Ubuntu-based Linux Lite 5.4 is here to replace Microsoft Windows 10 on your PC

Windows 7 and Windows 10 aren't terrible operating systems. In fact, they are both very good. With that said, the newest version of Windows 10 has many bugs. Unfortunately, since Windows 7 is no longer supported, its users have a very hard decision to make. They have to decide whether to use an unsupported Windows 7 or upgrade to Windows 10 that is full of telemetry and other "spying" that passes their information to Microsoft's servers. That is a very difficult decision.

Thankfully, there is an arguably better option -- just switch to Linux! Yes, modern Linux-based operating systems will be supported (unlike the now-obsolete Windows 7) and most will run great on aging hardware (unlike Windows 10). Linux Lite, which uses the Xfce desktop environment, is one of the best Linux distributions for Windows-switchers, as it is lightweight, modern, and familiar.

Today, following a short testing period, Linux Lite 5.4 stable becomes available, and it is based on Ubuntu 20.04.2. The operating system uses Linux kernel 5.4.0-70, but other kernels are available too, ranging from 3.13 to 5.11. This new version of Linux Lite also comes with some excellent software packages, such as Firefox 87, Thunderbird 78.7.1, LibreOffice 6.4.6.2, VLC 3.0.9.2, and GIMP 2.10.18.

The developers explain, "This is a modest release which includes updates to the Help Manual - our extensive, easy to follow Linux Lite guide, an updated Papirus icon theme, new wallpapers and a host of bug fixes and enhancements for our target audience. If you're coming from Windows, you'll find this to be a solid, stable release that will help make your transition to a Linux based operating system, user friendly."

Despite being a "final" stable release, there are still some known issues which the developers share below.

• No prompt to eject Media at the end of the Legacy install, prompt is available at the end of the UEFI install.
• Release Notes - not working on first installer slide.
• Desktop icons - English support only.
• Grub - holding shift down whilst booting in UEFI mode does not bring up the Grub menu (works in Legacy mode), waiting for Ubuntu fix.
• Grub menu shows Linux Lite as "Ubuntu."

If you are ready to try out Linux Lite 5.4, you can download it here now. Should you replace Windows with Linux Lite today? No, not immediately -- you should obviously try it first and make sure sure it fully meets your needs. With that said, you are likely to be very impressed by how capable Linux-based desktop operating systems are these days.