7.0 Release Notes

'Users' App Fixed

Not only have we fixed the 'Users' app, which was broken in the previous release, but we have made improvements! No more terminal-GUI hybrid interface, but it is now a full GUI interface.

When removing a user, there are now buttons for each user. You no longer have to type in the username of the user you would like to delete, you simply click on it.

When adding a user, everything is in a unified window. You can input the username, full name, and password in the same window. Also, if you enter something invalid, the program will tell you and will not let you create the user until everything is valid. This ensures that there are no errors while adding a user.

There is also the new ability to create child profiles - which leads us right into Parental Controls.

There is also the new ability to create child profiles - which leads us right into Parental Controls.

Parental Controls

A new app, 'Parental Controls', is now included with Shock OS. This app gives normal users the ability to enable/disable restrictions on child users, such as screen time limits and managing superuser privileges. These parental controls can only be imposed on child profiles. To create a child profile, simply tick the 'Child Profile' checkbox when adding a new user through the new 'Users' app (see above).

Revamped Desktop Background Changer

Shock OS now includes its own wallpaper selection application, which adds the ability to have the desktop background shuffle between images in a folder. You can decide how often you would like to switch wallpapers, and whether you'd like to change wallpapers in order or randomly. Of course, you can also set a regular single-image background if you want to.

Revamped Update Manager

The update manager now runs upon startup as intended. Additionally, it checks for new updates every 15 minutes.

Automatic Updates

If you're not a fan of manually updating your system every time updates are available, simply enable automatic updates. Automatic updates can be enabled/disabled by launching 'Automatic Updates' from the menu or the Control Center. If enabled, automatic updates will run whenever updates are available, and the system will check for new updates upon login and every 15 minutes. The logout and power options from the start menu will be temporarily disabled while automatic updates are being installed to prevent corruption.

Welcome Screen

Rather than an annoying sequence of popup windows, a welcome screen will now be displayed upon first login. The welcome screen includes shortcuts to change the wallpaper, themes and accent colors, panel layouts, and the audio output device.

Automatic Updates

Shock OS now includes the option to update packages automatically. Automatic updates must be enabled per-user. The logout, shutdown and restart buttons in the menu will not be available while automatic updates are being installed. The computer will check for updates upon startup and every 15 minutes after that. If updates are available, the system will install them automatically.

New Fonts Manager

The default MATE font manager has been replaced with a simpler, faster and more functional Shock OS version.

New Default Wallpaper

The Shock OS wallpaper and login screen branding have been redesigned and are now much prettier than before.

Fancy Screensavers

Shock OS now has a lot more screensavers to choose from! These new screensavers have all been imported from xscreensaver, and work well with mate-screensaver. OpenGL screensavers are not included because, while they do work, they have a few glitches. However, we do hope to eveuntaully include OpenGL screensavers in a later version of Shock OS - probably one based off of Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm when it comes out, as it will have MATE 1.26, which comes with huge speed and graphics improvements on the Raspberry Pi.

Initial Setup Polished

The user creation process at the end of the initial setup now uses whiptail to provide a more user-friendly interface for creating the user. Additionally, when creating a user, you will be notified if you entered something invalid, and you will be prompted to fix it. The system will not let you create a user until everything you have entered is valid. This ensures that the user is created correctly, and this eliminates the dreaded incorrectly-made-user issue that plagued older releases.

New Built-in Release Upgrader

Shock OS 7.0 Garrett is the first release to include a release upgrader. This will make it possible for machines running Shock OS 7.0 to upgrade to Shock OS 8.0 Holly once the upgrade is available. The computer will automatically detect when an upgrade to a newer release is available and notify the user. The user can then opt-in to a simple and straighforward upgrade process.

Thunderbird, Timeshift, GDebi and Synaptic Package Manager are No Longer Pre-Installed

Thunderbird, Timeshift, GDebi and Synaptic Package Manager have been removed from the built-in software selection. The reasons for this are listed below:

Thunderbird: Simply put, nobody uses Thunderbird. Everybody uses Gmail. Also, Thunderbird takes an unusually long time to launch.

Timeshift: Timeshift is supposed to help restore the system to a working state when something has gone wrong. To do this, you use the GRUB override bootloader to select an alternative kernel to launch the system. Once you are in, launch Timeshift and revert to a previous system snapshot. However, Raspberry Pi OS (and therefore Shock OS) does not ship with the GRUB bootloader. Because of this, it is pretty much pointless to include Timeshift in Shock OS. Lastly, system snapshots take up a couple gigabytes in size, which isn't ideal, especially for those running Shock OS on a 16GB SD card.

Synaptic Package Manager: With Add / Remove Software also installed, Synaptic is pretty obsolete.

GDebi: GDebi was removed because a .deb package installer is already included with pi-package (Add / Remove Software). To install a .deb file, simply right-click it in the file manager open with 'Package Install'.

If you would still like to install these apps, you can easily do so through Add / Remove Software or by running the following command in a terminal window:

$ sudo apt install thunderbird timeshift gdebi synaptic

Refreshed Themes

The Shock OS themes and accent colors have been revised.

Time Format Preferences

Time format preferences (12-hour/24-hour) are now saved when changing between panel layouts.

Clean Boot-Up

The boot messages and other text have all been hidden. When the system boots, there will just be a nice, clean black screen until the login window appears.

NTP Support Pre-Installed

Shock OS now comes with NTP support pre-included. This means that the system will now automatically sync with the time servers by default. Because the Raspberry Pi lacks an RTC (Real Time Clock), this is more reliable than the manual time configuration, which relies on the absent hardware clock.