities are identical.
Application Server updated
12 August, 2014New version of Q4OS Application Terminal Server is out. There are optimizations and bugfixes, especially important one, which fixes dependencies and failing installation on some computers. Get new version 0.3.1-r1 from software downloads section of Q4OS web.
Website design update
06 August, 2014Website design has been updated. Find more Q4OS user information as well as press news, we prepare new forum and additional web functionality. Feel free to email us any suggestions.
Q4OS 0.5.17 dev version released
17 July, 2014Q4OS 0.5.17 development version has been released. It fixes known "logoff bug", includes several essential bugfixes and look'n feel improvements. This is the first version to be recommended for everyday use !