PTS Desktop Live For Linux

PTS Desktop Live is an open source and freely distributed operating system based on the well known Ubuntu Linux distribution, built around the highly acclaimed Phoronix Test Suite benchmarking software and powered by the traditional GNOME desktop environment.

The distribution is available for download as single Live DVD ISO image that supports only 64-bit instruction set architectures, and systems with ATI, Nvidia and Intel graphics cards, Intel and AMD CPUs, and over 2GB of RAM. It can be used from a DVD disc or a USB thumb drive of 2GB or higher capacity.

From the boot prompt, the user can start the live environment with default settings, test the system memory (RAM) of their computers, as well as to boot an existing operating system from the first disk drive.

It is a stripped down Linux environment that uses GNOME 2 for its graphical session, which comprises of two panels. While the top panel can be used to access the main menu, system tray area and open applications, the bottom panel will help users to interact with running programs and cycle between virtual workspaces.

Besides the complete Phoronix Test Suite application, the distribution also comes with over 40 test profiles, a graphical user interface for managing the benchmarking process, as well as the ability to share benchmark results via Phoronix Global.

Default applications include the Mozilla Firefox web browser, GNOME Terminal terminal emulator, Gedit text editor, Disks disk manager, as well as Synaptic Package Manager for installing additional software packages or updating/removing existing ones.

Summing up, PTS Desktop Live is a decent distribution of Linux that has been designed from the ground up with a single purpose in mind, to deliver a free software platform for conducting hardware benchmarks and system tests effectively, automatically and reproducibly.