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Zorin OS 16 Educational Spin Now Available

Zorin OS 16 Education is a Linux distribution aimed at preschools as well as primary and secondary schools. Building on their already fantastic desktop experience, the developers have added a few tools to help educational institutions prepare students with the skills they need to navigate the waters of an ever-growing and complicated world.

One of the key pieces of software added is Kolibri, which aims to bridge the educational divide by providing access to an enormous library of educational content. Even better, an Internet connection isn't required to use the tool. With Kolibri, school administrators can either create their own curriculum or download materials from educational leaders such as Khan Academy, Open Stax, MIT, TED-Ed, and Sikana. Once downloaded, the content can be shared, peer-to-peer, over a local network.

Other educational apps include Minder (mind mapping), OpenBoard (whiteboard), Minuet (music knowledge), KTouch (typing), KTurtle (educational programming environment), KBrunch (practice exercises with fractions), KWordQuiz (flashcards), and Step (physics experiment simulation). Beyond educational apps, Zorin OS Education includes the likes of Firefox, LibreOffice, and Gimp.

Download a copy of Zorin OS 16 Education at https://zorin.com/os/education/, and read about what's new in the general Zorin OS 16 release at https://blog.zorin.com/2021/08/17/2021-08-17-zorin-os-16-is-released/.

System76 Releases AMD-Powered Kudu Laptop

System76 has finally brought back the popular Kudu laptop workstation powerhouse. This time around the laptop is equipped with a 3rd-gen AMD (Zen 3) Ryzen 9 5900HX H-class processor with 8 cores and 16 threads. The CPU runs at 3.3 GHz but can be boosted up to 4.6 GHz.

The Kudu is paired with NVidia RTX 3060 graphics and up to 64GB of Dual Channel DDR4 memory.

According to Ben Shpurker, Product Manager at System76, "This combination makes it the perfect machine for creating on the go."

The Kudu laptop has a 15-inch FHD matte display and a thin bezel, but for creators of all kinds, the laptop can manage up to three external displays with one HDMI port, one Mini DisplayPort, and one DisplayPort over USB-C.

Looking at ports, you'll find one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4, one USB 2.0 Type-A port, one Mini DisplayPort 1.4 port, and one HDMI port with HDCP, as well as a headphone/microphone combo jack and a dedicated microphone jack.

Other features include a multitouch click pad, multi-color backlit US QWERTY keyboard, 2.5Gb Ethernet, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5, 1.0M 720p HD webcam, 48.96 Wh Li-Ion battery, and 2 x M.2 SSD (PCIe NVMe only) for up to 4TB total storage.

The Kudu is now available to the general public and has a base price of $1,799.

Ubuntu Budgie Sets Its Sights on Gamers

Ubuntu Budgie is already a well-designed Linux desktop distribution with a pleasant UI that makes interacting with Linux incredibly simple. And with the upcoming release of 22.04, the developers are adding a new layer of goodness to the platform.

First and foremost, the new release will include tools to vastly improve the gaming experience. Gamers will find tools such as MangoHUD (a Vulkan and OpenGL overlay for monitoring FPS, temperatures, CPU/GPU load, and more), CoreCtrl (allows you to control computer hardware with application profiles), Polychromatic and OpenRGB (RGP lighting management).

Next up comes the easy installation of apps such as Steam, Lutris, RetroARch, Discord, and OBS Studio. The developers are also mulling over adding GreenWithEnvy, the GTK system utility that is designed to provide information, control fans, and overclock NVidia video cards and GPUs.

Finally, the Budgie Welcome App will suggest the installation of gaming-specific libraries, based on any applicable hardware it detects.

All of the gaming features are currently in alpha but hopefully will be ready for the masses once the final release of Ubuntu Budgie 22.04 is made available this April. For those interested in testing the early release, you can download an ISO of the daily build for now (https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/daily-live/current/).