Arch based Apricity OS is discontinued

The short history of GNU/Linux operating systems has witnessed rise and fall of several distributions, ranging from giants like Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) and Mandriva Linux to hundreds of other small distributions. One more GNU/Linux distribution has joined the list of discontinued projects. It is none other than Arch based Apricity OS.

Apricity OS (formerly Cinnarch) was one of the emerging derivative of Arch Linux. Like the base distribution, it had also followed a rolling release model. The project was well known from it's beautiful and intuitive user interface built on top of GNOME shell. This project used to ship with a nice Gtk+ theme, icon themes and wisely chosen applications.

Credit : Apricity OS

Unfortunately, like many other distributions, Apricity OS was also compelled to discontinue, due lack of human resources to support the project. Announcing the retirement, Apricity OS team has made a small announcement in projects github page.

Like all good things, Apricity OS must come to an end. It has been our privilege to develop the operating system, and to be a part of a community as great as our own. But unfortunately, we no longer have time for its required upkeep. We hope that your time using our operating system has been enjoyable, and that you continue to explore using Linux in the future. You all, our users, have made this experience incredible for us, and we cannot thank you enough for the support.

Sincerely,
The Apricity OS Team

Apricity OS 09.2016 released, ships 32 bit images for the first time

The Apricity OS team has announced availability of Apricity OS 09.2016, latest stable/development release of Arch based GNU/Linux distribution that offers an alternative, stylish, flexible, stable experience. This release of Apricity OS also includes 32 bit development images for the first time in history of the project.

We're very excited to announce the very first release of Apricity OS that includes a (development) 32-bit version, labeled i686 in the downloads section of this site. We're also trying out in the 32-bit versions a switch to Firefox as the default browser, a very frequently requested change. This month the Calamares installer has been updated to version 2.4.1 (from 2.3), bringing many bugfixes, improved timezone and partition interfaces, and a couple EFI fixes. In other news, Apricity is just a few days away from crossing the 200,000 downloads threshold! Thanks to everyone for all the support.

You can find release announcement in projects blog.

Apricity OS 07.2016, an easy to use rolling distribution - Review

Apricity OS is another Arch based rolling GNU/Linux distribution that offers, user friendly installer, pre-installed GUI environments, and other day to day applications. After several development releases, Apricity project has announced their first stable release, Apricity 07.2016, on last month.

The new issue of distrowatch weekly(11th Sep 2016) includes a review of Apricity OS 07.2016, first stable release of project. Mr Jesse Smithe, the reviewer remarks, despite of being a new operating system, Apricity OS is stable enough to use. It has a nice collection of packages and tools which offers a single application per task, and there is no duplication of applications. This enables users to do almost anything just after installing operating system. Also, the reviewer observes, despite of some rough edges, Apricity OS is a good choice for newbies looking for a rolling operating system.

Apricity OS was added to the DistroWatch database earlier this year and the project launched its first stable release, Apricity OS 07.2016, at the beginning of August. Apricity is based on Arch Linux and features a rolling release model of software updates. The distribution is currently available in two editions, Cinnamon and GNOME, and is available for the 64-bit x86 architecture exclusively. Apart from up to date software, Apricity offers users the ICE site specific browser which makes accessing web apps more like working with locally installed applications.

All in all, I like what Apricity is trying to do. The project is relatively new and off to a good start. There are some rough edges, but not many and I think the distribution will appeal to a lot of people, especially those who want to run a rolling release operating system with a very easy initial set up.

You may continue reading review published in distrowatch weekly.

Apricity OS 07.2016 Aspen released

The Apricity OS team has announced release of Apricity OS 07.2016 Aspen, first most stable release of Arch based, rolling GNU/Linux distribution that offers well tweaked Cinnamon and GNOME experience. In addition to stable release Aspen, Apricity project has also unveiled monthly development snapshot of distribution.

Apricity OS 07.2016 Aspen is accompanied by several features. Most notable feature is a custom build system known as Freezedry. This custom build system will help you to build your own distribution. Other features includes LUKES encryption support, improved installer, icon theme with better coverage ..etc.

In addition to changes in core operating system, the project has made significant changes in it's infrastructure. The project has got a revamped website with user friendly forum, wiki, revamped blog, and a web interface for Freezedry the custom build system.

Many changes have been implemented since the last release, most notable of which is certainly Apricity Freezedry, a system configuration tool that has been integrated into the development build system for Apricity OS. With a simple TOML configuration file, many aspects of a system may be configured, including Gnome and Cinnamon themes and settings, installed packages, enabled systemd services, and enabled vim plugins (installed through Pathogen). Freezedry is built with modules, each in charge of controlling a specific aspect of a user's system. A full list of modules can be found on github.

