Elementary OS is considered one of the best Linux distros for beginners who really like a macOS-like experience. The distro has grown tremendously over the years with new features, and version 6.1, codenamed Jólnir, polished up some existing features and added a handful of new ones. Elementary 7.0, codenamed Horus, expands on Elementary 6.1 and adds a couple of lacking parts to work on your experience.
Elementary OS 7: What’s new?
Here’s everything new in ElementaryOS 7 ‘Horus’.
Improved app center
- Better app descriptions.
- Improved compatibility with sideloading and alternative stores.
- Improved responsiveness.
- Revamped navigation with support for two-finger swipe gestures.
- The app shows more feedback when running background tasks via an overlay bar in the bottom right corner.
Improved initial setup screen
Reduced the number of screens and provided more information about features to help people make informed decisions.
Fixed an issue where the installer window would show up too enormous on virtual machines.
You can now automatically detect the dominant mouse button you use to click and ask if you want to connect the clicks to that button.
7.0 adds a new network access view that helps you connect to the Internet.
New views to configure automatic updates and an option to change the theme based on the time of day.
Enhanced Elementary Apps
- The mail app now comes with a modern and responsive design. It is also compatible with Microsoft 365 accounts.
- Now you can use the Tasks app without Internet. The app will sync your tasks once a network is available again.
- The Files app allows you to activate an option to select folders with a single click.
- Improved copy/paste functionality across the entire file system.
- Redesigned settings in the printer app and new features like the ability to clear the print queue per printer and a much clearer view of ink levels.
- Addition of the latest versions of Archive Manager and Document Viewer from GNOME applications.
UI and performance improvements
- The developers rewrote the Music app from the ground up with a design focused on quickly queuing up and playing music files or collections.
- The Music app now has better support for tracking metadata like album art. Videos appear in the sound indicator, and the panel shows different icons for videos and music.
- New power profile management settings: Power Saving, Performance, and Balanced. The developers claim that power saving mode could improve battery life on mobile devices. Just like Windows, you can point your cursor over the power indicator and scroll to change the screen brightness.
- Added the ability to set custom Terminal commands for hot corners. The redesigned hotkey settings will make it easier to disable hotkeys.
- Reworking old code, tracking slowdowns, and optimizing parts of the operating system have improved the performance of the operating system.
- Redesigned icons and inclusion of an Icon Browser application, which can be found in the AppCenter.
What are your thoughts on Elementary OS 7.0? Let us know in the comments section.