InstArch For Linux

InstArch is an open source distribution of Linux based on the Arch Linux operating system and built around the i3 tiling window manager. It also includes the KDE and Openbox desktop environments.

While the distribution is available for download via Softpedia or from its official website as a Live DVD ISO image or approximately 1GB in size, it will only work on computers with a 64-bit processor. However, you must write it on a DVD disc or a USB flash drive or 2GB or higher capacity in order to boot it from the BIOS of a computer.

The boot menu is quite minimal and allows you to start the live environment with default boot options, view detailed information about your computer’s hardware components with the Hardware Detection Tool (HDT), as well as to reboot or power off the machine.

Even if the ISO image is tagged with the KDE and Openbox terms, the distribution’s default desktop environment is the i3 tiling window manager. Most probably, the DVD disc also includes full versions of the KDE Plasma desktop and Openbox window managers.

The InstArch’s default WM uses a minimal panel located on the bottom edge of the screen and designed to display the total free space of your root partition, the current system load, as well as the date and time and current workspace.

Summing up, InstArch is a special distribution of Linux that should only be downloaded and used by Arch Linux experts and power users who enjoy minimalistic window managers that can only be navigated with the keyboard.