Freespire 9.5 Tries to Win Over Windows Users, but Will They Bite
Let me start with a short introduction. Freespire’s roots lead back to Lindows, an easy-to-use Linux-based operating system with Wine integration and easy application support. However, the distro was renamed Linspire after a Microsoft lawsuit.
Then, Freespire derived from Linspire as a desktop-oriented Linux distribution, composed mostly of free and open-source software. Nowadays, the project is sponsored by Linspire, a commercial Linux distro owned by PC OpenSystems LLC.
The just released Freespire 9.5 again comes with many changes, so let’s see what’s new.
Betanews:
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Freespire closes the gap between Linux and Windows 10
If you've been using Windows for a while, you'll be very comfortable with how Microsoft's operating system looks and works. Although Windows 11 sports a centered taskbar, that OS isn't hugely different to its predecessor, Windows 10.
Familiarity with Windows makes it very difficult for users to switch to a non-Microsoft operating system, but Freespire's latest update aims to make users of Windows 10 or Windows 11 feel more at home using Linux.
The Register:
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An unexpectedly fresh blast from the past, Freespire 9.5 has landed
A descendant of one of the oldest desktop Linuxes around surprises… both by existing at all, as well as by being impressively good.
The newly released Freespire 9.5 is the latest version of the free member of the Linspire family. It's based on Ubuntu 22.04.2, including GNOME 42.5, heavily customised to resemble Windows via a suite of GNOME extensions. Linspire removes Ubuntu's Snap packaging system and replaces it with Flatpak, but has no Flatpaks preinstalled.