ChameleonOS For Linux

ChameleonOS is an open source and completely free distribution of Linux derived from the Unity Linux operating system, which in turn is based off of Mandriva. This means that is uses the RPM Package Management system and provides users with a fully customizable graphical desktop environment.

Users can download the ChameleonOS distribution from Softpedia as a dual-arch Live CD ISO image that has been engineered to work on computers supporting either of the 32-bit or 64-bit instruction set architectures. You must write the ISO image onto a CD disc or on a USB thumb drive in order to create a bootable medium that can be booted from the BIOS of a computer.

From the Live CD boot menu, the user can start the live system without installing anything on his or her computer, start the live system in safe graphics mode using the VESA driver, boot in safe mode, copy the contents of the ISO image to RAM, perform a memory test or verify the integrity of the bootable medium (only if using a CD disc).

Before you can access the graphical session, you must choose a language to use, select a timezone and configure the system clock and choose a keyboard layout. At the display manager use the credentials displayed on the left panel to login. The graphical desktop environment is built around the Openbox window manager, but it borrows elements from  LXDE, such as the panel. A dock (application launcher) is provided on the bottom part of the screen.

The distro comes pre-loaded with useful open-source applications, such as the Chromium web browser, Pidgin multi-protocol instant messenger, XChat IRC client, Viewnior image viewer, Sylpheed email client, Audacious audio player, GNOME MPlayer video player and many other useful utilities.