Today we are excited to announce the launch of the Freespire website.  Everything taking place on the Freespire front will be taking place here with regards to announcements and information.  We will be working very closely with the Black Lab team as well as the main Linspire developers to make Freespire a great project.

 

Today we are pleased to announce the release of our newest test build of Freespire 4.0 Beta which is our upcoming release of our free version of  Linspire 8.0.  Freespire 4.0 Beta 1.1 is based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and the beta 1.1 release corrects many issues our users had with Beta 1. Please keep in mind that this beta is a pre-release and NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PRODUCTION USE.  This release is still in development meaning more changes will be coming    Freespire 4.0 Beta 1.1 includes the following updated software packages:

XFCE 4.12.2
kernel 4.15.0-29
Chromium Browser 67
Ice SSB
Geary 
Video Player
Audacious
RedShift
Abiword
Gnumeric
Cockpit
Samba 
Nitroshare
 Synergy
 Software Center with SNAP and Flatpak support

You can download Beta 1.1 from our download location

http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/pre/albacore4-b1-1.iso
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/pre/albacore4-b1-1.iso.md5
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/pre/albacore4-b1-1.iso.sha256

Today we have released Freespire 3.0.9 which is an incremental update to Freespire.  This includes all security and app updates to July 11, 2018.  Users are encouraged to either download the new ISO or run system wide updates to get the new bits.

Some changes aside from security updates that have been made are:

New light and dark mode
Kontact replaces Thunderbird
Full Calligra Office suite

You can download the new ISO from our download servers

http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/freespire-309-kde-x64.iso
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/freespire-309-kde-x64.iso.md5
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/freespire-309-kde-x64.iso.sha256

Today we are pleased to announce the release of Freespire 4.0. Freespire 4.0 is our newest release in the Freespire line. Freespire 4.0 is a free release in both terms of cost and code. Freespire 4.0 is a migration of our current 16.04 LTS codebase to the 18.04 LTS codebase which brings with it many improvements to usability and to hardware support. Freespire 4.0 is also the base for our commercial Linspire release




Some of the more important and visible changes to Freespire 4.0 are:

Updated codebase to Ubuntu 18.04
Stunning visual interface that is familiar to users
Intuitive dark mode for professionals and people who like dark themes
Night Light which adjusts the screen color temperature for night use
Geary 0.12
Chromium Browser 68
Abiword
Gnumeric
Calendar
Audacious
Totem Video Player
Software Center
Synaptic
G-Debi
SNAP support
Flatpak support

All security updates up to August 19, 2018

You can download the current release here

http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/4/freespire-4-mate.iso
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/4/freespire-4-mate.iso.md5
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/4/freespire-4-mate.iso.sha256

 If you have a data cap you can order Freespire 4.0 on physical media for $15.99 USD plus Shipping

Freespire OSS Edition

1 Copy $15.99 USD2 Copies $40.99 USD3 Copies $98.00 USD4 - 25 copies $599.99 USD

Install Media

LiveUSB LiveSD Card LiveMicroSD

Order Notes

You can also donate to the Freespire project which helps us with advertising, domain renewals and replacing aging equipment

Hey folks, today we are starting our fall fundraiser for Freespire.  When you donate to the Freespire project your donation is used to enhance and further the project.  We do this by:

Replacing aging equipment
paying developers
Advertising
maintaining web properties

You can donate as much as you wish.  There is no limit and no minimum.

Today our development team is proud to announce the release of Freespire 4.5, the free-and-open-source subset of our flagship Linspire operating system. Freespire 4.5 is a security and functionality update of the previous 4.0 release and is equivalent to the Linspire 8.0 base. This includes all security updates until Dec 15, 2018.

