EndeavourOS is a user-friendly Arch Linux-based rolling release distro with some handy new features that improve the user experience. In other words, it fits into a similar-but-different niche as Manjaro.
Indeed, one of the first things you’ll notice about EndeavourOS is that, despite its claim to be a terminal-focused distribution, it has excellent GUI tools that make handling an Arch Linux system simple for new users.
About a month after the previous “Artemis” release, the new EndeavourOS “Artemis Neo” is now available for download. So let’s see what’s new.
EndeavourOS “Artemis Neo” Highlights
EndeavourOS users will likely be disappointed to learn that this release contains almost no new features. According to the official announcement, this version is intended for users who want to install a fresh copy of EndeavourOS.
Therefore, this release does not include significant improvements. Still, it contains some fixes to the “Artemis” release, an upstream update for the live environment, and the offline install option. So let’s go over them.
The main thing is that the bug with archlinux-keyring while trying to install offline has been fixed. For information of our readers, EndeavourOS provides users with a choice between two types of installation: offline and online.
Offline installation doesn’t require an internet connection and provides a fully themed Xfce desktop environment. On the other hand, the online installation gives you the choice of eight desktop environments: Xfce, Mate, LXQt, LXDE, Cinnamon, Plasma, Gnome, Budgie, and tiling window managers i3-WM, BSPWM, Sway, Qtile, and Worm.
The next fix addresses the issue with the locales in the Calamares installer. EndeavourOS “Artemis Neo” solves the problem by simply downgrading the Calamares version from 3.2.60 to 3.2.59.
The last change is related to evaluating speed of access to the different mirrors from which the software is installed. So, in addition to the Arch mirrors, the installation process also ranks the EndeavourOS mirrors for online installs.
Finally, in the list of software that has received updates in EndeavourOS “Artemis Neo,” you can find Linux kernel 5.18.16, Calamares 3.2.59, Firefox 103, Mesa 22.1.4, Xorg-Server 21.1.4, and nvidia-dkms 515.65.01.
Despite the minor changes, the developers point out that the lack of novelties is primarily because most of the EndeavourOS team is on vacation during the summer. However, they have hinted that a fresh new major release will be available by the end of the year.
You can refer to the official announcement for detailed information about all changes. In addition, you can get your copy from the project’s download page if you want a fresh EndeavourOS “Artemis Neo” install.
