14 DAY TRIAL // PCLinuxOS 2014.12, a free Linux distribution aimed at desktop computers and laptops, has been made available and the devs have made a number of important upgrades.
PCLinuxOS has many flavors such as KDE MiniMe, LXDE, MATE, or FullMonty, but the default one is the KDE edition. In fact, a new version of PCLinuxOS is usually generated once a month for this distro, which means that users don't have to perform too many updates.
This is one of the few Linux distributions that follow a rolling release model. In this case, developers push important updates on a regular basis for users who already have the distro installed, so there is no need for periodical releases. These monthly ISOs are generated in order to incorporate all the latest modifications and they best serve new users. If you already have PCLinuxOS installed, there is no need to get these images.
PCLinuxOS gets upgrades for core components
One of the main advantages of a rolling release distro is that it usually features all the latest packages, and those include major components like the Linux kernel, for example. Such upgrades don't put the installed system in jeopardy and are in fact recommended.
"PCLinuxOS 2014.12 isos have been released for Full Monty, KDE, MATE and LXDE. Highlights include kernel 3.18.1, FFMpeg 2.5.1, mesa 10.4.0, SysVinit (no systemd) and all popular applications such as Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice and VLC have been updated to their latest versions."
"Please note if you have been keeping up with your PCLinuxOS software updates then there is NO NEED to install fresh from a 2014.12 iso. These ISOS are final releases based on legacy technology. Future releases will default to grub2 and support uefi and gpt partition formats," reads the official announcement.
The most comprehensive edition of the PCLinuxOS is definitely the FullMonty edition, which basically features six different desktops aimed at different users. If you want to just surf the net, play some games, or use the office suite, users will find different desktops packed with the right applications for each task. It's one of the few distros out there that provide this kind of functionality and it's definitely worth a try.
More details about this Linux distribution can be found in the official changelog. You can download PCLinuxOS 2014.12, LXDE, MATE, MiniME, and FullMonty right now from Softpedia. All of them are also Live CDs, so they should be pretty easy to test.
