elementary OS 6 Odin It is already available, and it is the biggest update of the platform to date, according to its own creators. The new version of the Linux distribution is one that arrives loaded with news and options that offer more control to the user.
With Odin, elementary OS stands firmly as a very good option for users who come from both Windows and macOS, with a friendly and easy-to-use interface, a good battery of applications and much more control over your system than what the other two platforms offer.
A great example of how small the current gap is between Linux and Windows or macOS
Odin has quite a few new features, and one of the most important is the multitouch support for both touchscreen and touchpad users. With elementary OS 6 you can now use three-finger gestures to open the multitasking view, in the style of Windows 10 and macOS, and as recently added by GNOME. It’s something that has been improving a ton in multiple Linux environments recently.
But with elementary OS not only does the desktop have support for gestures, but they have also been integrated into the applications. For example, you can swipe your fingers to turn pages in the AppCenter, the months in the time and date display, the steps in the welcome screen, and initial setup. It is even possible to use gestures to download notifications.
Notifications are another thing that has been improved with this version, redesigned, with more information, with a counter and quick actions that are presented as different buttons. The notification center was also redesigned to better fit the new style and also to better group the different bubbles.
Own and third-party apps
Yes, in Windows 10 (and to come 11) and macOS there is still a good amount of software that we simply cannot use in Linux, or we cannot enjoy 100%, but that gap is getting smaller and smaller.
For the vast majority of home user needs, a distro like elementary OS can offer a more than satisfactory experience. With Odin, the elementary OS team has improved their built-in apps, which are quite a few and are pretty decent.
They are even launching a new Task manager, a minimalist app to manage to-do lists that offers reminders, with options such as notes, tags, folders and synchronization with an online account.
elementary too has its own email client, one that does not stand out for tons of options, but for offering a simple and clean experience. The same happens with the app Calendar, the app of Camera, the text editor Code, wave Terminal. All have received some improvements and their design has been fine-tuned.
The system also has an excellent file manager with tab support. With Odin a new sidebar has been added that makes it easier to pin folders as favorites.
Default, elementary OS supports Flatpak packages, which means that from its application store, the AppCenter, you can install almost anything you can think of. Most popular and well-known apps probably have a version there: from Telegram to Spotify, Discord, Steam, WhatsApp clients, Slack, etc.
Personalization and appearance
This is a distro that for years has been compared to macOS for how it looks at first glance, but those who have used macOS, especially the latest versions, know that differentiation is significant.
In what elementary OS mimics macOS well is in the consistency and attention to detail of its user interface. The difference here is that the user has more control over the system, after all it is part of the open Linux ecosystem and not of Apple’s increasingly closed and restrictive universe.
With Odin, in elementary they have once again removed a card from the Apple deck with the new customization options. These leave you not alone choose between a light and dark theme, but between several highlight colors. The difference again is in the amount of control, in elementary OS you can choose the hexadecimal color that you please, and you are not limited to the few options that macOS gives you, for example.
We also now find options to choose different text sizes and even use a friendly font for users with dyslexia. The appearance of our system can change depending on the time of day, and we have the option to schedule exactly when we want it to change.
The huge list of new features is more than reason to test the system even in Live version, and this server will probably be installing physically in the next few days to test the full experience. It’s one of my all-time favorite distros and one that has never let me down.
Download | elementary OS Odin