 Freespire 4.5 has the following features and and enhancements:

 Kernel 4.15.0-43
LTS 18.04.1
Mate 1.20.1
Chromium Browser 71
Geary e-mail client
Abiword
Gnumeric

 A full list of installed applications can be found here

You can download freespire 4.5 free of charge and redistribute as you wish; if you have bandwidth restrictions or prefer installation media you can purchase that here

http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/4/freespire-45-x64.iso
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/4/freespire-45-x64.iso.md5
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/4/freespire-45-x64.iso.sha256

Freespire OSS Edition

1 Copy $15.99 USD2 Copies $40.99 USD3 Copies $98.00 USD4 - 25 copies $599.99 USD

Install Media

LiveUSB LiveSD Card LiveMicroSD

Order Notes

Freespire 4.5 does NOT contain any proprietary or binary only multimedia codecs, device drivers or applications - users can make the decision to install those pieces themselves if necessary.


If you would like to donate to the Freespire development team to help fund development, replace aging equipment and advertising you can do so here

Today is another great day for the freespire development team, as we announce the release of Freespire 4.8. It is our FOSS solution, with no binary-only drivers, multimedia codecs and strictly libre applications, nothing proprietary included. Freespire is released bi-annually and showcases the best of the FOSS and KDE communities.  Freespire is the best, most usable FOSS only based distribution in the world today. While Freespire 4.8 is an incremental release, it has a ton of new features and enhancements that we normally reserve for a major release  Freespire has some great features and functionality that places it at the top of its class.



KDE Plasma 5.12.7
KDE Frameworks version 5.44.0
QT version 5.9.5
Kernel 4.18.0-18
Chromium Web Browser
Geary
Ice SSB
Amarok
VLC Player
Calligra Office Suite
Karbon
Kolourpaint
DOSBox
Kpatience
Dream Chess
Shotwell
Discover Software Center
Synaptic Package Manager

 Fully community supported by other users and contributors, with an intuitive layout for ease-of-use, Freespire 4.8 is the latest and greatest high-performance desktop distro available, stable as a table and backed by the full scope of Ubuntu / Debian software. Please give it a try!

Download links:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/freespire-48.iso
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/freespire-48.iso.md5
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/freespire-48.iso.sha256





For those of you that have caps on your data downloads and who want the security of install media rather than downloading an ISO and creating a Live DVD/USB you can purchase a copy of Freespire below.

Freespire OSS Edition

1 Copy $15.99 USD2 Copies $40.99 USD3 Copies $98.00 USD4 - 25 copies $599.99 USD

Install Media

LiveUSB LiveSD Card LiveMicroSD

Order Notes

Today we are launching our Summer Fundraiser for Freespire development. Freespire relies on our users and sponsors to continue to provide this distro.  Any contributions are accepted

Today the PC/OpenSystems development team is pleased to announce the release of Freespire 5.0 (Lobo) to the general computing public. This is the 3rd major release of Freespire from PC/OpenSystems which cements our commitment to the open-source community. Freespire 5.0 packs in enhancements and features that showcase its ease of use and polish as one of the industry's leading community-driven open-source only Linux distributions.

 Our goal was to “trim the fat” on the distribution. Many of our users and customers have told us that Linspire / Freespire as a whole were bloated; so what we did in response was pick “best of breed” applications that added to the overall simplicity of the system. And what if the app you want is not preinstalled? Go to the Software Center and explore its treasure trove of compatible applications.

Freespire 5.0 contains the following enhancements:

Kernel 5.0.0-31
KDE 5.12.9
Ice 6.0.4
Chromium Browser 77
KolourPaint
Calligra Office
Amarok
Kpatience
DreamChess
DragonPlayer Video Player
Kamerka
Boot Repair
Firewall configurator
Synaptic Package Manager

Freespire 5.0 does not contain any proprietary, binary-only software. Its source code is available via the Synaptic Package manager. Freespire is free to download and redistribute. You can download it here

http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/5/freespire-5.iso
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/5/freespire-5.iso.md5
http://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/5/freespire-5.iso.sha256

If you have limited or metered bandwidth and would like to have install media or to support the distribution you can purchase here as well.

