- The developers of elementary OS have released the newest version of their Ubuntu-based operating system, codenamed Horus.
- The new version brings many improvements for a better user experience, including the installation process and welcome screen.
- elementary OS 7 “Horus” rebases onto Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS, utilizes Linux kernel 5.15, and comes with its own desktop environment, named Pantheon.
It’s been exactly one year since we shared the new features of elementary OS 7 that developers have announced, and more than one year since version 6.1 “Jólnir” was released. After a long period of development, elementary OS 7 is available for download and use.
Based on Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS
elementary OS 7 rebases the operating system to Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS version and it runs the Linux kernel 5.15 under the hood. It uses the Pantheon desktop environment, which is also developed by elementary OS developers. With its dock, desktop, and design language, it looks quite similar to macOS. One of the most noticeable changes in the new version is the option to use double-clicking while navigating through Files, just like in Windows. This will greatly help people who want to transition from Windows.
AppCenter improvements
The new version, codenamed “Horus”, brings many improvements to the AppCenter application. The application is now even more responsive, which allows users to navigate through a very narrow window.
Additionally, the design of the single application pages is improved to display the screenshots in a more reasonable way.
The updates in the AppCenter have received a couple of enhancements. First of all, it now supports automatic updates for Flatpak applications. It is also tweaked to install the operating system updates offline for better stability during the update process.
The developers of the applications that are presented in alt stores like Flathub will now be able to choose accent colors for their store pages. Additionally, AppCenter will no longer display the “Install untrusted app” dialog every time the user wants to install an application from an alt store.
Installation and initial setup
elementary OS 7 Horus simplifies the installation process by reducing the number of screens the user will require to interact with. The recommendations and warnings for installation are now put on a single screen.
Additionally, when the user tries to right-click to interact with the menus during installation, the operating system detects it and offers to switch the right-click and the left-click functions.
The Onboarding application which appears when the operating system’s installation process completes now shows options for setting the Sunset to Sunshine dark/light mode and configuring automatic updates.
Office and multimedia applications
The office applications have received a couple of improvements such as flat design and Microsoft 365 support in the unified inbox on Mail, and offline support for new task lists and automatically synchronizing it when it becomes online again on Tasks.
The Music application is completely rewritten to meet the expectations of the users, such as quickly previewing audio files that are being used on other projects, better metadata support, more stable system-wide media controls, and more.
System settings
The System Settings application now allows users to manage the power profiles on the system, including a performance mode on supported systems.
Users can now set Terminal commands as Hotcorner shortcuts, and the Horus update brings a redesign in the shortcut settings for a better user experience.
Other changes
elementary OS 7 “Horus” also brings the following changes to the operating system:
- Printer settings screen is redesigned to display ink levels more clearly and allow users to clear the print queue per printer.
- Archive Manager and Document Viewer from GNOME 43 are now available in elementary OS.
- GNOME Web 43 is now available for web apps, and it includes support for creating applications.
- Feedback application is improved to cover more installed apps, settings, and other components and supports keyboard navigation.
- Most of the application icons are redesigned.
- A new Icon Browser application is available in AppCenter.
- Many apps are ported to GTK 4 including Calculator, Sideload, Shortcuts, Music, and Onboarding.
- Granite framework now supports GTK 4.
- Code application now supports dark and light modes.
- Various performance improvements.
Download elementary OS 7
elementary OS 7 “Horus” is currently available for download through its official webpage. It asks for a donation before downloading, however, you can simply choose the “Custom” field and donate $0 to download the image file. You can follow the link below to download elementary OS 7: