After months of intense work and a code rewrite dating back to the project's inception in 2017, Sasko Usinov, the sole developer behind the desktop environment, has launched the tenth version of its project, baptized as Orbitiny Desktop Pilot X.
This update is not a simple patch, but the largest and most complex overhaul in the environment's history. Built in C++ and Qt, Orbitiny stands out for being a 100% portable solution For Linux systems that operate under the X11 graphics protocol, it now offers a brand new dynamic theme engine and a redesign of almost all of its base components, which unfortunately breaks compatibility with configurations and themes from previous versions.
Main new features of Orbitiny Desktop Pilot X
One of the most interesting new features of this update lies in its extreme focus on system customization and control. Users will immediately notice the new control panel, which integrates a sidebar for accessing its own tools from Orbitiny and a series of customizable buttons in the header to launch external configurators provided by the distribution (on which it is running).
Another notable new feature is in the visual aspect, since the The Qutiny theme engine now allows you to apply aesthetic changes in real time.This means that any changes saved in the system's CSS files will be instantly reflected on the desktop, without the annoying need to restart the graphical session to see the results.
A smarter dashboard and a revamped file manager
Interacting with the taskbar The main panel has been completely redesigned to be much more natural and similar to the behavior of toolbars in office applications. Now It is possible to attach the panel to any edge of the screen simply by dragging it. from an empty area or by holding down the Control key while dragging from an applet. Once in position, sIts size can be adjusted by stretching the edges with the mouse.
For those who work with small resolutions or too many icons, the following has been introduced: scrolling function, allowing navigation through the content The bar is accessed simply by rotating the mouse wheel, and to avoid visual overlap, desktop icons intelligently shift automatically down or to the sides when the panel docks near them.
Application and file management also receives improvements, as the Qutiny file manager has relocated its tab system below the title barIt has moved the icon size control to the bottom left corner and compacted its search tools into a single, much cleaner line.
On the other hand, the main applications menu (Drawer Menu) debuts two very useful categoriesA section dedicated to Orbitiny's configurator tools and a hidden section (visible when Control is held down) that lists the local programs installed in the user's folder. In addition, there are integrated new one-click applets for monitoring the processor, an improved quick launch menu with drag-and-drop support, and a handy side button that opens a dialog box with a search bar to quickly filter and find open windows.
Error correction and a look towards Wayland
Alongside these new developments, a cleaning up errors throughout the codebaseThey've fixed issues ranging from sudden file manager crashes when deleting large volumes of documents to annoying bugs where splitter panels would unexpectedly resize when maximizing windows. Issues with icon emblems and intermittent image pasting failures have been fixed.and errors in loading the system tray (SysTray). All this work aims to prepare the ground for the next major phase of the project: the integration of a custom compositing window manager.
The future of Orbitiny is ambitious but challenging. Since it's a one-person project, developing a window manager from scratch would take too long, so the current plan is to adapt KWin (the KDE window manager) to work independently and portably alongside Orbitiny. Regarding the debate surrounding Linux graphical protocols, The developer has made it clear that the project's natural environment will always be X11..
Although he plans to run tests with RiverWM for a possible Wayland adaptation, he has warned that without the help of other developers in the Qt community, Wayland support will only be an extra and could be discarded due to the immense workload it represents for a single programmer.
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