Freespire OSS Edition

1 Copy $15.99 USD2 Copies $40.99 USD3 Copies $98.00 USD4 - 25 copies $599.99 USD

Install Media

LiveUSB LiveSD Card LiveMicroSD

Order Notes

Today is another great day for the Freespire development team, as we announce the release of Freespire 6.0. This release is our FOSS solution, with no binary-only drivers or multimedia codecs included and strictly Libre applications. Freespire is released bi-annually and showcases the best that the open-source community has to offer. Our users enjoy a multitude of different desktops - for this release we are releasing the MATE desktop first; KDE comes next, keep an eye out for it. With Windows 7 at the end of life, many people have PCs which may not be optimal for Windows 10; now is a good time to migrate to one of the most recognized desktop Linux distributions, which is optimized for just these sorts of PCs.

 Here’s what’s offered:

 MATE 1.20
Kernel 5.3.0-28
Chromium Web Browser
Abiword
Gnumeric
Ice SSB
Parole
Shotwell
Software Center
Synaptic Package Manager

 Fully community supported by other users and contributors, with an intuitive layout for ease-of-use, Freespire 6.0 is the latest and greatest high-performance desktop distro available, stable as a table and backed by the full scope of Ubuntu / Debian software. Please give it a try! You can download it here:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/6/freespire-6.iso
https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/6/freespire-6.iso.md5
https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/6/freespire-6.iso.sha256

If you are hindered by data caps you can purchase a bootable USB key here

Freespire OSS Edition

1 Copy $15.99 USD2 Copies $40.99 USD3 Copies $98.00 USD4 - 25 copies $599.99 USD

Install Media

LiveUSB LiveSD Card LiveMicroSD

Order Notes

Today our internal open-source development team is pleased to announce the release of Freespire 6.0.3. While an incremental release, it’s packed with a TON of improvements and security updates. Despite the global pandemic, the development team has worked diligently and meticulously over the past few months, fine-tuning every detail, to bring you the best FOSS desktop on the market today.

 Freespire is the community-supported base from which Linspire is built and aims to bring the best, and only the best, open source has to offer, along with an intuitive interface designed for productivity. The Freespire 6.x series will be the last one featuring the 18.04 LTS codebase; Freespire 7 will be based on the next 20.04 LTS code and kernel.

 Features included in Freespire 6.0.3 :

 Customized XFCE 4.14 desktop
Kernel 5.3.0-59
Chromium Browser 83
Ice SSB
Thunderbird 68.8
Abiword
GNUMERIC
Kpatience
DreamChess
Parole Media Player
KolourPaint
Redshift GTK




 These are only some of the changes. Overall there have been over 200 updates applied to the core system.

 One of the biggest changes is the removal of SNAPD and snaps from our distributions, Linspire included, going forward. From now on we will include Flatpak as a replacement for SNAP due to privacy concern issues with SNAP.

You can download Freespire 6.0.3 from here

https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/6/freespire-603.iso
https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/6/freespire-603.iso.sha256
https://distro.ibiblio.org/blacklab/freespire/6/freespire-603.iso.md5

 If you have limited bandwidth or would like to purchase a boxed copy of Freespire 6.0.3 you can do that here as well.

Freespire OSS Edition

1 Copy $15.99 USD2 Copies $40.99 USD3 Copies $98.00 USD4 - 25 copies $599.99 USD

Install Media

LiveUSB LiveSD Card LiveMicroSD

Order Notes

Linsiders

Tier 1 : $5.00 USD - monthlyTier 2 : $15.00 USD - monthlyTier 3 : $25.00 USD - monthly

Today our internal development team is pleased to announce the release of Freespire 7.0, a major update to Freespire which brings the codebase to the latest Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Once again, PC/OpenSystems  has worked diligently to bring you the best, most meticulously designed and engineered FOSS desktop on the market today. Freespire is the community-supported base from which Linspire is built and aims to bring the best, and only the best, open source has to offer to its users, featuring an intuitive interface with the expressed intent of increased productivity. 

 Today we are launching the winter fundraiser for Freespire.  Freespire being an open source project relies on donations and outside funds from users and supporters.  DONATIONS ARE NOT REQUIRED BUT APPRECIATED

When you donate to the project you help with

• Replacing old and damaged equipment
• Domain Renewal
• Paying our volunteer developers

You are not required to donate a certain amount and any donation is appreciated.