Hey guys,
Just wanted to let you all know that...
Maru OS downloads are now open to everyone!
Several thousand beta invites and five releases later, Maru is now available for anyone with a Nexus 5 to try out! Yup, that means no more annoying waitlist and invite process.
A huge thank you to all of my beta users for putting Maru to the grindstone over the past few months. We found many areas of the experience that could be improved, but we also discovered surprising applications where Maru shined. Here's a small sample of what your "phone" can do with Maru:
- Learn to code with Scratch1
- Set up a portable PC in your hotel room2
- Replace your laptop(!)3
- Run a full-blown geographical information system with QGIS4
- Record, edit, and publish videos with OpenShot5
- Design and edit images and vector graphics with GIMP and Inkscape3
- Do 3D modelling and rendering with Blender6
The goal with the private beta program was to get to a reasonably stable release with a manageable user group, and thanks to their testing, I am happy to report that v0.2.3 is stable for daily use. Keep in mind, however, that Maru is still in its very early stages (v0.2.x), so the software may change rapidly, possibly in backwards-incompatible ways (i.e. you may need to back up your data manually and do a clean upgrade to a new version).
The best way to get up and running with Maru is to go ahead and join the forum, check out the new FAQ, download the latest release, and follow the installation guide. Make sure to also check out issues and feature requests brought up so far in this thread7.
As I mentioned in last month's update, you have the option of using either the easy installer scripts for your platform (maru-v0.2.3-installer-...), or the ROM-standard update zip (maru-v0.2.3-update-...) for flashing with a custom setup like TWRP or MultiROM.
Oh, and the open-source project is starting to go online.
Now that the beta program is over, I'm finally turning my attention to the open-source project so we can expand device support with the help of the community. Let's get Maru in the hands of a lot more people!
If you are interested in contributing and/or want to stay up-to-date on announcements related to the open-source project, please join the new maru-os-dev Google Group.
I can't wait to see what you all do with Maru,
Preetam