Hands on: Nitrux OS review
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This comment first appeared in issue 354 PC Pro.
On the first encounter, Nitrux 3.2 was a moody beast. The default UI is dark, the file management window has a black background, and it becomes dark when the application loses focus. However, it works even if you don’t like Dark Mode (as this author doesn’t).
There are some real acting tips you can switch between Windows: application Diving each other to create space, two windows sit side by side, and they partially pass through the hidden windows. The default font is thin, but easy on the eyes, and while the transmitter is too angled for our taste, it’s a matter of personal preference.
What we think is less successful is taking down the Windows buttons – close, maximize and minimize – and put them on the upper left corner of the screen, where they sit at the end of the menu bar. This is probably why apps without focus are dim: So you know the apps you want to close or zoom in when you click on them. Side effects are in the browser and Word processorIf you are referring to the former when writing the latter, your reference material will change the brightness frequently.
Elsewhere, a file manager (called index) has a grid of quick access buttons for common folders, such as music, document and pictures – But when they both have the same icon and have no labels, just like our experience with the default theme, you have to hover over each theme and wait for its name to appear in the tooltip.
If you don’t use the default desktop, there are other themes to choose from, including some with more traditional window controls.
The Calamars installer is logical and provides a lot of guidance, such as the requirements for secure passwords. Once up and running, you may not recognize a large number of pre-installed applications except Firefox, and there is no office suite available, although Libreoffice is available through the NX Software Center. Thunderbird, gimp and inkscapealso does not exist. You will find the placeholder steamWaydroid and bottle, the latter two provide layers Android and Windows applications.
However, it did not detect two printers on the network before we entered their IP address.
Behind the scenes, this is a Debian-based distribution that uses modified versions of the 6.6.2-1 kernel and KDE plasma to render the NX desktop. There are a large selection of desktop widgets, and there is a configurable button on the dock that you can use to run scripts or activate applets.
By default, the root directory is not creative, and developers say it enhances security and minimizes points of failure. This also means that if the update fails, your computer can still boot. Other security measures have been implemented elsewhere, such as disabling core dumps, implementing strict password expiration and deactivating the root account. There is a built-in Backup Tools – KUP – can be set to boot after the time you set it with your computer, which is an unusual and useful option. The X11 display protocol has been removed to support Wayland, providing a shorter, safer route between the application and the display.
One of the blissful benefits of turning Wayland that happens in most distributions is the possible speed bumps, and of course, Nitrux feels fast in daily use. This is especially obvious when we browse the web, and the pages on our domestic broadband connections seem to be faster than on other Linux distributions or Windows Box. We suspect our broadband has been upgraded (and checked), but that is not the case.
There are a lot of interesting techniques in this release, and it’s refreshing to encounter this separate interface. A brave and successful move along this road has been greatly praised, including when we name it The best Linux distribution for new users.
However, by writing this review, we are now looking forward to returning to a more traditional environment.
