Mageia 5: I See no Change... and That's Good!

It's been like a week after Mageia 5 was released.  I installed the full DVD version to two desktops and two laptops to see what it offered.

Normally, I test a new distro more cautiously; first, I run a VM, then, I run a live version on the actual system where I wish to install before I decide to wipe out the root partition and say hi to the new OS.

But somehow I felt lazy this time.  No, it was not laziness.  As Megatotoro said, I was feeling bored because all my Linux systems have been working flawlessly for such a long time that I have been tinkering with my Firefox OS phones instead.

I wanted to upgrade and I sort of wanted something to break...So I tried multiple installation scenarios to maximize the chances of things going bad:

1.  My old desktop.  Upgrade from M4 to M5 via upgrading applet.  Not only did it work, but it also corrected a minor problem I had with iBus for Japanese input!

2.  My wife's laptop.  DVD install.  During the process, the touchpad froze.  I plugged in a usb mouse and went on expecting trouble once the system had been installed.  Nope, the touchpad worked and Grub 2 also played nice with Ubuntu...

3.  My ZaReason laptop.  Again, applet upgrade, with the additional complication of having a multiboot configuration (OpenMandriva Lx, Mageia 4, PCLinuxOS, Pisi Linux, PicarOS, Elive beta, and Mageia 5 RC).  Nothing bad happened.  The applet even distinguished the two Mageia systems and asked me which one I wanted to upgrade!

4.  My daughter's desktop.  This is a dual-boot, multisession machine. DVD install.  Nothing happened here during the upgrade.

After a week, and without considering aesthetic improvements, I have seen nothing different... it feels just like the system those machines had before.  Of course, that's not to belittle the great work of Mageia developers, but to say that when a user experiences no disruption after an upgrade, that is very good news.

Mageia 5  is looking solid and consistent with the user experience that was established with Mageia 1.  In this world, where developers keep changing things and expect users to adapt, I, for one, appreciate the consistency.