Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Ever hear of ‘deepin OS’? Join the crowd. In the space of roughly 12 years, it has been known as Hiwix, Hiweed (I can hear the comments already), Linux Deepin, and possibly a couple more names I missed. Give it time and they’ll probably rename it again (the DVD I used for this review was titled Linux Deepin but once it loaded and updated, it was ‘deepin OS’). Oh, did I fail to mention the dizzying array of desktop environments? Take your choice of Gnome, IceWM, Xfce, LXDE, Unity, and who knows what else in between (the current one is deepin DE which appears to be a modified LXDE variant but your guess is as good as mine). In fact, when I started writing this review in 2015, it was still Ubuntu-based, and then suddenly switched to Debian with the release of version 15 in late 2015 (the current 15.1 was released in January, 2016). Wanna lay odds it changes later this year? And then there’s the website, https://www.deepin.org/?language=en, in which it appears that English is a second language. Well, guess what – it is… deepin OS is from China.
Avez-vous déjà entendu parler de « deepin OS » ?
Bienvenue au club. En l'espace d'environ 12 ans, il s'est appelé Hiwix, Hiweed (j'entends déjà les commentaires), Linux Deepin et un ou deux autres noms qui m'ont échappé. Dans quelque temps, ils le renommeront sans doute à nouveau (le DVD dont je me suis servi pour cette critiqué avait le titre Linux Deepin, mais une fois chargé et mis à jour, c'était « deepin OS »).
Ai-je oublié de parler de la collection vertigineuse d'environnements de bureau ? Vous avez le choix entre Gnome, IceWM, Xfce, LXDE, Unity, et Dieu seul sait quoi d'autre (actuellement, c'est l'environnement de bureau deepin, qui semble être une variété modifiée de LXDE, mais votre hypothèse est aussi valable que la mienne).
En fait, quand j'ai commencé cette critique en 2015, il était encore basé sur Ubuntu, puis il a changé tout d'un coup pour Debian avec la sortie de la version 15, fin 2015 (la 15.1 actuelle fut publiée en janvier 2016).
Voulez-vous parier pour une modification plus tard cette année ?
Et puis il y a le site Web, https://www.deepin.org/?language=en, ce qui semble indiquer que l'anglais est une deuxième langue.
Et bien, devinez quoi ? – ça l'est – deepin OS vient de Chine.
You have your choice of 32 or 64-bit variants, with either one running just a tick shy of 2GB, which places this is the middle of the pack size-wise. For version 15.1, you get the newest deepin DE (Desktop Environment if you haven’t caught the inference yet), plus an obviously Ubuntu inspired but Debian-based chassis. Take my advice and pass on the website’s download offerings. Slow is the rule there and you’d find it quicker to hop a flight to China for the DVD. Just visit sourceforge.net or do like I did and bum a DVD. Now, here is where a tick shows up early on. Care to test-drive it first just like Ubuntu? Well, call somebody who cares – because no test-driving is allowed. You either install it or you don’t. Hmmm, guess that’s what virtual machine setups are for! As you might expect, setup is something of a snap, although it’s not Ubiquity-based like Ubuntu. If you forget to use a virtual machine, or partition your hard drive ahead of time, you’ll have to sacrifice you whole HDD. Otherwise, it’s the usual 20 to 30 minute affair with another hour for the obligatory 400MB or so of updates. Take my advice and use a flash or USB drive, and that installation time will be cut in half.
Vous avez le choix entre des versions 32-bit ou 64-bit, l'un et l'autre pèsant un tout petit peu moins de 2 Go, ce qui le met au milieu de la foule en terme de taille. Pour la version 15.1, vous avez droit au plus récent environnement de bureau de deepin, ainsi qu'une châssis inspiré d'Ubuntu quoique basé sur Debian.
Suivez mon conseil et oubliez ce que le site Web vous propose de télécharger. La règle, dans ce cas, est une lenteur telle que ce serait plus rapide de prendre un vol pour la Chine et chercher le DVD vous-même. Il vous suffit d'aller sur sourceforge.net et faire ce que j'ai fait, c'est-à-dire demander un DVD gratuit.
