I guess SolusOS is to Debian what Linux Mint is to Ubuntu. Plus, the lead developer of SolusOS contributes a lot to Linux Mint. All these information actually hyped up my expectations of SolusOS before I began my testing with Solus. And that commonality shows, those who are familiar with Linux Mint, will feel at home in SolusOS. Only difference may be that Solus is still using Gnome 2 whereas Mint has moved to Mate and Cinnamon.
Once the release note came in Distrowatch, I downloaded the 32-bit ISO from the solusos site. I guess it is great work from the developers that they limited the ISO to only 1 GB even after including almost all the desirable apps. Additionally, the installation process doesn't require any additional download apart from what is in the DVD - highly commendable!
The details of my evaluation are given below:
I tested it two ways - on live-boot as well as installation. Just like Linux Mint, Solus works out-of-the-box! All the free and non-free multimedia codecs are present and straight away you can plugin your favorite movie and watch or listen to your favorite songs.
From applications point of view, except for the graphics section where I miss GIMP 2.8, rest of the application sections are quite rich, especially the multimedia section. It almost seems like overabundance in the multimedia section. For example, Solus has Gnome, Totem and VLC for video playback and I tested all 3, all of them works! But why three? Wouldn't only VLC been enough?
Apps are all of latest version - I haven't used Minitube earlier and really liked it. You can play youtube videos or channels directly in Minitube. Once you give a search category, Minitube will automatically load and play all videos in that category without any manual intervention.
Overall, the desktop looks great and feels very good to use. Solus installation is actually easier than installing Debian squeeze. I could install it at one go within 20 minutes without any hassles. Gnome 2 desktop over Linux kernel 3 means a very fast and responsive desktop. With only task manager running, it uses only 150-160 of RAM which is pretty low.
Once installed, it could pick up the LAN connection and/or Wifi pretty fast. I didn't face any problem with sound or graphics, etc. post installation. From novice point of view as well, desktop is easy to use, programs are very to locate. Additional apps can be downloaded from repository via add/delete software or synaptic package manager. I downloaded, installed and used skype 4.0 successfully without any hassles (ok, with usual hassle in skype of configuring camera and mic!).
So, what appears to me in nutshell, that Linux Mint now has serious competition. I found SolusOS a very refined Linux distribution which will definitely find a lot of takers even from the Linux Mint admirers. The OS works out-of-the-box without any hassles (rarity in the Linux world). Definitely Solus is the distro to watch out for and is recommended for a try out. I bet you'll like it. Given the close similarity between Linux Mint Maya and SolusOS 1.2, expect a comparative review between the two distros sometime pretty soon.
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| From SolusOS 1.2 |
The details of my evaluation are given below:
| Evaluation Parameters | SolusOS 1.2 32-bit |
| Computer on which tested | Asus K55VM |
| Processor | 3rd generation core i7 |
| RAM allocated | 4 GB |
| Release Date | 17-Aug-12 |
| ISO Size | 1 GB |
| Live boot option | Yes |
| Booting time (live boot) | 45 sec |
| Questions asked during Live boot | None |
| Ease of installation | Fairly simple, with Solus automatically picking up the Location, time zone, etc. For keyboard, force select USA. Entire thing takes about 20 minutes. |
| Installation time | 30 minutes, to be conservative |
| Booting time (installed to HDD) | 15 sec |
| Desktop Manager(s) | Gnome 2.30.2 |
| Chosen Desktop Manager | Gnome 2.30.2 |
| Linux Kernel version | 3.3.6-solusos |
| File Manager | Nautilus 2.31.1 |
| CPU Usage (with system monitor) | 0-4% |
| RAM Usage (with system monitor) | 150-160 MB |
| Applications | |
| Office | LibreOffice 3.6.0.4 |
| Multimedia | Gnome Mplayer 1.0.4, Totem Movie Player 2.30.2, VLC 2.0.1, Rhythmbox 0.12.8, Openshot video editor 1.4.2, Minitube 1.8, Cheese 2.30.1 |
| Internet | Firefox 14.0.1, Pidgin chat, Dropbox, bittorrent client, Xchat IRC |
| Graphics | GNU paint, gThumb |
| Accessories | Calculator, Archive manager, gedit, terminal, root terminal |
| System tools | Deja dup to backup, config editor |
| Others | Wine, PlayonLinux |
| Flash support | inbuilt Adobe flash 11 |
| Restricted codecs | inbuilt gstreamer good, bad, very bad, ugly, etc. Good enough for most of the media types |
| Java | sun-java-6 |
| Repository | Debian repository through Add remove software and/or synaptic package manager |
| How easy or difficult to install an app? | Very easy through synaptic and Add remove software |
| Richness of repository | Shares debian repository and is very rich |
| Parent OS | Debian stable |
| Upgradeable | Yes, rolling update |
| Internet connection | Picked up wifi easily and easy to configure Wired connection |
| Sound | Poulsbo driver already present, faced no issue with sound |
| Shutdown time | 5 sec |
I tested it two ways - on live-boot as well as installation. Just like Linux Mint, Solus works out-of-the-box! All the free and non-free multimedia codecs are present and straight away you can plugin your favorite movie and watch or listen to your favorite songs.
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| From SolusOS 1.2 |
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| From SolusOS 1.2 |
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| From SolusOS 1.2 |
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| From SolusOS 1.2 |
Apps are all of latest version - I haven't used Minitube earlier and really liked it. You can play youtube videos or channels directly in Minitube. Once you give a search category, Minitube will automatically load and play all videos in that category without any manual intervention.
 |
| From SolusOS 1.2 |
Once installed, it could pick up the LAN connection and/or Wifi pretty fast. I didn't face any problem with sound or graphics, etc. post installation. From novice point of view as well, desktop is easy to use, programs are very to locate. Additional apps can be downloaded from repository via add/delete software or synaptic package manager. I downloaded, installed and used skype 4.0 successfully without any hassles (ok, with usual hassle in skype of configuring camera and mic!).
 |
| From SolusOS 1.2 |
So, what appears to me in nutshell, that Linux Mint now has serious competition. I found SolusOS a very refined Linux distribution which will definitely find a lot of takers even from the Linux Mint admirers. The OS works out-of-the-box without any hassles (rarity in the Linux world). Definitely Solus is the distro to watch out for and is recommended for a try out. I bet you'll like it. Given the close similarity between Linux Mint Maya and SolusOS 1.2, expect a comparative review between the two distros sometime pretty soon.
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