Easy Peasy 1.5 released

Easy Peasy 1.5 in action
Source: jonramvi.com The netbook oriented Easy Peasy Linux distribution has been updated to version 1.5. This version, which was previously going to be labelled version 2.0, is based on Ubuntu 9.04, with the Ubuntu Netbook Remix interface. A new visual appearance on the desktop and a 2.6.30 kernel with faster start up are among the Easy Peasy 1.5 features. Jon Ramvi, lead developer of Easy Peasy, also points out a smaller hard disk footprint and the Ext4 file system being used as default as part of the update. The announcement refers to "more supported netbooks", but doesn't specify which netbooks in particular, though Easy Peasy has historically focussed on the Asus EEE PC, having started life as "Ubuntu-eee" until Canonical intervened. Graphically, Ubuntu 9.04 had problems with Intel graphics; Easy Peasy 1.5 avoids the problem by switching to UXA accelerated graphics by default.

Other changes include bug fixes, upgrades to Picasa and OpenOffice, the replacement of Songbird with Banshee and a new hybrid image format for distribution which works as an .img and .iso file at the same time. For security updates, version 1.5 has "lots of clever solutions"; Ubuntu security updates can be used on Easy Peasy as they are released, and Easy Peasy ensures it isn't overwritten by those updates. Version 2.0 of Easy Peasy is still in development, with features such as a "Social Desktop" and automatic file synchronisation promised.

Easy Peasy 1.5 is available from the www.geteasypeasy.com web site, licensed under the GPLv2 and other open source licenses.

(djwm)