C'est ici qu'un problème se présente très tôt. Voulez-vous l'essayer avant comme pour Ubuntu ? C'est impossible - vous n'en avez pas la possibilité. Soit vous l'installez, soit vous abandonnez.
Ahhaaa, je pense que c'est l'une des raisons d'être des machines virtuelles !
Comme vous pourriez vous y att
No hardware issues of note, which is odd given I’m pushing 10 year old hardware with just 3GB RAM. Invariably something goes wrong with wi-fi, video or audio, but not this time. All of it worked just fine without having to add drivers.
Cold boots on my 10 year old Dell averaging roughly 20 seconds; not bad given the outdated specs, and I will admit I love the opening music that sounds like a Oriental beat-box mix.
The desktop design is pleasant enough; a Docky-like bar at the bottom and the usual offerings elsewhere, but there is a twist. Right-click the dock and users have a choice of two docks similar to OS X (Efficient and Fashion), along with Classic (stretches to fill the bottom screen). Any choice is cosmetic and does nothing to hinder hardware usage.
Although it may look like Gnome, the desktop really isn’t. It’s a morph that deepin created, and there are differences. Much like previous Apple variations, clicking on the left side rocket ship brings up the program menu, while clicking in the system information (battery, time, etc) panel brings up the Control Panel.
And each of these functions is unique.
For example, the rocket ship brings up a menu of program icons that looks Unity-like but with a unique design feature – right-clicking allows for adding the icon to a desktop or panel.
Big whoop, you say? I would agree except for the final function – uninstall.
Yep, you uninstall by right-clicking. No going through Synaptic or the Software Center. You just right-click, hit uninstall, and watch the program and icon disappear.
Neat, eh?
Built in programs range from the useful to the downright bizarre. For example:
Forget LibreOffice and substitute WPS Office. Not a bad substitution, but odd. I know of no other OS that currently pegs this program for its office functions. Of note, the one included with even the newest deepin version is outdated and you’ll be forced to update quickly.
Looking for Firefox? Nope, you get Chrome (not Chromium) complete with codecs installed. Adobe Flash is already there, too. Yeah! I can watch videos without getting the black screen of death.
Instead of the usual multimedia offerings, you get deepin Movie, deepin Music, deepin Terminal, deepin Software Center, deepin Media Player, and probably a couple others I missed. What’s the main difference between these and the usual Ubuntu or Debian choices? Mainly the name from what I could see.
Like unusual, exotic games? Then install deepin Game (yes, they forgot the “s”). Here you’ll find an odd mix of familiar games with Chinese to English subtitles. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always come out as intended, especially the running game (seemingly based on our single player run-and-miss-obstacles fare) called “Crazy Flasher”. I do believe that’s what they used to call that weirdo hanging out downtown.
Of course, users can add what they like outside of the deepin Software Center by merely adding Synaptic, and the adventurous can always use apt-get commands via the terminal (excuse me, deepin Terminal).
As for general desktop speed and usage, I found no problems. Again, I’m pushing grossly outdated hardware, so anytime an OS works smoothly, I’m happy.
And there’s no arguing that the overall design is top-notch. I can think of no other OS that has such a nice, functional interface. Windows and OS X could take a note or two here.
However, there is a kink in other aspects of deepin OS that can make it dicey, and that relates with program downloads.
In short, they range from blazing fast to dead, desiccated slug-on-the-sidewalk slow. On several occasions, server speeds went as low as 5 KB/s. Notice that figure is not MB, and several sub-50MB downloads took an hour or more.
And before you mention it, I did change servers – several times. There is just no telling whether or not a program will download quickly.
So, is it worth giving deepin OS a try?
All depends upon your level of patience. You do get a creative desktop that works quite well (it never did lock up or fail me), but you may have to live with occasional download speeds that come from the dial-up modem days.
Once you do get it all set up and ready to go, it is a force to be reckoned with, though.