Notes

Raspberry Pi Releases an OS to Breathe new Life into Old PCs

The Raspberry Pi Foundation released an experimental version its Linux-based Pixel OS for Windows PCs and Mac PCs. The OS, originally designed to run only on the Raspberry Pi hobby board, includes the Chromium web browser as well as a suite of productivity and coding tools. "We asked ourselves one simple question: If we love Pixel so much, why do we need to convince people to purchase Raspberry Pi hardware in order to run it?" Eben Upton, the founder of the company of the company, wrote in a blog.



The OS is built on the base of Debian and is able to be run on most older machines provided you have at minimum 512MB of RAM. "Because we're using the old i386 architecture, it can be able to run even on old machines like my ThinkPad X40 (above)," Upton said.



Although it's easy to use, Upton recommends backing up any valuable data. After downloading the image, you burn it to a DVD or USB stick, and then you can enable booting of those devices. MINECRAFT JAVA It is usually done by tweaking your PC's BIOS or by pressing the "C" key down when you start on a Mac.



It will then start the OS without needing to install anything. You can boot using an USB stick to have the option of running "with persistence." This means that any changes or files made will be saved for the next session. If you'd prefer to play around and then start again next time, you can run without persistence or reset it. As stated, you have a complete set of applications and a web browser, but unlike with the Pi version there's no Minecraft or Wolfram Mathematica because of licensing issues.



There are many lightweight Linux distros that work with older computers (including Debian), or you can try Neverware that turns your laptop into an Android tablet. The Pi Foundation provides a number of useful Linux applications with Pixel, and is aiming to make it as easy as it is. Upton believes that by porting it to desktop computers, "we can see where the weaknesses of operating systems are and then work on these weaknesses on the Pi].



The group thinks it's a good idea for schools (where the Raspberry Pi already has a big presence) to aid students in learning programming and other applications. Students could learn in school, and then use the persistent boot option to continue learning at home with the exact same configuration.



The Pixel OS is still in its early stages of testing and will not work on all computers. Upton stated that his modern Mac could not recognize the image as bootable on his machine. They will be releasing more updates in the coming months however, you can test it by pressing an announcement post.


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