Always one to make a spectacle, the Arch-based Linux distribution Garuda Linux has released a major update that comes with several visually impressive additions and redesigns.

The part the Garuda team is promoting the most and that I also found most interesting is the arrival of a new centralized utilities menu. The application is called “Gaurda Rani,” with Rani being an acronym for “Reliable Assistant for Native Installations.” Overly technical name aside, the important thing to know is that Rani is planned to meld and replace what is currently three separate utility programs: Garuda Welcome, Garuda Gamer, and Garuda Assistant. If you get annoyed with bloat in Linux distros, Rani’s mission will appeal to you.

Rani’s paint job matches the newly redesigned Garuda Linux website, so the overall experience of downloading, installing, and configuring Garuda will have a more cohesive and streamlined feel. It uses soft but vibrant pastel colors over a dark circuit board pattern.

Broadwing includes yet another edition of Garuda Linux, this one being called Garuda Mokka. Similar in base to Garuda’s flagship “Dr460nized” edition, Mokka is just KDE Plasma with a custom “Catppuccin” theme on top. Instead of the bright neon vibes you see in the Dr460nized edition, Mokka interestingly blends dark and mystical visuals with pastel-colored round icons that wouldn’t look out of place on an Android tablet.

The arrival of Mokka means there are now a total of 10 active, specialized editions of Garuda Linux. If you’re thinking that’s too many editions for one distro, well, that’s just Linux and its time-honored tradition of giving you more options than you need. Consider how many unique distros there are in existence, yet you’ll still find Linux fans complaining that they can’t locate their idea of the perfect distro. The advice they get in return is “go make your own,” continuing the cycle.

There are also several updates to specific established editions of Garuda. Dr460nized got a new “Panel Colorizer” tool, Hyprland got refreshed screenshot and workspace tools, i3 got new stying abilities, and Sway now has an enhanced lock screen and greeter application.

Garuda took the Linux desktop scene by storm when it showed up back in the early 2020’s, with a lot of Linux blogs and podcasts praising its striking design. The overall hype has died down since then but the developers have carried on maintaining and expanding the project.

During that time I’ve used Garuda off and on as my main desktop. That includes at this moment, when I’m running the Dr460nized edition on my desktop PC. I’d been critical for a while of Garuda’s exclusive utilities looking noticeably homely compared to the rest of the operating system. It reminded me of how you can still find settings menus in Windows 11 that look the way they did in Windows 7 or older. So I’m glad to see those utilities are getting a new coat of paint that will make the forward-thinking distro more consistent throughout.

To try out Garuda Broadwing yourself, you can go choose your edition from the Garuda download page. If you already use Garuda, you can just run an update. To try out Rani, you’ll want to install “garuda-rani” from your package manager.

Source: Gaurda Linux