Elementary OS "Luna" 0.2 Review: Simple, effective, efficient

Like many other Linux users, I too, follow a lot about Elementary OS. They seems to be getting things right what's wrong with modern Linux in general and GNOME 3 in particular. Consider this, it is just the 0.2 release of Elementary and already ranked 27 in Distrowatch popularity! The 1.0 release is yet to come! As Darshak said in the comments section - it is going to be killer of a distro.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Anyway, I used the 32-bit Elementary OS Beta 1 release a few months back and was deeply impressed with it. So, when the 0.2 release note came with some incremental improvements, I wanted to try it out myself. Elementary OS too, like 70% of all Linux distros, is based on Ubuntu and to be more precise, on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and the present update comes with Linux kernel 3.2.0. However, it doesn't believe in Ubuntu's Unity philosophy and has come up with it's own GNOME 3 forked desktop, Pantheon. Even the Files file manager is forked and named Pantheon Files. 

The main USP of Elementary is a sophisticated, uncluttered and uncomplicated desktop. It comes from the same developers who created elementary GTK2 theme for Linux. Elementary OS provides users the basic desktop to work with and customize. I set the expectation right the very beginning itself - if you are expecting a whole lot of applications with all possible codecs/flash installed like other Ubuntu derivatives (incl. Mint), then you'll be disappointed with Elementary.

The release note of Elementary 0.2 states of the following incremental improvements:

• Better support of international languages including some Asian languages like Sinhalese
• Multiple display support (didn't test in my review)
• Incremental refinements in design (checked most of them)
• Updated applications like Music player, Pantheon terminal, Midori, Shotwell, etc. (checked all of them, except Shotwell)

I downloaded both the 32-bit and 64-bit ISOs (both less than 700 MB) for this test. Somehow, the 32-bit ISO didn't work that well for me. I couldn't connect to wifi, all of a sudden the desktop started becoming unresponsive, etc. etc. So, I didn't install the 32-bit version but instead did this evaluation based on the 64-bit one. I tested it on my Asus K54C laptop, with 2.2 Ghz Core i3 processor and 2 GB RAM. I used Unetbootin to create a live USB.

Aesthetics
Elementary OS has a very simple and sophisticated interface. Pantheon is a simple Mac OS like desktop with docky at the bottom and a panel at the top. The dock, named as Plank, is derived from Docky and offers a limited range of functionalities. It looks simpler and the typical Docky icon is not there which is good.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Desktop looks a bit naked with no icons but the default wallpaper really gels with the overall theme. I found quite a few good looking wallpapers in Elementary as well.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Font rendering of Elementary is really good and the default font "Raleway" is pleasing to the eyes. Most of the distracting elements like animations, excess color, gaudy design, etc. are not there in elementary making it pretty suitable for production purposes. The menu looks a bit big for my taste - it could have been a little less in size and covers almost 40% of the desktop when clicked.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

The desktop also supports hot corners for easier use. I don't prefer using a lot of hot corners as it can be quite distracting as well but it is good to have functionality.

Even the Pantheon file manager (Files) sported of some new enhancements like subtle blue glow of the folder when my cursor was focused on it, more sophisticated folder icons, multi-tab flexibility, etc. It adds to the overall appeal of the distro but sadly, preview function is still missing in Elementary.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

I didn't add a conky here just to keep the desktop uncluttered and as it is. There are a few GNOME 3 legacy drawbacks which elementary OS till now have like:

• No right click possible on desktop - even for changing a simple wallpaper, I had to visit the settings manager.
• No icons on the desktop: It looks a bit barren, even short cuts are not allowed. However, the plank makes up for it and users can keep their favorite apps on plank.
• No minimize button: every time doing a right click on the top of the application is a bit inefficient.

In overall, on aesthetics, elementary scores in simplicity, font rendering and refinement whereas it lags behind comparable distros like Zorin OS, Pear OS, etc. on not removing the GNOME 3 drawbacks.

Applications
Given the modest ISO size and based on my past experience with Elementary OS beta 1, I didn't expect a whole lot of applications in it. Elementary comes with very basic applications like:

• Office: Calendar, Document viewer, Geary Mail 0.3.1
• Internet: Empathy, Midori browser
• Graphics: Shotwell photo manager, Simple scan
• Multimedia: Totem movie player, Music 0.2.2
• Accessories: Archive manager, Calculator, Screenshot, Scratch 2.0, Pantheon terminal 0.2.3

Elementary brings in some of it's original applications like Geary mail, Maya calendar, Music player, Pantheon terminal, etc. I liked the Geary mail's updated version - simple uncluttered and easy to configure. Spam function and multiple accounts are definitely good functionalities. Also, it feels simpler and lighter than Thunderbird. Though I am not a big user of email client, but I'll be looking forward to Geary. It is getting better!

