UrsaOS v0.1.0-beta.3 — Plasma standard desktop

UrsaOS v0.1.0-beta.3

Plasma is now the standard desktop. Beta 2 (Niri+DMS) was the final release of that edition; all active development targets Plasma Wayland with SDDM, UrsaOS Aurora look, Kara pager and the curated application stack.

Download

File	Link
ISO	SourceForge
SHA-256	Attached below

Highlights

• Bare-metal validated on HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-1xxx (LTS kernel 6.18.44-1-lts)
• Virtual disk install tested end-to-end (live → Calamares → boot → Plasma)
• UrsaOS Aurora look, BonaFides-Rounded-Dark window decoration, Sweet cursors
• BearHub 0.10.8, BearWave 1.3.0, Kara, Fastfetch, Kitty in the default stack
• Signed package repository at repo.ursaos.dev (Plasma stack only)

Fixed since Beta 2

• Keyboard layout selection no longer stuck on English
• Plasma live/first login wallpaper-only issue resolved
• SDDM greeter blank screen fixed (QtVersion=6, kwin_wayland)
• Redesigned dark glass SDDM login card

Known limitations

• UEFI only (no legacy BIOS/CSM)
• No full offline Arch mirror on ISO
• German UI strings may still have English fallbacks in some DMS/tool paths

See CHANGELOG.md for the full list.

UrsaOS v0.1.0-beta.2

UrsaOS v0.1.0-beta.2

UrsaOS enters its first beta with one supported desktop edition: Niri + Dank Material Shell (DMS).

Download

• ursaos-2026.08.03-x86_64.iso
• SHA-256: 6dbea9bd38d2f593ec5909910bb6399f98fae611ff1d7f6f7d76ea3d10a6e01d

The checksum file is attached to this GitHub release and is also available next to the ISO on SourceForge.

Highlights

• UEFI-only Try & Install live image
• Niri + DMS desktop with DankGreeter
• Offline-capable Calamares live-copy installation
• Btrfs with Snapper, Timeshift or no snapshots
• Linux plus optional Linux LTS
• Fish, Kitty, Starship, Fastfetch and Bat defaults
• Signed UrsaOS package repository
• Optional BearHub, BearWave, BeautySolar and Paru/AUR
• Improved NetworkManager, Nautilus, audio and Bluetooth integration

Validated path

UEFI live boot → Calamares installation → reboot → DankGreeter login → Niri + DMS desktop

Requirements and scope

• x86_64 system with UEFI firmware
• Secure Boot must currently be disabled
• Legacy BIOS/CSM is not supported
• This remains a prerelease intended for broader testing, not a stable production release

UrsaOS v0.1.0-alpha.2

UrsaOS v0.1.0-alpha.2

This development preview replaces alpha.1 for new installations.

Fixed

• Fresh installations now create a persistent Pacman keyring instead of retaining the temporary live keyring. This prevents unknown trust failures during official Arch package transactions.
• ursaos-installer now declares Python as a direct runtime dependency.
• ISO builds rebuild stale UrsaOS packages and reject a Calamares binary with unresolved runtime libraries before creating an image.

Validation

• The release ISO boots through both UEFI GRUB and BIOS Syslinux.
• The BIOS/MBR installation path completed installation, reboot, tuigreet login and the branded Niri+DMS desktop during development testing.
• The installed BIOS target completed sudo pacman -Syu successfully.

Known limitations

• This remains an early development preview and is not intended for production use.
• Timeshift and no-snapshot installations have less end-to-end coverage than the default Btrfs + Snapper path.
• Hardware coverage is still limited.

Verify the ISO with the accompanying .sha256 file before use.

UrsaOS v0.1.0-alpha.1

UrsaOS v0.1.0-alpha.1

Warning

Known installer issue: Systems installed from this image inherit the
temporary live Pacman keyring. Official Arch package transactions can then
fail with unknown trust. Alpha.1 should therefore not be used for a fresh
installation unless the manual repair below is accepted.

Fix for systems installed with alpha.1

Run the following commands in the installed system:

sudo rm -rf /etc/pacman.d/gnupg
sudo pacman-key --init
sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux
sudo pacman -Syu

This removes the copied live keyring, creates a persistent local Pacman master
key and imports the trusted Arch Linux package-signing keys again.

Fix status

The installer has been corrected in ursaos-installer 0.1.0-11. New
installations will create their own persistent Pacman keyring automatically.
The correction will be included in the next UrsaOS release; the alpha.1 ISO
itself remains affected.

The first public UrsaOS development preview provides a graphical Try & Install
live system based on Arch Linux with Niri and Dank Material Shell.

Highlights

• Branded German and English UEFI GRUB and BIOS Syslinux live boot entries
• Complete Niri + DMS live desktop without an automatically opened terminal
• Calamares live-copy installation with Btrfs as the automatic default
• Installer choice between Snapper, Timeshift and no snapshot manager
• Branded GRUB, tuigreet login and UrsaOS desktop session
• Archinstall retained as an advanced online fallback

Validated path

The UEFI path has completed repeated end-to-end tests through live boot,
Calamares installation with Btrfs + Snapper, reboot, GRUB, tuigreet login and
the Niri+DMS desktop.

Known limitations

• This is an early development preview and is not intended for production use.
• Legacy BIOS end-to-end installation is not yet validated.
• The Timeshift and no-snapshot installer choices have not received the same
  end-to-end coverage as the default Snapper path.
• Hardware coverage currently focuses on QEMU/KVM virtual machines.

Verify the ISO with the accompanying .sha256 file before use.