Solus is an independent desktop distribution, built from scratch rather than derived from another project, and it is the birthplace of the Budgie desktop environment, which has since spread to other distributions. Development follows a curated rolling model: updates land continuously but are grouped and tested, with a weekly cadence for the stable channel, aiming at current software without daily surprises. Packages use the eopkg format and tooling, descended from the PiSi package manager, and the project maintains its own repositories with a deliberately tidy selection. Official editions cover Budgie, KDE Plasma, GNOME, and Xfce, each configured with care. Solus is explicit about being a home-computing desktop first rather than a server platform. It appeals to people who want a polished, self-contained system outside the Debian, Fedora, and Arch families. OpenFactory offers a browser session of Solus for an unhurried first look.
Select a version of Solus to try online:
| Current: | |
|---|---|
| 2026.04.18: | |
| 2025.11.29: | |
| 2025.01.26: | |
| 4.6: | |
| 4.5: | |
| 4.4: | |
| 4.3: |
Need Solus for more than a quick browser preview?
The buttons above launch an ephemeral browser VM, perfect for kicking the tires. Paid plans unlock the things you'd actually use it for:
- ✓Persistent VMs you can SSH into and customize
- ✓Snapshots, your own packages, a downloadable ISO
- ✓Fleet deployment to your own machines (on-prem or cloud)