SimplyMEPIS 8.0 Release Candidate 1 was quietly made available a few days before Christmas, then publicized a few days later. This software is based on Debian Lenny software, which is also in Release Candidate status. Both Debian and MEPIS represent some of the most solid, stable software that you can get on any system at any price.

I recommend this software, released or not, for anyone who wants a solid, pleasant, efficient, usable desktop system.

Just before Christmas the sidux 2008-04 collection of CDs and DVDs was released; the Preview 1 test had been released just about a week beforehand.

sidux is a cutting edge desktop oriented system that features the Debian Sid software, containing only DFSG (Debian Free Software Guidelines) approved software on the official media, but firmware and other non-free software is well explained in their documentation, and optional tools are made readily available for those who choose to extend...

I have already written about my other two favorites, antiX (fast) and SimplyMEPIS (stable). Now let me tell you about sidux. It is also a fast system, but it is the cutting edge packages from the Debian Sid repositories that typify and characterize this system.

What sets sidux apart from Debian Sid, though, and from any other system that I know is the manner in which sidux uses technology to manage the instabilities found in the Sid packaging repositories. There is a task bar tool...

I use a couple of different distributions for various reasons, and I test out a lot of others as time permits. Three of the distributions stay on my systems all the time.

The one that I keep on my systems as a stable desktop system is SimplyMEPIS. Whether it is an old release, the current release, or the latest Beta test version, implementations of SimplyMEPIS just work. I like it so much that I buy something from the MEPIS store at least once a year, more often if I can, just...

If you want a system that can run either as a Live CD or installed to USB or hard drive, and you want it to be both fast and flexible, I cannot think of a better system to use than antiX. I recommend it highly.

Read about it at MEPIS Lovers or at the antiX-forum.