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Maya calendar looks simple and easy to use. However, I expect at least integration with Google calendar to be more functional and right now it is not that usable for me.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Music player's updated version is better than the last one (Noise) I used. By the by, Elementary doesn't have any multimedia codec pre-installed in the distro. However, once you try to play any music or video file, it downloads the codecs very efficiently and without any hiccup. I could list all the songs in a folder by selecting that folder via music player. I could see improved album art handling, duplicate detection (first time I saw in a Linux music player), no crashes while playing music for continuously 4 hours a day for 5 days, and supported music in external hard drive quite well. I rate music as quite good an application.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

The default web browser is Midori, with a very refined interface. Sadly, my experience with Midori in this release was limited as it kept on crashing and could not integrate Adobe flashplugin that I downloaded. However, html5 videos worked fine with Midori (till it crashed!). I installed my favorite browser Firefox with 5-10 minutes of trying my luck with Midori. I know Adobe flashplugin can be integrated with Midori but wanted a browser which just works. Having Midori as the default browser (specially when you're not vying for a lightweight distro) doesn't work for me.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Further, I was impressed with Pantheon terminal. It is transparent, looks cool, gives muti-tab facility and very stable. It is better than the boring terminal in Ubuntu.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Scratch is another Elementary addition and it is not as good a text editor as gedit or leafpad. I couldn't open the /etc/apt/sources.list file in scratch which I can in gedit or leafpad.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

I didn't try out the updated Shotwell. Rest of the applications are the same as you get with any Ubuntu spin. Also, the settings manager is integrated just like any other GNOME 3 spin.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Installation
Installation is typical Ubuntu and no surprises there. Installer looks like a typical Linux Mint one. Questions are usual about language, location to install, keyboard preferences, geographic location and user ID creation. It took me about 20-25 minutes to get Elementary installed on my laptop.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

Hardware recognition
Elementary correctly recognized my laptop's touchpad and screen resolution. Wifi was detected immediately in the 64-bit version whereas the 32-bit couldn't. 32-bit beta1 version worked well with me earlier. Possibly I should have downloaded the 32-bit version again but I didn't have the patience.

Repository
Elementary sources applications from Ubuntu Precise repos. The default GUI looks like Ubuntu Software Center but it is rebranded. I didn't find synaptic package manager in Elementary and it has to be downloaded.

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

From Elementary 0.2 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

I could install Firefox browser, Adobe flashplugin, GIMP and LibreOffice without any issue using the Elementary Software center.

Performance
The 64 bit Elementary OS surprised me by it's efficiency and responsiveness. At steady state, it consumed about 340 MB RAM and 1-5% CPU to load the Pantheon desktop with htop running. The 32-bit Beta1 consumed about 300 MB RAM in my previous benchmarking test, on the same machine and under identical conditions. Unfortunately I couldn't get the 32-bit version going this time - otherwise, it would have been a nice comparison.

Below table compares Elementary OS to two other 64-bit distros I checked this year, Pear OS 7 and Netrunner 13.06 - RAM and CPU utilization recorded on the same laptop and under almost similar conditions. Pear OS 7 performs marginally better than Elementary OS 0.2.

Operating System	Size of ISO	Base	Desktop	Linux kernel	CPU Usage	RAM usage	Size of installation
Pear OS 7 (64 bit)	1.1 GB	Ubuntu	Gnome 3.6 with Docky	3.8.5	1-5%	315 MB	N/A
Elementary OS 0.2 (64-bit)	728 MB	Ubuntu	Pantheon, Gnome derivative	3.2.0	1-5%	340 MB	2.87 GB
Netrunner 13.06 KDE (64bit)	1.4 GB	Ubuntu	KDE 4.10.3	3.8.0	1-10%	410 MB	5.7 GB

Overall
I had a really pleasant experience with Elementary OS 0.2. It's simple but aesthetically pleasing design actually intrigues me. Right now I am not using it for production purposes but I may when the 1.0 release comes out. Pantheon is definitely better than GNOME 3 distro or Unity, but I would like to see a few add-ons like:

• Right click on the desktop to do simple things like changing wallpapers, etc.
• Supporting folders, icons, etc. on desktop - I don't like naked desktops.
• Preview function to be added to the file manager - it actually helps in working faster.
• Add minimize button to applications - it is more efficient.
• Plank is not customizable much right now - I would like to see a few customization options for the plank.
• Calendar is not much usable right now - Google or Facebook integration is in my wishlist.
• Scratch needs a bit of improvement to make it more usable.

Definitely an improved design, Geary mail, pantheon terminal and music players are plus points for me in the 0.2 release. User experience is right now very good in Elementary and I feel it is almost there to be a dependable and reliable operating system for daily use and production purposes. It has some elements of originality about it which I don't see in a majority of the Ubuntu derivatives.

Those who wants to try out Elementary OS 0.2 can download it from here.