As we approach 2022 there will be a new LTS release of Ubuntu. We have announced we will not update our base from 20.04 until Fall 2023 at the earliest. So with that said what are our official plans for Freespire, Linspire and Xandros?
We have discussed the possibility of using Ubuntu 22.04 as our base and we have been experimenting with and building our OS's using Debian and ChromiumOS. So we are officially announcing Ubuntu 20.04 is the END of the road for our Ubuntu base usage unless something drastic does happen.
Summer 2022 we will start releasing builds based on ChromiumOS and Debian and we will let our users decide the route we will go. Since our OS products have moved to cloud applications we could technically use either one but we do love the feedback from our customers and users on what we are doing.
With the Debian build we will have Google Chrome, ICE and XFCE included. There will be little difference from our Ubuntu versions that we release now so that will be the smoothest upgrade for users. There will be a few differences in the installer, Linspire and Xandros users will have to input a license key for verifiable purchases, if you dont have a key it will log you out after 30 minutes and tell you that you need to purchase a license key. We feel that this helps in two ways. 1. It lets users test on their hardware to make sure it runs as smoothly as possible. 2. It lets users decide if they wish to purchase or not. Freespire will not have the license key feature in its installer.
The ChromiumOS distribution will include standard ChromiumOS features along with the Linux subsystem enabled by default so you can install any local apps from the Debian repository that you want.
This brings us to Xandros. Xandros OpenDesktop will be shipped with the new base in 2025. Xandros will continue to get kernel and system updates and refreshed ISO's. We will continue to ship the Standard and Office 365 releases even with the new base.
