BOSS (Bharat Operating System Solutions) GNU/Linux is a Linux distribution developed by C-DAC for enhancing the use of free and open source software in India. BOSS Linux was made specifically for the Indian environment, it consists of a pleasing desktop environment coupled with Indian language support and other packages that are most relevant for use in the government domain.

Here are some key features of "BOSS":

· The Graphical mode installer
· Faster system startup and login
· User friendly GNOME Desktop
· Simplified menu organization
· Easy access to power management settings with GNOME Power Manager
· Improved support for video playback
· 3D Desktop
· BharatheeyaaOO (Localised OpenOffice.org 2.0.1 – currently in Tamil and Hindi)
· Enhanced Removable Media Support
· Liferea – RSS/RDF Reader
· Plug & Play of the devices with Graphical Front-End
· Multimedia support - Totem, Xmms
· TV Tuner Support
· Bluetooth Support
· Optional Network Manager for convenient roaming between different wireless and wired networks
· Migration Tool - Bulk Document converter
· Presentation Tool-keyjnote
· Menu Editor - Alacarte
· Evolution Mail Client
· Best of available internet tools – Firefox, Gaim, Xchat
· Input Method - SCIM with Remington Keyboard Layout for Tamil, Hindi, Punjabi,and Marati
· CD/DVD Burning tool - bonfire
· Dual Boot Facility
· Automount of existing Hard Disk partitions
· LiveCD
· Utility CD

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has launched its Bharat Operating Systems Solutions (BOSS) GNU/Linux software version 3.0, developed by NRCFOSS (National Resource Centre for Free/Open Source Software). BOSS version 3.0 is coupled with GNOME and KDE desktop environments with a wide Indian language support and packages that are relevant for use in the government domain. The software is also endowed with Bluetooth for short range of communications along with salient features like RSS feed reader and PDF viewer. The objective of creating BOSS Linux is to enable the non-English speaking people of India to be exposed to the benefits of free and open source software and GNU/Linux.