Other changes to the OS include LUKS encryption support in both the stable Aspen releas and the dev snapshot, a more stable installer, improved touchpad support, and fuller icon coverage.

The Apricity OS project also has a new and improved website that includes a forum, a blog, wiki-style documentation, and an online interface for Freezedry. This interface allows users to create a Freezedry configuration in a familiar web-based environment, and build custom Apricity OS ISOs with their custom configurations already enabled. 

You can checkout release announcement published in Apricity blog for authentic and up-to-date information.

Apricity OS 04.2016 Beta & RC1 released

The Apricity OS team announced release of Apricity OS 04.2016 Beta and RC1 together. Apricity OS 04.2016 RC1 is first most stable release candidate of this Arch based distribution.

This month, a lot of effort has gone into improving the development workflow and making a distinction between stable, tested features and untested features. The apricity-core repository has split into three seperate repositories: the standard, unsigned apricity-core repo, a new signed apricity-core repo, and a signed apricity-core-dev repository for developers. All three repos are now being built twice a week. On the github side of things, almost all repositories have moved onto a new branching model. Repositories on this branching model have at least two branches: dev, and master. Feature branches are merged into dev when they are more-or-less finished. Master is considered the stable branch, and dev, as its name suggests, is for development. New features should be built on seperate feature-* branches, releases will be developed on release-* branches, and hotfixes for production code will be built on hotfix-* branches.

For complete release announcement, see Apricity OS blog.

Download Apricity OS 04.2016 RC1

ISO | TORRENT

Download Apricity OS 04.2016 Beta

ISO | TORRENT

Apricity OS is Clean and Classy : Review

The Apricity OS is an Arch based rolling GNU/Linux distribution that comes with a beautiful, well tweaked user interface and easy to use utilities to make life easier for newbies. Currently Apricity OS comes in GNOME and Cinnamon flavors.

The Linux Insider portal has published a review of Apricity OS latest beta release of Apricity OS. The reviewer concludes this review saying, Apricity OS with well-thought-out-design targets newbies and professionals alike. Also he finds that overall performance of system is impressive.

Apricity OS is an Arch Linux variant with rolling releases. The latest beta version was released last month. Betas can be frustrating to work with, and Arch Linux can be challenging, but Apricity's developers did their jobs well to ease that pain.

My desktop preference falls to Cinnamon, so I spent most of my time putting the GNOME edition to the test, because I wanted something less familiar to me. Cinnamon is new to this beta cycle. I was curious to see if Apricity OS offered me a reason to dwell on GNOME.

GNOME is one of my least favorite desktop options. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my disfavor for GNOME was mostly quelled by all the integrated niceties built into Apricity. Its GNOME desktop did not disappoint, thanks to the customized GNOME shell with many shell extensions preinstalled and enabled by default. 

Read complete review in Linux Insider's portal.

Apricity OS 02.2016 Beta Released

The Apriciy OS team announced availability of Apricity OS 02.2016, latest development release of Arch based operating system. Apricity OS comes with several preinstalled applications which make life easier for Linux newbies.

In addition to regular GNOME edition, Apricity OS 02.2016 has also got a Cinnamon flavor. So this release marks first release of Apricity OS in more than one flavors.

From official release announcement:

This month, you can download either the GNOME edition or the Cinnamon edition. The former is recommended for more powerful systems and for users who prefer a slightly more modern, more touch-oriented desktop interface, while the latter is recommended for less powerful systems and for users who prefer a more traditional desktop interface. Other improvements to the operating system include updates to dozens of packages including the terminal (better transparency), Nautilus (Google Drive support), MTP, Pamac (several new features, support for the latest version of Pacman), and Totem (support for more codecs). Additionally, Apricity is now using version 2.0 of Calamares, the installer, which should improve overall stability during the installation process.

Read complete release announcement in Apricity OS blog.

Download Apricity OS 02.2016 GNOME EDITION

ISO | TORRENT

Download Apricity OS 02.2016 Cinnamon EDITION

ISO | TORRENT

Apricity OS 12.2015 Beta Released

The Apricity OS team announced availability of Apricity OS 12.2015, latest monthly development release of Arch based rolling GNU/Linux distribution coming with user friendly installer and a good collection of essential software packages.

From release announcement:

We had hoped to release our very first KDE edition, but alas it won’t be ready until next month. Write a quick comment if you’d like to see an XFCE version before the KDE one, or if you have any other suggestions. With this release, we’ve fixed several bugs relating to package management, and have included a preconfigured Vim with the system. Additionally, we’ve upgraded Calamares, the installer, to version 2.0 Beta2, the latest relatively stable version.

See complete release announcement in Apricity OS blog.

Download Apricity OS 12.2015 Beta

TORRENT | ISO