Vanilla OS 22.10 Kinetic is out!

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Vanilla OS 22.10 Kinetic, the first stable release of the project, is available for download!

We have been working on the project for many months, there were many changes along the way and also many complications, but we managed to get through them.

Introducing such a large project is not easy, there are many ways, many means and so many things to say. To make it easier for you to understand this project, we created a commercial like the big guys do (or at least we tried). Here it is below, enjoy it but then come back here, we have a lot to talk about!

Vanilla OS is not an ordinary Linux distribution, it is a project that sets itself many goals and is not afraid to put itself out there, proudly displaying its unique technologies such as the Apx sub-system, its own automatic update system, and ABRoot transactions.

So many terms, so many promises, so much everything. But let’s see together, in detail what the strengths of Vanilla OS are, the features that make it unique.

Vanilla OS comes with its own sub-system.. ehm.. package manager, called Apx (/à·peks/).

Apx introduces a whole new paradigm in package management. The idea is to use your system only as a box for storing your files, leaving it clean of packages and limiting the risk of breaking due to incompatible, poorly constructed or conflicting packages.

It achieves this by installing software inside one or more containers fully managed by Apx having restricted access to your system’s resources while still being able to use the same drivers, hardware, etc.

By default, Apx provides a container based on your Linux distribution (Ubuntu 22.10 for Vanilla OS 22.10) and wraps all commands from the distribution’s package manager (apt for Ubuntu).

Nevertheless, you can install packages from other package distributions. For example, using the --aur flag, a new container based on Arch Linux will be created. Here, apx will manage the packages from the AUR (Pacman and yay), tightly integrating them with the host system. Using the --dnf flag with apx will create a new container based on Fedora Linux. Here, apx will manage packages from Fedora’s DNF repository, tightly integrating them with the host system.

Graphical applications installed inside apx containers are automatically added to the Applications menu as well as the “Open with” menu in the file manager. They are also listed in the Sub System section of Vanilla control center.

ABRoot

ABRoot is a new technology that allows you to perform changes to your system atomically, limiting the risk of breaking your system.

Atomicity is the ability to perform a specific operation in a way where if it fails, nothing will be changed and if it succeeds, the changes will be applied in their entirety.

ABRoot achieves this by transacting between 2 root file systems: A and B. Let’s make an example. Let’s say you want to install a new package. ABRoot will check which partition is the present root partition (i.e A), then it will mount an overlay on top of it and perform the transaction. If the transaction succeeds, the overlay will be merged with the future root partition (i.e B). On your next boot, the system will automatically switch to the new root partition (B). In case of failure, the overlay will be discarded and the system will boot normally, without any changes to either partition.

Automatic Smart Updates

Vanilla OS comes with a new concept of automatic updating, an intelligent system let’s say. VSO (Vanilla System Operator) is the tool that will periodically check for an update and then download and install it in the background if the device is not under heavy usage. In fact, VSO checks that certain checks are met, such as whether the resources are free (CPU/RAM), whether the connection allows it, whether the battery is at least 30%, etc.

We designed this system to take away an annoying task from the user, who simply wants to do their own thing. Updates go through ABRoot transactions and are applied on the next reboot, without taking extra time during boot.

From the Vanilla Control Center, it is possible to set the update frequency, check when the last one was performed, and turn off Smart Update features.

First Setup

Unlike other Linux distributions, Vanilla OS is designed to provide a user experience built for you, just like a suit!

After the first boot, you will be prompted to complete the installation through a guided process. Here you will be able to make several choices, such as for Dark Mode, Flatpak, AppImage, NVIDIA drivers, and more.

The process is designed to be fast and as minimally invasive as possible. Once complete, you will need to reboot to be able to use your device with Vanilla OS!

GNOME 43

Vanilla OS uses GNOME 43 as its Desktop Environment. It is a stock, clean version with as few changes as possible to give you the best GNOME experience ever.

We chose to provide GNOME because of its uniqueness and ease of use, which make it the perfect companion to Vanilla OS.

All official Vanilla OS applications are built with GTK4 and Libadwaita to be as consistent as possible with the GNOME experience.

Official Wallpapers

Vanilla OS comes with a set of official wallpapers, designed by our team and community. They are available in high resolution and are designed to best fit with the system.

Every wallpaper has a light and a dark version, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

Final Words

Vanilla OS is a project that we have been working on for a long time, and we are very proud of it. We hope that you will like it as much as we do.

So, what are you waiting for? Download Vanilla OS 22.10 and try it out.

Need more?

Check out our handbook to learn more about how to use Vanilla OS, read the documentation or join our Discord server to ask questions and get help.