The ExTiX team announced the release of the latest version of the desktop – ExTiX 21.1 based on the latest Deepin desktop 20.1 which released a while ago.
ExTiX is based on Ubuntu/Debian and provides many desktop environment flavours such as KDE, Budgie, LXQt. With the recent release of Deepin desktop 20.1, the ExTix 21.1 Deepin edition is now available as desktop and LIVE media.
Test run of ExTiX 21.1 Deepin (live)
In my test box, the ExTiX 21.1 live (non UEFI) feels extremely slow. Whereas, the same box runs well with KDE Neon and other heavy distributions. It is surprising that the LIVE medium feels this much slow. Deepin desktop might be the reason for this as it is already bloated with themes, colors, many applications, etc.
That said, here’s what’s new in ExTiX 21.1
What’s New in ExTiX 21.1 Deepin Edition
ExTix 21.1 is powered by the latest LTS Linux kernel 5.10.4 which brings up-to-date driver and hardware support.
It is based on Deepin 20.1 release.
This version brings a new feature that enables you to run ExTiX entirely from RAM. After the LIVE boot, you can even remove the USB/DVD and ExTiX can continue to run from RAM.
The installer is updated and it is based on ‘Reborn’ version of the Deepin installer.
Spotify and Skype – both of them now pre-installed.
A new package manager – Cactus package manager is included along with apt. It’s a wrapper to apt, dnf.
Along with the above updates, all the traditional Deepin native applications are included with Firefox for web browsing. However, LibreOffice is not included which is the main free OpenSuite. So, you have to install it manually.
I could not find a proper changelog. However, the package list is present here.
Download
You can download the ExTiX 21.1 Deepin edition from the SourceForge website using the below link.
- Download ExTX 21.1 Deepin edition 64 bit
- File size: 2.8GB
After download you can create a live USB and try.
Remember, if you are running as a Live USB, it requires you to log in. So the live user password is live.
As I said, the distro looks very nice and promising but the team needs to work more on it in various places instead of being just a wrapper on Deepin. The official website is not looking good, the .iso is hosted in SourceForge which is super slow among other things that require a bit of attention.
If you like Deepin, you may try vanilla Deepin instead of the ExTiX flavor. Give it a try if you have some spare time.
