Softpedia has been informed today, March 23, 2016, by Roberto J. Dohnert, CEO of Black Lab Software, about the immediate availability for download and testing of the second Alpha build of Black Lab Linux 8 "Onyx."

Based on Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf), Black Lab Linux 8 "Onyx" Alpha 2 ships today with the Linux 4.2.0 kernel, LibreOffice 5.1 office suite, Docker integration, GPG 2.0.22, full support for Microsoft Xbox One and Xbox One Kinect controllers, USB-C support, OpenJRE 8, and Xfdashboard, a GNOME-Shell-like interface for the Xfce desktop.

The new Alpha build also fixes some issues that have been reported by users since the first one, such as hibernation problems with MacBook computers, which required a reboot to wake up from sleep, a screen fragmentation bug with the Intel HD graphics driver, as well as improvements in touchscreen responsiveness for Surface Pro 3.

"Today, PC / Opensystems LLC is pleased to announce the second Alpha release in the upcoming Black Lab 8 "Onyx" series. The team continues to focus on the desktop experience, bringing the same high-performance and rock-solid stability that its users have come to expect from Black Lab Linux," said Roberto J. Dohnert.

Black Lab Linux 8 "Onyx" to offer better hardware support

The final version of the Black Lab Linux 8 "Onyx" operating system arrives later this year with improved hardware support, as the developers managed to integrate built-in support for the latest Windows Phone, Android, and iPhone 6 and 6s smartphones, as well as the Pixel C and MacBook Pro 2015 laptops.

You can help the Black Lab Linux developers discover and patch more issues for the upcoming Ubuntu-based operating system by downloading the Alpha 2 64-bit ISO image right now from our website. Please try to keep in mind, though, that this is a pre-release version, which means that you shouldn't use it on production environments.