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Black Lab Linux Changelog

What's new in Black Lab Linux 8.2

Apr 10, 2017
  • Chromium Browser 57
  • Thunderbird
  • LibreOffice 5.3
  • kernel 4.4.0-71
  • Parole Media Player
  • Audacious 3.8.2

New in Black Lab Linux 8.0 (Nov 10, 2016)

  • Kernel 4.4.0-45
  • Chromium 54
  • Thunderbird 45.4
  • LibreOffice 5.2
  • Gimp 2.8.16
  • Dropbox
  • Google Drive Integration (Unity and GNOME 3.18 Only)
  • Ice SSB 5.2.1
  • GNOME Video
  • Rhythmbox
  • Full UEFI support
  • exFAT support
  • Systemd support
  • Upstart Support (Unity and GNOME 3.18 Only)
  • GNOME Software Center (Unity, GNOME 3.18, LXDE)
  • Plasma Software Discover center (KDE Plasma 5)

New in Black Lab Linux 8 RC1 (Oct 12, 2016)

  • 16.04 LTS Base
  • kernel 4.4.0-42
  • Chromium Web Browser
  • Thunderbird E-Mail client
  • LibreOffice 5.2
  • Gimp
  • AisleRiot
  • GNOME Games
  • Dropbox
  • Full UEFI support
  • Full SNAP support

New in Black Lab Linux 8 Beta 3 (Sep 26, 2016)

  • Full EFI support
  • Kernel 4.4.0-38
  • LibreOffice 5.2
  • GNOME Video
  • Rhythmbox
  • Firefox 49
  • Thunderbird
  • GIMP
  • Full multimedia codec support

New in Black Lab Linux 7.7 (Sep 19, 2016)

  • Updated core apps:
  • Kernel 3.19.0-68
  • Chromium Browser 51
  • ICE SSB Tool
  • Abiword
  • Gnumeric
  • Thunderbird 45.2
  • Gimp
  • Audacious
  • VLC
  • Included webapps:
  • Youtube
  • Google Maps
  • Google Contacts
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Hangouts
  • Google Drive

New in Black Lab Linux 8 Alpha 4 (Jun 13, 2016)

  • What changes have we made to Black Lab Linux 8 Alpha 4:
  • 1). Linux kernel 4.2.0-36
  • 2). Chromium 50
  • 3). Steam
  • 4). VLC Media Player
  • 5). NetOS Nanny Domain Blocker
  • 6). Ice SSB (site-specific-browsers, launching Gmail or Google Drive or Google Play like a dedicated app)
  • 7). Transmission
  • 8). HexChat IRC
  • 9). Dropbox
  • 10). gThumb
  • Web apps included:
  • 1). Google Office/Contacts/Calendar
  • 2). Google Play Music/Maps/Photos/Drive/Hangouts
  • 3). Twitter
  • 4). Facebook
  • 5). Facebook Messenger
  • 6). Outlook Mail
  • 7). Spotify

New in Black Lab Linux 7.6.1 (May 23, 2016)

  • Kernel 4.2.0-36
  • Google Chrome 50
  • Ice site-specific-browser
  • Web App creator
  • LibreOffice 5.3
  • Aptik
  • Timeshift
  • Skippy XD
  • Thunderbird Mail Suite
  • Security Features:
  • Automount disabled by default
  • Industrial strength firewall
  • Gnome Disk Utiliy - offering the highest possible level of security on re-purposed / decommissioned drives.

New in Black Lab Linux 7.6 (Apr 25, 2016)

  • Linux Kernel 3.19.0-58
  • LibreOffice 5.1.2
  • Firefox 45.0.2
  • Thunderbird 38.6.0
  • Gmusicbrowser
  • GNOME Documents
  • Tracker fast search
  • HexChat IRC client
  • XFCE 4.12 Enhancements
  • Skippy XD Expose style task switcher
  • Spotify
  • Steam Game Client
  • All security updates until April 18, 2016

New in Black Lab Linux 8 Alpha 2 (Mar 23, 2016)

  • Kernel 4.2.0.34.
  • LibreOffice 5.1.
  • Docker integration.
  • gpg 2.0.22.
  • Xfdashboard (GNOME-shell-style interface for the Xfce desktop) included.
  • Full support for the Xbox One and Xbox One Kinect controllers.
  • OpenJRE 8.
  • USB-C is now supported.
  • Improved Windows Phone, Android based phone and iPhone 6/6S integration.
  • These are some Issues that have been fixed by the development team:
  • Macbook hibernation issue - some of our users reported that the laptop required a reboot to wake up from sleep
  • Screen fragmentation with the Intel HD driver resolved.
  • Surface Pro 3 touchscreen responsiveness improved.
  • New supported hardware to run your favorite distro on:
  • Mac Pro 2015 now supported.
  • Pixel C supported.

New in Black Lab Linux 7.0.3 (Jan 25, 2016)

  • Black Lab LInux 7.0.3 has been released with an updated kernel (3.19.0.43).

New in Black Lab Linux 8 Alpha (Jan 16, 2016)

  • Kernel 3.19.43 – for the RC and the final release, we'll be upgrading to the 4.x / Ubuntu 15.10 “Wily” equivalent kernel. Black Lab Linux 9, the LAST Ubuntu based arm of our distro, will feature the 16.04 LTS kernel.
  • Firefox 43.04
  • Aptik
  • Device Manager
  • Boot-Repair
  • Oracle Java 8 (available in the final release)
  • Thunderbird
  • Wine 1.7
  • Nitroshare

New in Black Lab Linux 7.0.2 (Dec 24, 2015)

  • The PCOS development team has responded to users on UEFI systems who have reported issues booting the latest release with a bugfix.

New in Black Lab Linux 7.0.1 (Dec 11, 2015)

  • Kernel 3.19.0-33
  • Full XFS Filesystem support
  • Full exFAT support
  • XFCE 4.12
  • New Deskbar layout
  • LibreOffice 5
  • Iceweasel as the new default browser
  • IceDove with IceOwl as the new e-mail and calendar suite
  • Smuxi IRC client
  • Audacious MP3 Player
  • VLC Player
  • Steam Client for gaming
  • AppGrid
  • TimeShift system restore utility
  • Webmin Remote Administration tool
  • GCC 5.2
  • Mono 4.0 Service Release 5
  • Wine 1.7.55 for running some Microsoft Windows applications

New in Black Lab Linux 6.5 SR1 (May 11, 2015)

  • Kernel 3.16.0-36
  • The Ubuntu LTS Compatible kernel 3.13.0-52
  • Firefox 37.0.2
  • Thunderbird 31.6
  • KDE Desktop Sharing for remote access
  • Timeshift which allows you to create "restore points" so you can restore your desktop to an earlier state
  • KolourPaint for basic image editing
  • Shotwell

New in Black Lab Linux 6.0 SR1 (Dec 15, 2014)

  • Linux kernel 3.13.0-43.50
  • Linux kernel 3.17.6 for kernel 3.17 users
  • Firefox 34
  • Thunderbird 31.3
  • GNOME 3.10.4
  • GTK 3.10.8

New in Black Lab Linux 6.0 (Oct 27, 2014)

  • Ubuntu 14.04.1 Base
  • GNOME 3 replaces XFCE as the default desktop
  • Thunderbird 31.2
  • Firefox 33
  • AppGrid - an alternative app store available for Black Lab Linux
  • TimeShift - A system restore feature for allowing full system backups
  • Linux kernel 3.13.0-37, Kernel 3.17.1 is available as an easy to install script
  • Abiword
  • Gnumeric
  • OpenShot
  • GNOME PPP
  • Steam Integration
  • Pidgin
  • GNOME Tweak tool integration
  • Arista Transcoder
  • VLC
  • Cheese
  • Audacity

New in Black Lab Linux 6 Beta 1 (Sep 12, 2014)

  • Heavily customized GNOME 3.10 interface
  • Ubuntu 14.04 LTS base
  • Firefox 32
  • System Restore
  • Abiword and GNUMERIC
  • Scribus
  • Inkscape
  • Openshot
  • DVD and full multimedia codec playback
  • Java 7
  • VLC
  • Audacious
  • Pidgin IM client
  • Updated WINE packages ready for installation
  • Full LSB compliance and all basic development packages installed with a focus on letting people with custom kernels install them with minimal fuss and issue.

New in Black Lab Linux 5.1 Alpha (Jun 25, 2014)

  • GTK 3.8
  • Linux kernel 3.8 (3.15 is available as a separate download)
  • OpenSSH 6.6
  • Updated OpenSSL
  • KDE 4.13.2 Backported packages
  • Firefox 30
  • Thunderbird 24.6

New in Black Lab Linux 5.0.1 (Jun 5, 2014)

  • Linux kernel 3.5.0-51
  • Docky
  • GTK 3.6
  • Gstreamer 1.2
  • OpenSSH 6.2
  • Revelation Password Manager
  • Ice (Webapp creation tool)
  • Firefox 29
  • Thunderbird 24.5
  • Google Maps, Google Voice and Drive Web Apps
  • Dropbox 1.6
  • Audacious
  • VLC
  • Openshot Video Editor
  • Audacity
  • Maya Calendar
  • Dates (32 bit)
  • GNOME Disk Utility
  • Abiword
  • Gnumeric
  • Font Manager

New in Black Lab Linux 5.0 (May 8, 2014)

  • A GUI that rivals Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows in out-of-the-box usability, no tweaking or addons required.
  • Linux kernel 3.5.0-49
  • GTK 3.6
  • QT 5.2.1
  • Gstreamer 1.2
  • OpenSSH 6.2
  • Revelation Password Manager
  • Google Chrome 34
  • Thunderbird 24.5
  • Google Maps, Voice and Drive Web Apps
  • Dropbox 1.6
  • Audacious
  • VLC
  • Openshot Video Editor Audacity
  • Updated LibreOffice
  • Maya Calendar
  • Dates (32 bit)
  • GNOME Disk Utility

New in Black Lab Linux 5.0 Beta 2 (Mar 24, 2014)

  • XFCE 4.11
  • Google Chrome 33
  • Revelation Password Manager
  • Google Maps
  • Messaging Center
  • LibreOffice 4.2
  • Audacious
  • Totem
  • OpenSSH 6
  • Bleachbit
  • Bleachbit Administrator
  • Nixnote

New in Black Lab Linux 4.3 Beta 1 (Mar 13, 2014)

  • Functionality
  • Hardware Support
  • Stability
  • XFCE 4.11
  • Google Chrome 33/Chromium 32
  • OpenShot 1.4.3
  • Linux kernel 3.5.0-47
  • Improved NVIDIA and ATI drivers
  • Improved Wifi support
  • Kinect and 360 wireless adapter support
  • Thunderbird 24.3
  • LibreOffice 4.2
  • Gimp 2.8.10
  • And many more application and system updates

New in Black Lab Linux 4.2 (Jan 13, 2014)

  • Newer updated kernel which helps eliminate bugs and also brings driver support and improved hardware support.
  • New X.org stack which is the engine which drives the GUI interface and features. With improved support for touch interfaces and input methods, Black Lab Linux can be installed on a variety of machines including first generation 64 bit machines to brand new Intel i7 systems..
  • We also revamped the UI due to user demand so the OS gets out of the way of whatever task you are trying to accomplish.
  • XFCE 4.11, with this highly innovative and light user interface it is low power and low memory so more of your system memory is dedicated to your applications than powering the UI.
  • For the first time ever, we are also releasing a KDE release for users who prefer the KDE desktop and that release ships with KDE 4.12
  • LibreOffice 4.1.4, this is the de-facto standard of open source office suites. With LibreOffice you have document compatibility with all Microsoft Office formats including the newer XML based formats, as well as other legacy document formats.
  • Chromium 31. Web browsing and web applications are very important to the average user, and for this we have included the award winning Chromium Web Browser which is the standards based platform to host your web applications, very fast and very simple to use. Chromium being cross platform, its also the same across multiple platforms so you will feel right at home.
  • Thunderbird 24 with the lightning extension for reading your mail and keeping up with important dates and times. You can also sync your Google calendar events for offline use.
  • Audacious 3.4 for listening to streaming music as well as all your mp3, AAC and WMA music files
  • VLC for watching streaming video as well as video files on your hard drive in all formats. VLC also supports DVD and Blu-Ray playback.
  • Camorama for taking photos from your webcam
  • Audacity 3, for audio production
  • OpenShot Video editor for making your own home videos
  • Steam Client for accessing all of your Valve Steam games. We are also compatible with the SteamOS.
  • gMTP for managing files on your Barnes and Noble Nook devices, and Amazon Kindle Fire, Fire HD, and Fire HDX tablets as well as a plethora of other audio and video players.
  • Calibre ebook management which allows you to read ebooks in all different formats from proprietary to free formats. We also include the LRF Viewer to read Sony's ebook format.
  • These are only some of the application updates that you get with Black Lab Linux 4.2, they are to numerous to go over here. Overall you get over 200 system and application updates. With Black Lab Linux 4.2 you arent just upgrading your operating system, its like you are getting a brand new computer.

New in Black Lab Linux 4.2 Beta 3 (Jan 3, 2014)

  • XFCE 4.11.1
  • Chromium 31.0
  • Thunderbird 24.2
  • GIMP 2.8.10
  • Kernel 3.5.44
  • Whisker Menu
  • Maya Calendar
  • Steam Client
  • Dropbox

New in Black Lab Linux 4.2 Beta 2 (Dec 14, 2013)

  • The lock screen bug: The lock screen in some instances when going back to the desktop would freeze the system forcing a reboot.
  • Network Manager would not show a stable connection when connected
  • Display bug where only half the desktop wallpaper was being shown is now fixed.
  • USB crash has been fixed, in some instances if you would plug in 5 consecutive USB devices the system would crash
  • The ASUS EeePC hot keys have been fixed.
  • XServer crashes on VirtualBox are now fixed.
  • Backporting of drivers now 95% complete.
  • Chromium lag is now fixed

New in Black Lab Linux 14.1.8 (Nov 23, 2013)

  • Complete rebranding and artwork change.
  • Linux Kernel has been updated.
  • The ElementaryOS PPA has been added to Black Lab Linux and provides us with the Maya Calendar and the Noise Audio Player.
  • Thunderbird 24.1.0 has been updated
  • Chromium 30 has been updated
  • QT 5.1 has been updated
  • Steam has been updated
  • Global Menus
  • The XFCE Whisker menu

New in Black Lab Linux 14 (Sep 13, 2013)

  • kernel 3.5 +
  • Chromium Browser
  • Audacious
  • Gimp 2.8
  • Claws Mail
  • Dates - a calendering app to store all your important events
  • Contacts - for storing your contacts
  • Maps has been enhanced with Google Maps
  • The Message Center so you can send SMS straight from your desktop
  • Parole, a video player
  • VLC a media center application
  • Pidgin for IM
  • Abiword and Gnumeric for word processing and spreadsheet
  • Software Center - We use the Lubuntu Software Center for right now, we are still researching a good market place to include in OS/4 OpenLinux with this you still get access to all the free apps just not to the paid applications...yet
  • Steam for gaming

New in Black Lab Linux 13.6 (Aug 1, 2013)

  • Firefox and Thunderbird have been updated to the latest releases.
  • Our infamous and most popular IDE Gambas 3 has been updated
  • QT has been updated
  • Disk Utility has been merged with System Imager 1.0 so users can image their hard drives and make distribution copies. If you have a copy of OS/4 Enterprise 4.1.3 you can also do this with our custom Webmin plugin.
  • OpenJDK, OpenJRE and IcedTea Plugin have been updated and integrated more into Firefox.
  • FS-UAE, if you have a legal Kickstart ROM and copy of AmigaOS 3.x, you can run the legacy AmigaOS under the FS-UAE emulator.
  • AROS Subsystem, you can install this if you dont have a legal copy of AmigaOS 68k so you can run legacy applications and games as well as great AROS games and applications available today. AROS Subsystem is located in the /opt folder of every copy of 32 and 64 bit
  • Updated Kernel, the new kernel has updated drivers and a full range of bug fixes and security updates.

New in Black Lab Linux 13.5 (Jul 3, 2013)

  • Arista Transcoder is now available to transcode personal video and make it possible to convert to any video format for any device.
  • Search for Files and Folders utility is much faster and is smarter. It can remember previously used search terms and search within the same criteria
  • For the first time, Valves Steam hub is available by default in OS4 OpenLinux.
  • Firefox 22
  • Thunderbird 17.0.7
  • Day Planner 0.11
  • Clementine 1.0.1 is our new default audio player. It supports file transfer to iPod, iPad, The Barnes and Noble Nook tablets as well as the Kindle Fire line of devices
  • Nokia Maps has been removed and replaced with Google Maps which was perhaps one of the most requested changes we have made
  • The new Disk Utility from OS4 Enterprise Linux has replaced gParted on OS4 OpenLinux.
  • QT Libraries have been updated to match the KDE 4.10 Release
  • QTransmission 2.51

New in Black Lab Linux 13.3 (Mar 1, 2013)

  • Over 300 application and system updates
  • Google Chrome 25
  • Linux Kernel 3.2.0-38
  • Cheese Webcam Booth for webcam users
  • Google Voice web app which provides SMS and telephony services to OS4
  • Disk Utility to manage partitions and prepare partitions for installation
  • OS4 Visual Subsystem 5.1
  • Gambas 2 is now included by default

New in Black Lab Linux 13.2 (Jan 9, 2013)

  • Kernel 3.2.0-35, the 3.5 kernel is still available in the repositories
  • Thunar 1.6.3
  • Fogger for creating we based desktop applications
  • Parental controls
  • Support for the Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Nook based tablets
  • A new system profiler and benchmark utility

New in Black Lab Linux 13.2 Beta (Jan 1, 2013)

  • Kernel 3.2.0-35
  • Thunar 1.6.1
  • Parental Controls
  • System Profiler and Benchmark utility

New in Black Lab Linux 13.1 (Nov 30, 2012)

  • OS4 Kernel has been updated to 3.2.0-33. OS4 Kernel 3.5 is available for install in the repository
  • The XFCE workspace has been upgraded to 4.10 with Thunar being upgraded to 1.5.3
  • With this release we are introducing a revolutionary deskbar interface, enhanced icon set and window manager theme users will find familiar from our early days
  • OS4 visual Subsystem has been upgraded to 4.0.1
  • Google Chrome has been updated to version 23
  • Screenlets have been added to the system
  • You can now add app launcher icons to the desktop

New in Black Lab Linux 13 (Oct 2, 2012)

  • XFCE
  • kernel 3.2.0-31
  • Google Chrome 22
  • The Gimp 2.8
  • Banshee 2.4.1
  • Evolution Groupware Suite 3.2.3
  • Shotwell 0.12.3
  • Nokia Maps
  • Likewise Active Directory Membership 6.1
  • OpenJava 7
  • Flash
  • VLC