Feren OS July 2021 Snapshot — a rounded off Snapshot
Fun Fact: I originally thought this was going to be a minor snapshot, as a ‘calm before the storm’ as Feren OS’s new Store and new icon set update are in the works… little did I know I was wrong.
Anyway, today, I’m proud to announce the release of the Feren OS July 2021 Snapshot. Snapshots are a regular occurence that usually occur every 4 months and provide the latest updates to Feren OS at the time of the ISO’s release right from the get-go.
Updating to the July 2021 Snapshot
As always, it’s simple to update to the July 2021 Snapshot. Just go into the Update Manager, hit Refresh, and install any updates that might be there. Once you’ve done that, congrats, you’re now on the July 2021 Snapshot!
However, due to the keyring that verifies the Feren OS repositories expiring between these two snapshots, some users might be unable to update. If this occurs, simply follow the instructions at https://medium.com/feren-os/the-repository-keyring-expired-heres-how-to-renew-it-bd50dd874aac to fix this issue and continue updates once again.
You can now donate to me, The Developer
That’s right — if you’ve wanted to support Feren OS ever monetarily, now is your chance. Donations have been opened up on PayPal, with more ways to donate coming soon (and hopefully ways to donate to others involved in making the OS get as far as it has):
Simply go to https://feren-os.github.io/misc/donateredir to begin the process.
NOTE: That link is subject to change to redirecting to a page of the website in the near future
Changes since April 2021 Snapshot
New Wallpapers
Just like every single other Snapshot ever made for Feren OS, there are a new set of wallpapers to choose from.
With this snapshot comes new wallpapers from Unsplash, as is the norm, so you have new and fresh wallpapers to try and enjoy on your Feren OS device.
Chinese Japanese Korean
Now for the first big change in this snapshot, which only affects those with Chinese, Japanese, or Korean keyboard layouts: Complex Input is now automatically installed.
If Feren OS detects a Chinese, Japanese, or Korean keyboard layout selected, it’ll do the following:
- In a Live Session: Install the required packages for Complex Input and set your input method to fcitx automatically, so you can use your full input inside the Live Session
- After installation: Schedule installing the required packages for Complex Input as soon as possible, and set your input method to fcitx automatically once available
This’ll make Feren OS easier to try and use for people with these keyboard layouts, and save a trip to the Input Method application.
More complex input automatic installations are planned to be added later for other languages that need them, as well as making Feren OS translatable in general to fill the final piece of that puzzle making Feren OS less usable for non-English speakers.
KDE Plasma 5.22
KDE Plasma 5.22 makes its debut in this snapshot of Feren OS, too! Enjoy the all new Quick Settings page of System Settings, as well as a slew of improvements and refinements to the overall experience.
New accent colours
You asked, and I heard — the accent colours in Feren OS have now been revised to be less vibrant, and more importantly Cyan actually looks like it’s Cyan now.
New THEMES
The ol’ and venerable Feren OS layouts (Traditional, Redmond, Cupertino and Ubuntu Unity) have, as per your votes, gotten a whole new identity in the form of their own unique themes!
Now you can also visit Global Theme to apply accompanying themes for the layouts you apply, if you’d like to, with Dark variants on every one of them… except Classical.
- Traditional -> Doors
- Redmond -> Classical
- Cupertino -> Mac ’n’ Cheese
- Ubuntu Unity -> Human
Deep down, however, they’re still their same old layouts… except for Doors:
Doors’s new layout revamp
Doors has been a complete revamp for its layout in this snapshot to reflect the new source material design.
Enjoy a centered Task Manager, Applications Menu, and now a THICC panel that’ll make a certain browser proud, all on the Doors layout!
Virtual Machine Improvements
There are also a bunch of improvements to Feren OS inside Virtual Machines in this snapshot:
All VMs: KScreen is now disabled due to a long-standing bug where it would revert screen resolution changes
VMWare: The Compositor is now NOT switched from OpenGL Default
It’s (finally) Round Now
As mentioned in the Plasma 5.22 release announcement, Feren OS has seen a minor theme update that… get this: makes the corners round.
Now you all can stop asking me to round the sharp window corners, as they’re officially round now.
(I swear, only 3 or 4 people reading this will actually get the reference in that title… all I’ll say is that it’s a… corny reference)
Koko now debuts in the default application set
Koko, the new KDE Image Viewer, makes its debut into Feren OS July 2021 Snapshot! Enjoy a new more native-feeling way to see all your photos, with a focus on folder-based browsing, and more.
KDE Partition Manager is now present in the Live Session
Additionally, KDE Partition Manager is now present in the Live Session of this snapshot and onwards. KDE Partition Manager also allows Feren OS to be better prepared sooner for the transition to Wayland since it doesn’t need ‘root’ to display its window.
Other fun fixes and whatnot
- After being a bug ever since the middle of development of the first ever version of the Feren OS you all know today, the Mail slot of Favourites finally links to an installed Mail Client (being Geary) instead of Feren OS’s former choice of Mail Client (elementary Mail) thus it now appears in Favourites
- As mentioned before, due to the change with KScreen being disabled in VMs now, you should be able to resize VM Screens fine in this snapshot onwards
- The reason for removing Plasma 5.22’s option to toggle Adaptive Transparency in the 5.21 backport was (obviously) fixed in KDE Plasma 5.22
- There’s now a donate shortcut in ISOs from this snapshot onward — it can be removed by simply launching it and choosing No on the resulting dialog
Conclusion
Other than that, you can download it from the usual place of the Feren OS website… although you may also notice that I’ve slightly redesigned the website a little in light with this snapshot’s release. Download link locations haven’t changed, though, so download and enjoy Feren OS’s new snapshot!
Reminder: Feren OS is 6 years old on the 29th
Finally, as a reminder: Feren OS officially turns 6 years old on the 29th of July 2021. So, I’ll take this time to say this: Thank you, everyone, for being on this crazy ride, no matter if you’re new or have known Feren OS for a long time.
Feren OS sure has evolved a lot over these 6 years… let’s keep evolving it for these coming years, shall we? There’s a lot in the works to look forward to… and a new chapter of Feren OS potentially on the horizon.
Keep enjoying Feren OS, everyone, and don’t forget to enjoy your own lives. Until the birthday, peace… and see y’all around.
- Dominic Hayes, the Feren OS Developer
