Linspire 8.7 Trying To Lure Windows Users With Switch From KDE To MATE Desktop

Linspire is still kicking in 2020 as the Linux distribution formerly known as "Lindows" more than a decade ago. Linspire 8.7 is out today with a renewed emphasis on trying to get legacy Windows PCs migrated to Linux.

After the original Linspire faded away a decade ago after its renaming from Lindows following legal action by Microsoft, Linspire was reborn in 2018 under new ownership. It's been seeing new releases for this commercial-focused Linux distribution and this week marks version 8.7.

Compared to the previous Linspire 8.5 release, the release now of Linspire 8.7 transitions to MATE as the default desktop rather than KDE Plasma 5. They argue that MATE is more familiar to former Windows users, "utilizing the Mate desktop to offer a more traditional desktop experience for Windows 7 and Windows 10 users. Spartan but very full-featured, MATE offers a path forward for Windows 7 users whose systems may be unable to run Windows 10 effectively / efficiently."

Linspire 8.7 ships with MATE 1.20.1 while riding on the Linux 5.3 LTS kernel and shipping applications like VLC, OnlyOffice, Google Chrome, Skype, Microsoft PowerShell, and other applications.

Linspire 8.7 is being sold for $29.99 USD with twelve months of package updates and support. Those curious can learn more at LinspireLinux.com.