Enlightenment E17 brings bling to Linux, and E17 makes it possible to make even older equipment shine again. According to enlightenment.org, "Enlightenment is built by designers and programmers who want others to be able to do more with less."
Elive is possibly the most well known Linux distribution utilizing E17, but moonOS 3 "Makara," a Cambodian distribution released recently, has made a strong bid for supremacy in the Enlightenment world. According to its website, "moonOS's focus is on Utter Speed, Low Memory and Great Looks!"
Information About the Enlightenment Windows Manager
Enlightenment offers an original look, fast operation, and slim size. It gives old hardware new life, and does so without sacrificing style. Even though Enlightenment distributions weigh in light, both Elive and moonOS, they come with plenty of software.
Enlightenment provides gadgets, modules and extensibility that rival anything provided by Compiz, by KDE, or by any other desktop environment or windows manager out there. Every user needs to try out the little penguins walking all over the screen.
Why moonOS Is Worth a Download
moonOS most definitely has its roots in Ubuntu, 9.04 to be exact, but the way developer and artist Chanrithy Thim has tweaked it with Enlightenment and his own beautiful graphics leaves users ... no, keeps users around. Users begin to be impressed with the smooth install – a typically smooth Ubuntu install – and continue to be impressed throughout every stage of the moonOS experience. The interface is incredibly well-designed. The default menus provide all the practicality and beauty necessary for any desktop. The software provided fills every need:
- Firefox for web browsing
- GIMP for image editing
- Brasero and Exaile for audio
- Thunderbird for email
- Pidgin for chat
- Openoffice.org 3.1.1 for word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database
- moonSoftware for package management
More intriguing than the software, however, is moonOS's implementation of its themes and its extensibility. Better than Elive's version, moonOS provides immediate access to themes through its "online" button in the "Settings"-->"Themes" window. The E17 themes provided are many of the most popular, the sharpest and most aesthetically pleasing looks available from any provider on the web. moonOS has put them together and updates them consistently for its users.
The only thing new users need to get used to is a little new terminology inside Enlightenment. To "Iconify" means to minimize; the "Shelves" are all sorts of things: menus (especially the ibar), screenlets, gadgets and more; beyond that, moonOS is extremely usable, extremely beautiful, and extremely free.
Ben Lingenfelter - As an intinerant writer, I've found freedom to write and learn about a variety of topics. That fits me perfectly. I've been an English ...
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