Diving into Deepin OS 15.4
As most Linux enthusiast/users know there is no shortage of Linux desktops in the FOSS world. However most of these desktops are not one hundred percent polished as most of us would like. Deepin OS 15.4 actually gives us a beautiful desktop with very good functionality and all the major modern day operating system features that you’d find in Microsoft’s Windows 10 and Apple Mac OS Sierra.
OS Installation
The installation of Deepin OS is extremely easy and straightforward, it is also very beautifully designed. As you go through the install steps the wizard guides you through the options which helps you select the language, hard drive install destination(with an optional expert mode) and creating a main user account.
Create a user account
Once these steps have been completed the install wizard shows you some of the features the OS brings out of the box. Such as Spotify, Crossover and WPS Office.
- Deepin Community Support
- Deepin Music
- Deepin Photos/Image Viewer
- Deepin Screen Recorder
- Deepin Movie
- Deepin Remote Assistance
As you can see from the list above Deepin OS provides a wealth of applications on first install. One of the most notable features is the Deepin Remote Assistance. With remote assistance you can get, provide tech support and conduct training sessions.
Deepin File Manager
In this new version of Deepin they have provided a redesigned and light weight file manager which does exactly what it should and get out of the way. The revamped file manager allows you to connect to other servers and shared drives within a home office or a business office network. It allows setup of FTP and SSH connections and share folders and files with others.
The Desktop
As I mentioned before this new version of the OS has a redesigned desktop and a more polish control center so that it is up to par with other mainstream operating systems and well known Linux distribution such as Arch Linux, elementaryOS, Linux Mint and Ubuntu. The Deepin technical team has included some of the best looking wallpapers I’ve seen aside from the elementaryOS which I use on a daily basis both at home and at work. However Deepin is a close second when it comes to user friendliness and easy of use. Other notable features of the desktop is the ability to create multiple virtual desktops(Linux has had this feature for a while now), apply hot corners and a searchable application launcher.
Deepin OS has built its own in house apps for music, video, screen capture and cloud printing.
Now on to the good stuff; At install time(which took about 30 minutes) the OS successfully found and installed all hardware drivers both on my laptop and desktop(Dell/Lenovo systems). My dual monitors(Acer 24inch), WiFi, Bluetooth and Ethernet connections worked flawlessly; it also found and installed my HP printer without a single issue. Since Linux(the kernel) has come a long way; One can easily install most versions of the desktops I previously mentioned without too many hardware detection issues. This being said I was also able to install most of the tools I need and use on a daily basis and they are as follow:
- InkScape(Adobe illustrator substitute)
- Gimp(Adobe Photoshop substitute)
- My Paint(Painting and drawing)
- Aptana Studio(Web applications development)
- Flowblade(Video editor)
As you can see there are substitute applications for most of the software normally used in Windows Or MacOS. Another awesome feature of Deepin OS is the software app store as it provides countless applications of free software(not as in beer but as in freedom).
Slow Software Repositories
So I mentioned/touched on some of the finer points of this OS release; However there are some issues with the distribution. To be fair it is not the OS it self that has these issues but rather the network which it connects to and obtain the software updates and software installs. The network repositories can be a tad slow at times and updates can take a little while to download. I however believe that the Deepin technical team will fix this in the near future. So stay tuned.
In conclusion I highly recommend this operating system specially if you are tired of the constant windows issues such as malware, slow response/performance. This works great if you’re on a budget as the Deepin OS is completely free. To download the .ISO file please visit https://www.deepin.org/en/download/. If you would like to see the Deepin OS in action please take a look at this Youtube video.
Additional OS images:
