Neptune Changelog

What's new in Neptune 6.0

Aug 17, 2019
  • This new version is based upon Debian 10 ("Buster") and comes with the typical Neptune tweaks and configurations.
  • The base of the system is Linux Kernel in version 4.19.37 which provides the necessary hardware support. Plasma 5.14.5 features the stable and flexible KDE made desktop that is loved by millions.
  • New in this version is an improved display handling which allows switching between different output methods and can be handy for presentations. The lockscreen is now invoked when changing users.
  • Plasma Discover is able to upgrade hardware firmware now and features a more modern and polished look and feel.
  • New improved desktop effects and handling of compositing in the window manager KWin result in a better more fluid user experience.
  • In terms of applications version 6.0 uses Chromium 76 as default webbrowser.
  • The E-Mail application Thunderbird comes in version 60.8. Multimedia playback is done by VLC 3.0.7 and music management is still done by Amarok which comes in the current Git version which is build upon KDE Frameworks 5.
  • Office work is done by LibreOffice 6.1.5.2 and Gimp 2.10 provides image editing capabilities. Editing of audio can be done either with Audacity 2.2.2 or Ardour 5.12. Videos can be cutted with Kdenlive 18.08.2.

New in Neptune 5.6 (Nov 8, 2018)

  • In this update we improved hardware support further by providing Linux Kernel 4.18.6 with improved drivers and bugfixes. Updated the DDX drivers for AMD/ATI and Intel aswell as providing Mesa 18.1.9. The X-Server got an update to version 1.19.6 which fixes several bugs and brings speed improvements.
  • Other main changes in this version are the update of Systemd to version 239 and KDE Applications to version 18.08.2. The Network-Manager got an update to 1.14 to improve wifi network stability and speed.
  • Plasma Desktop has been updated to 5.12.7 to provide bugfixes.
  • This includes fixes for Krunner to allow setting the webshortcuts and spellchecking options for its plugins.
  • SFTP connections via KIO are now more stable and reliable even after reconnecting to a device.
  • Spellchecking in Plasma applications should work again.
  • Chromium 70 provides speed improvements and security bugfixes.
  • Thunderbird 60.2 improves security and speed especially with lots of emails.
  • LibreOffice is now available in version 6.1.3.
  • Wifi Firmware got an update to improve speed, stability and support for new Wifi chips.
  • Localization and Plymouth Splashscreen configuration have been fixed in the System Installer Calamares.

New in Neptune 5.5 (Aug 28, 2018)

  • This update represents the current state of Neptune 5 and renews the ISO file so if you install Neptune you don't have to download tons of Updates.
  • In this update we improved hardware support further by providing Linux Kernel 4.17.8 with improved drivers and bugfixes. Updated the DDX drivers for AMD/ATI, Intel and Nvidia aswell as providing Mesa 18.1.6.
  • Other main changes in this version are the update of KDE Frameworks to version 5.49 and KDE Applications to version 18.08. As the new KF5 version is not compatible with Qt 5.7 anymore we had to backport its patches to version 5.45.
  • Plasma Desktop has been updated to 5.12.6 to provide bugfixes.
  • Chromium 68 fixes issues with html5 audio & video playback and provides a redesigned player.
  • LibreOffice is now available in version 6.1.
  • Intel Microcode is now available in the newest security fixed release.

New in Neptune 5.4 (Jul 22, 2018)

  • Fix mtp opening for many android devices
  • Update Kernel to 4.16.16
  • Added remove all notification history to notification widget (backported from Plasma 5.13)
  • Tweaked default vm.swappiness in neptunes systctl config for even later swapping out and more responsive desktop
  • Added artwork-lookandfeel-neptune-dark
  • Added new Faenza-Dark icon theme for dark background themes like neptune dark
  • Added Blackbird gtk theme (for use with neptune dark)
  • Plasma Discover update for better overall progressbar when only installing one package
  • Plasma Discover update to support multiple archives for Plasma Extensions
  • Fixed Neptune ZRAM config not working for only single core CPUs
  • Fixed ksysguard leaking pipe fds in md raid code
  • Updated E22 to 0.22.3 (in repo)
  • Updated terminology to 1.2.1 (in repo)
  • Updated Thunderbird to 52.9
  • Updated Chromium to 67 and fixed html5 audio & video playing issue
  • Updated LibreOffice to 6.0.6
  • Updated KDE Frameworks 5 to 5.48
  • Updated KDE Applications to 18.04.3
  • Updated KWin to 5.12.5 (real version compiled against Qt 5.7.1 instead of just relabled 5.11.5)
  • Updated FFmpeg 3.2.11 security update
  • Included v86d by default on ISO (used for uvesafb)
  • Included mdadm by default on ISO (support for software raid [mdraid])
  • Updated Excalibur menu to 2.7
  • Updated Debians Stable base to 2018-07-21

New in Neptune 5.1 (Apr 13, 2018)

  • This update represents the current state of Neptune 5 and renews the ISO file so if you install Neptune you don't have to download tons of Updates.
  • The Calamares Installer now handles also installing hyphentation, thesaurus and spellecheck for the choosen localization.
  • Main changes in this version are the update of Plasma to version 5.12.4 and KDE Frameworks to version 5.44. Besides that we also updated our default icon theme to include some new icons and Plasma Discover got some minor fixes and a slightly improved UI now featuring a refresh button in the Update dialog.
  • Knetworkmounter should work like usual again and Enlightenment fans should be able to install their beloved desktop in version 0.22.

New in Neptune 4.5.3 (Jan 3, 2017)

  • This version comes with the newest updates like Chromium 55 & Icedove 45.5 aswell as an upgraded graphicsstack based on Mesa 13.0.2. Besides that this version comes by default with the LTS Kernel 3.18.45. (Newer 4.4 based kernel releases can be found in our repository).

New in Neptune 4.5.2 (Sep 5, 2016)

  • This is another upgrade to our install media from the Neptune 4.5 series. Besides the usual updates (Effective: 01.09.2016) there are some new features. One would be Pulseaudio that we decided to include by default to make sure to support as many soundcardconfigurations out of the box as possible. For the best known configuration we also ship a new default-settings-pulseaudio package.
  • Besides that we ship a new LTS Kernel version 3.18.40 with plenty of bugfixes new drivers and other improvements.
  • We upgraded the free graphic drivers for Intel, ATI/AMD Radeon und Nvidia (nouveau) to support more modern hardware. As a part of this we also upgraded several firmware packages to improve support of modern hardware.
  • Furhter on we updated our webbrowser Chromium (Version 52) and E-Mail client Icedove (Version 45). The KDE desktop library KDELibs got an update to version 4.14.22 and comes with plenty of little fixes. The scan application Skanlite got an update to version 1.0 and now offers better and faster scanning support for the latest hardware. Those who like the game Hedgewars will like our fixed version 0.9.22.
  • Pretty new is our new default grub theme with Neptune styling.

New in Neptune 4.5.1 (May 6, 2016)

  • The biggest issue fixed in this release is the usb booting from USB 3 ports. Besides that this new maintainance release features KDE SC 4.14.16 as desktop.
  • The Plasma 5 version was updated to Plasma 5.6.2 with KDE Frameworks 5.21.

New in Neptune 4.5 (Jan 29, 2016)

  • The new Kernel 3.18.25 offers the latest security fixes aswell as better hardware support and driver fixes.
  • Systemd 227 offers a better managament of services aswell as a better overall boot experience.
  • The biggest update this version offers is a new libc6 version. This version 2.19 allows you to execute
  • modern proprietary or binary applications offered on the net.
  • An update to the XServer provides Glamor XV support which brings a big performance boost for radeonsi cards
  • when watching videos.
  • The Intel driver was updated to version 2.99.917 which also improves performance and fixes bugs.
  • The update of the Alsa to version 1.0.27 improves support for the latest soundcards and offers better
  • integration into the system.
  • Phonon was updated to version 4.8.3 to offer the best Multimedia support on the KDE Plasma desktop.
  • Neptune now for the first time brings out of the box bluray support which allows you to play blurays from
  • within the VLC Media Player.
  • A new Networkmanager update supports more networking modes and fixes in terms of performance and reliability
  • of network connections.
  • Neptune offers also a large variety of Bugfixes.
  • Disk-Manager now works again like it should aswell as the Quickusbformatter and BackInTime Backup solution.
  • Packagekit was downgraded together with Apper to fix issues with debconf configuration dialogs not being shown
  • on package upgrades which caused hanging of Apper and Packagekit.
  • The multimedia library libAv had a memory leak for streaming media which is now fixed.
  • Kipi-Plugins were updated to version 4.0 to offer better online service uploading support.
  • OpenSSH-Client got the latest security fixes
  • We also worked on a Plasma 5 variant of Neptune 4.5.
  • This version includes all the above changes but is based on Plasma 5 and KF5 instead of KDE SC 4.14.
  • It is based on the Plasma 5.5.3 Desktop coming with some patches from Upstream like a new device notifier
  • and better Media Player (MPris) handling especially for multiple Mpris Players.
  • We plan to update this Plasma 5 variant regulary despite the fact it is only a testing version at the moment.

New in Neptune 4.4 (Jul 20, 2015)

  • This version features a new LTS Kernel 3.18.16 which delivers better and more modern hardware support. We also did the biggest update in the graphicsstack since Neptune 4.0 by upgrading to XServer 1.17 and Mesa 10.5.8. This brings in support for modern graphiccards and better 3D performance. Old chips like voodoo or sis however aren't supported anymore. We updated the Hplip driver to support newer hp printers.
  • We improved the user interface by introducing a new modern looking font aswell as bigger scrollbars.
  • Kdenlive now can stabilize videos using the vid.stab extension. Gimp now includes the GMic filters and plugins by default.
  • Neptune Installer is now able to handle UTF-8 chars in usernames and supports formatting partitions with btrfs-tools 3.17.
  • Chromium was upgraded to version 43 with deactivated Google Now plugin. The packagemanager dpkg was upgraded to version 1.18 featuring a lot of bugfixes and improvements in overall speed.
  • We also added a new application called KDE Volume and Partition Manager which is not only capable of managing partitions but also of handling lvm partitions.
  • Live System users will benefit from fixes to the Snapshot Manager which features a bunch of new predefined snapshots to try out.

New in Neptune 4.2 (Oct 24, 2014)

  • This service release comes with a brand new kernel 3.16.3 (+bfq I/O Scheduler) which includes many driver updates and improvements in power saving functions. Our improved installer now offers you to install on uefi capable PCs and brings in a new option which allows you to disable sudo for your user during installation.
  • Several security, bugfixes and updates were merged into this release. The bash "shellshock" vulnerability is fixed, Chromium to version 37, LibreOffice to version 4.3.2, Kdenlive to version 0.9.10 and Wireshark to 1.12.
  • For the first time Neptune also ships the btrfs snapshotting tool snapper which can create hourly snapshots of the filesystem. It allows you to view changes in files and to restore files, folders or the whole filesystem.

New in Neptune 4.1 (Aug 30, 2014)

  • Fixed neptune-installer to successfully remove live tools like
  • snapshot-manager, persistent-creator and itself aswell as
  • quickinstallation-guides
  • Fixed systemd startup not creating loopback devices (apps like TrueCrypt weren't able to mount virtual drives)
  • Fixed bluetooth not enabled by default in systemd
  • Fixed bluedevil not be able to send files via bluetooth
  • Fixed version strings in /etc/issue; /etc/os-release;/etc/lsb-release; ...
  • Fixed plasma workspace not showing icons but scrollbar occasionally
  • Added Kernel 3.14.13 with bfq I/O scheduler by default
  • Replaced LibreOffice version from Kanotix with Debian Backports version 4.2.6
  • Added default asound.conf with dsp0 dmix device
  • Added default vimrc config with saving last cursor position
  • Added Meta/Super/Windows-key + k hotkey to open Knetworkmounter
  • Updated KDE Applications and Plattform to version 4.14.0
  • Updated nouveau and intel driver
  • Updated wireshark
  • Updated virtualbox-guest-dkms
  • Updated systemd
  • Updated apper
  • Updated packagekit

New in Neptune 4.0 (Jun 25, 2014)

  • This version focuses on user requests and brings a bunch of new groundbreaking changes like new kernel 3.13.11, KDE SC 4.13.2, Systemd 204, Encode 3.0, Recffmpeg 1.8.5, LibreOffice 4.2, Chromium 35, default btrfs, a brand new design and so much more.
  • We modernized the look and feel of Neptune without loosing the touch of simplicity and easy going with the introduction of our new design.
  • We aimed to create a distract free desktop experience.
  • The base of Neptune 4.0 is the Linux kernel 3.13.11 with bunch of new drivers, fixes and support of new hardware. On top of that we offer the latest and greatest KDE Plasma Workspace + the best of its apps.
  • Systemd is the new default init system for Neptune which brings speed and service improvements.
  • The new default filesystem offered on installation is btrfs. With its modern support for SSDs, snapshots, raid and so much more it offers the greatest features of a linux filesystem to date. T
  • We also rewritten and improved our own applications like the media encoding application Encode which now ships in a totally revamped version 3.0.
  • It offers the feature to convert any known audio & video format (supported by ffmpeg) to any known audio & video format.
  • Recffmpeg got inspired by vokoscreen (and grabed some code from it) and offers a slick new user interface with a bunch of cool new features for recording screencasts.
  • ZevenOSHardwaremanager was upgraded to support the new kernel and recognize a bunch of new graphicscards to offer the appropiate driver.
  • By default the Neptune KDE repo is now enabled so you won't have any trouble upgrading your KDE experience.
  • This version comes with the usual software upgrades like Chromium 35, LibreOffice 4.2, Apper 0.8, Icedove 24, VLC 2.1
  • Neptune 4 still offers one of the best KDE centric desktop experience.

New in Neptune 3.3 (Oct 10, 2013)

  • New kernel 3.10.12
  • KDE SC 4.11.2 with customized notification center
  • Removed eclipse
  • Removed pavucontrol
  • Removed muon software center, muon updater and qapt-deb-installer
  • Use Apper as default deb installer with gdebi-common
  • Fixed neptune installer uuid detection
  • Added new version of neptune-scripts
  • Updated LibreOffice to version 4.1.2.3
  • Updated Chromium to version 29
  • Updated VLC to version 2.1
  • Updated Quick Install Guide
  • Added about menu für Zevenoshardwaremanager
  • Added Calligra 2.7.2 in repository

New in Neptune 3.2 (Aug 14, 2013)

  • New kernel 3.10.5
  • KDE SC 4.10.5 with customized notification center
  • updated Debian base to 7.1 Wheezy
  • Added reText
  • Added yavtd
  • Added kffmpegthumbnailer
  • Added preload
  • Added new nvidia and fglrx drivers compatible with kernel 3.10
  • Updated LibreOffice to version 4.1.0.4
  • Updated Icedove to version 17
  • Updated Chromium to version 28
  • Updated VLC to version 2.0.8
  • Updated Ardour to version 3.3
  • Updated phonon-backend-vlc to version 0.6.2
  • Updated plasma-widget-networkmanagement to version 0.9.0.8
  • Replaced ntpdate with rdate to workaround kcm dateandtime bug
  • Fixed timezone setting in kcm dateandtime (we are the only debian based distro who fixed that)
  • Added manpage and bash completion to remaster-kit
  • Fixed installer to be run as normal user to show all nice graphics
  • Added xdg-user-dirs-gtk to update user folder names when localization change appears
  • Added newest e17 0.17.3 with video thumbnail loading patch

New in Neptune 3.1 (May 21, 2013)

  • New kernel 3.9.2
  • KDE SC 4.10.3 with customized notification center
  • updated Debian base to 7.0 Wheezy
  • Added f2fs filesystem support
  • Upgraded Gparted to handle new filesystems and load faster
  • fixed zevenos-hardwaremanager
  • Updated LibreOffice to version 4.0.3
  • Added knetworkmounter
  • Added Apper as default software center
  • Updated Amarok to version 2.7.1
  • Updated Kdenlive to version 0.9.6
  • Downgraded muon to a working version of 1.4
  • Enabled Multiarch
  • ISO is now build as hybridiso so it can be dd’ed onto a usb stick

New in Neptune 3.0 (Mar 26, 2013)

  • Switched to 64bit only release (you need a 64bit capable CPU to run Neptune 3.0)
  • New kernel 3.8.4
  • KDE SC 4.10.1 with customized notification center
  • removed Pulseaudio for better audio experience and no crackling sounds anymore
  • new Installer summary page
  • new language-selector tool
  • updated zevenos-hardwaremanager with experimental driver support
  • better default font config
  • fixed snapshot-manager to disable install button when no snapshot is available
  • added new xserver-xorg-video-ati 7.0 to support more ATI/AMD chips
  • advanced installer now provides warning when not started as root
  • new Muon 2.0 RC2 software installer
  • updated LibreOffice 3.5.4-4
  • added nested installation as neptune-installer-nested
  • Use Lancelot now as our default launchermenu for applications
  • switched base system to debian wheezy
  • split neptune repository in neptune config + apps and kde repository
  • added ppapi-flashplayer for better flash experience

New in Neptune 5.0 Beta 1 (Nov 20, 2012)

  • ZevenOS used the deskbar for ages to create a slick and nice looking tasklist and mainmenu panel. With the current struggle in development on ZevenOS (btw. thanks for all your support it was really helpful and motivated me to start working on ZevenOS 5.0 again) I decided to give the deskbar mode in the xfce4-panel a go and I really have to say I am impressed. It works almost flawlessly. There are still some glitches like not being able to setup the panel to move under windows (so not behave like a panel but more like the deskbar used to) and some confusing configuration settings but the xfce4-panel brings in the advantage of plugins and you can configure a lot with them.
  • So I decided for the 5.0 release of ZevenOS to simply ship the xfce4-panel. Currently I am not sure if I would stop development of the deskbar completely or if we implement a tasklist on our own (the one we used before wnck needs dirty patching and does not seem to work as good as it was before). This will also depend on how many contributors are interested in either creating special xfce4-panel plugins for ZevenOS (like a good quicklaunch plugin, the current one is not very advanced) or working on the deskbar.

New in Neptune 3.0 Beta 1 (Oct 8, 2012)

  • Kernel 3.5.4
  • KDE SC 4.9.1
  • newest Amarok, VLC, KDEnlive, Audacity
  • LibreOffice 3.5.4.2
  • Chromium 21 & Icedove 10.0.7esr
  • TrueCrypt
  • Wireshark
  • BackInTime
  • Muon Packagemanager, Muon Software Center & the brand new Muon Discover
  • New tweaked default configuration (we use Lancelot now as our Neptune default launchermenu)
  • New Advanced Installer (a graphical one not the one the commandline which is still available if you want to setup a lvm system)

New in Neptune 2.5.1 (Jun 18, 2012)

  • fixed cups printer detection
  • fixed amarok crashing on start
  • fixed additional language support and localization
  • fixed printer applet crashing
  • fixed sudos /var/lib/sudo permission
  • added additional languages to isolinux bootloader menu
  • make english the first and default boot entry in isolinux menu
  • added help text on failsafe boot options in isolinux menu
  • upgraded Kernel to 3.3.8
  • upgraded KDE to 4.8.4

New in Neptune 2.5 (Jun 4, 2012)

  • This release comes with Kernel 3.3.4 with lots of patches and drivers. As usual and for the last time we ship two official variants: 1. Full Edition with KDE 4.8.3 and 2. our Minimal Edition with LXDE and E17.
  • The Full Edition comes with Chromium 18, Icedove 10, Gimp 2.8, KDEnlive 0.9.2, Amarok 2.6, VLC 2.0.1 and many more updates. We ship with the latest and greates multimedia codecs preinstalled aswell as the flashplayer. For wireless diagnosis we ship Wireshark, Aircrack-ng and kismon. We added RAID support to our default system aswell as LVM support in the advanced installer. We added templates for the panel Layout in KDE.
  • For our Minimal Edition we added E17 as lowmemory alternative to LXDE and ship Iceweasel 10 ESR, Icedove 10, Gnome-Mplayer 1.0.6, Deadbeef 0.5.1 and pcmanfm 0.9.10.
  • Both editions now come with a adjusted GTK3 Theme for running GTK3 applications.