Netrunner 2014.09.1 "Rolling" Review: Superb aesthetics combined with the stability of Manjaro

Clemens Toennies has announced the availability of Netrunner 2014.09.1 "Rolling" edition, a Manjaro-based distribution featuring the KDE 4.14 desktop: "This is the release announcement of Netrunner Rolling 2014.09.1. We are releasing this maintenance shortly after our initial 2014.09 release to fix problems with the NVIDIA driver, and to include a first fix for the Bash shell vulnerability. We also updated Samba file sharing, Kontact accounts and language pack installation. Laptop Mode Tools was replaced by the new TLP to give you better control of your power consumption and achieve a longer battery life with your laptop. With the 2014.09 version we updated Netrunner Rolling to the latest software updates from Manjaro, including Linux kernel 3.14.18 with lots of bugs fixed and new driver support. KDE SC was updated to version 4.14."

To be honest, I am a big fan of Netrunner OS (the Ubuntu version) specially for superb aesthetics. KDE itself is quite beautiful and Netrunner developers actually managed to make it look more slick and add improved functionality. I had used Netrunner Arch / Rolling previously and had written a review of Netrunner Arch. I thought this is a good opportunity to review it this week. So, I downloaded the latest update of Netrunner Rolling - the 64-bit 2.4 GB ISO for this review.

From Netrunner Rolling 2014.09.1

I created a live USB using Linux Mint Image Writer on a 4 GB USB drive. I used my Asus K55VM for this review.

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Netrunner OS 2014.04i Rolling Release Review: Based on Manjaro, ships with non-pae kernel but PAE kernel can be installed from Arch repositories

I rated Netrunner as the best KDE distro I've used in 2013. Like many other distros around, Netrunner is developed on Ubuntu base and ships with an attractive interface. In April 2014, Netrunner OS released it's first Manjaro based rolling release distro - named as 2014.04i ("i" as in infinite). It is a pleasant surprise indeed and I didn't want to miss reviewing it at any cost.

From Netrunner 2014.04 Arch http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

The download section on the Netrunner website has only 32-bit ISO listed and they are yet to release the 64 bit ISO. I downloaded the 2.1 GB 32-bit ISO for this review. I used Linux Mint Image Writer to create a live USB on a 4 GB pendrive and installed it on my Asus K55VM laptop with 2.3 Ghz Core i7 processor, 8 GB DDR3 RAM and 2 GB NVIDIA GeForce 630M graphics. Netrunner Arch has KDE 4.12.3 as the desktop environment along with Dolphin 4.12.3 as the default file manager.

From Netrunner 2014.04 Arch http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

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Manjaro 0.8.7 "Ascella" XFCE Review: Superb performance with professional looks!

Post Fuduntu, for last 3 months, I was searching for a suitable distro for my
Asus EeePC 1101HA with the following specs:

Processor: Intel Atom Z520 1.33 Ghz
Chipset: Intel US15W
RAM: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 667 Mhz, PC-2 5300
Hard disk: 160 GB
Display: 11.6 in., LED backlight, 1366x768 HD resolution
Graphic Processor: Intel GMA 500

Manjaro XFCE on Asus EeePC 1101HA From Manjaro 0.8.7 XFCE http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

When I bought the machine in 2009, it had WinXP as the only OS. But, with time my interest in Linux increased and first it became dual boot with Ubuntu 11.04 (had a tough time in getting HD display, I recall, because there was no pre-installed Intel GMA 500 support); then finally it was Linux only with Fuduntu running on it for a couple of years. With the news coming out about Fuduntu's demise, I tried several other OS.

My netbook is too weak for GNOME3 or KDE4 - so I didn't try. I tried primarily LXDE and XFCE distros. I checked Lubuntu 12.04 first but flash videos and movie files would play real bad in it. Next I tried Mint, Zorin Lite and then Debian 7 LXDE. In the first two VLC didn't work that well with movie files whereas in Debian 7, everything worked awesome except for battery life. In Fuduntu, my netbook's 6 cell battery would last 5 hours of watching movies, browsing net, etc. In Debian 7 LXDE, battery would run out in an hour! Post that, I tried Archlinux as well with some success but the audio never got going.

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Manjaro 0.8.5 KDE Review: With KDE 4.10.2 and added Steam!

Within a short span of time, Manjaro seems to have hit the right cord with Linux users. In last 8 months, it had 6 major releases with almost all desktop flavors available in their kitty and currently ranked within top 10 in Distrowatch. For those uninitiated to Manjaro, it is an user-friendly spin of Archlinux with popular desktop environments which just works once you boot up. To me, Manjaro is going the Linux Mint way, to provide highly functional, pre-configured Linux distros to make Linux easy for those who are uninitiated. That they are going in the right track is evidenced by the popularity of the distro within a short span of time. Their first release of Manjaro 0.8.0 XFCE was on 21st August and now their fifth upgrade is out within 8 months!

From Manjaro 0.8.5 KDE http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Manjaro definitely is one of the distros that I regularly follow; it brings quite a few good features not present even in some prominent Linux distros. For example, can you think of running a 32-bit KDE 4.* distro on a Pentium 4 without the machine slowing down? Manjaro runs and runs quite effectively! Yes, I agree, definitely Archlinux is lighter than Debian or RHEL based distros, but credit must go to the Manjaro Linux developers as well - they have retained the advantages of Archlinux and added to it, the elegance and user-friendliness of Linux Mint.

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