After a two-year hiatus, Slax has finally released a new version, the new and improved Slax 11.2.0. Developed and maintained by Tomas Matejicek, the portable Debian-based distro treats you with a host of improvements and new feature additions, all as a part of the Debian 11 ecosystem.

Slax continues to attract users with its lightweight features, each of which is the best in its respective fields.

1. Kernel Version

Slax Kernel version

Based on Debian 11 Bullseye, Slax 11.2.0 is powered with the Linux 5.10.92 LTS kernel to host your computing needs. 5.10.92 is the final release within the Linux kernel 5.10 LTS cycle. Rest assured, the new kernel offers better stability to the users.

Through dedicated community support, the updated kernel improves the distro's hardware support. You can expect an enhanced, errorless Bluetooth and USB performance with 5.10.92. This addition is on par with Linux kernel 5.4, which comes with a five-year release cycle.

As Slax 11.2.0 aims to be a stable and portable distribution, the 5.10 series kernel guarantees you a full-throttle performance on Intel and AMD gaming processors and optimized, next-gen GPU support.

2. Debian 11 Base and USB Booting

Slax uses its Debian 11 base to give you improved package support for 32-bit systems. Few minimalist Linux distros can match Slax 11.2.0’s added exFAT and printer/scanner support.

Related: Hitting the Bullseye: Upgrade Debian 10 Buster to 11 Bullseye

The distro comes equipped with an EFI USB booting and AUFS support so that you can add or remove modules, just like in a few of the older Slax versions.

This feature is a considerable improvement, ever since Debian’s discontinuity of AUFS, which removed the slax activate command.

Since the activate feature isn’t available, users need to rely on the OverlayFS file system. However, you will find support for union mount for Linux file systems on 11.2.0.

3. Newly-Added Applications

Slax desktop interface

Slax 11.2.0 replaces WICD as the default network management application with Conman-GTK. The Xarchiver archive manager helps you compress/decompress files with relative ease.

xterm is the default command-line interface within the distro. The XInput package helps with input device listing and querying. Additionally, LXTask continues to be the default task manager in Slax 11.2.0.

However, the newest Slax version has removed specific applications like VLC Media Player, Google Chrome (you do have the bare-bones Chromium browser in its stead), Leafpad, and WICD, but you can install all of them separately.

4. New and Improved File Manager

Developer Tomas Matejicek replaced the PCManFM file manager with Tux Commander. You can still opt for PCManFM by installing it manually.

Related: The Best File Managers for Linux Power Users

5. Other Improvements and Additions

Other new features and additions worth a mention, include SciTE and GNOME Calculator. SciTE is a GTK-based text editor for Scintilla text editing.

SciTE interface

The GNOME calculator is now included in the default software repositories.

Slax Calculator

Slax 11.2.0 now comes with improved network support for better Wi-Fi connectivity.

Slax Network

How to Upgrade to Slax 11.2.0?

You can run Slax 11.2.0 on both 32-bit and 64-bit architecture systems. If you are already a Slax user, you can upgrade your system from the terminal, with the following commands:

        sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get full-upgrade

Feel free to download the ISO and flash it to a USB or burn it on a CD/DVD, to install the latest version of Slax on your PC.

Download: Slax ISO

Alternatively, you can buy it as a pre-installed DVD, USB flash drive, or an AES Encrypted USB installation from slax.org.

Using Slax 11.2.0 on Your Computer

Overall, the new version of Slax will not fail to impress you as a worthy addition to the Slax lineage. It truly lives up to the minimalist ideals of its predecessors.

With the newest version, there is a little of everything. It proves to be more than sufficient, right from its features and the new kernel to the colorful layout.

Linux users often find themselves jumping from one distro to another. Why is this so?