LastOS is a tricked-out version of Linux Mint 22.1 with the Cinnamon desktop and some additional tools to make life easier for Windows folks.
As Windows 10 nears its demise, The Reg FOSS desk has noticed increasing amounts of discussion of relatively little-known distros that aspire to be the new replacement OS for Windows 10 users whose machines can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. We’re planning to look at a few of these. (Spoiler alert: mostly, it’s not worth deviating from the mainstream – but this is the Linux world, where you get to decide for yourself. Weigh up your options, because something here may be just what you want.)
LastOS Linux is a custom remix based on Linux Mint, which comes with its own custom app store called LL Store. Its creator, Glenn Chugg (also known as LiveFreeDead), built it using an OS-remastering tool called Penguins’ Eggs, and on that tool’s site, he has a blog post explaining how and why he created it.
The README file on the desktop, though long and wordy, describes the latest version as 2025.03 and says it’s based on Linux Mint 22.1, with the updates from Ubuntu 24.04.1. It uses the Cinnamon desktop version 6.4.8, with a custom theme: a neon-hued GUI mountain wallpaper, a blue-tinted yin-yang symbol for the Start menu and README file, and the Conky system monitor in the background. Most other things have Windows 10-style icons, though.
LastOS is Mint 22.1 with a lick of paint, but that’s no bad thing – click to enlarge
You get a lot of the same tools as Mint, such as Flatpak instead of Snap but with no Flatpak packages pre-installed. On top of this, it also pre-installs WINE 9, Google Chrome instead of Firefox, and quite a few smaller quality-of-life tools such as the Transmission BitTorrent client, a download manager, an image viewer, and more. For example, we found optical-disk burning tools and multiple different media players, which seems superfluous to us.
The most visible extras are three desktop icons: after the README file we mentioned, there’s also the LL Store, and an LL Launcher for games installed using the LL Store. The latter is a sort of app store, which includes a very large, categorized list of applications. These are color-coded into five types: ssApps – Silent Setup Windows Installer (white); ppApps – Permanent Portable Windows App (yellow); ppGames – Permanent Portable Windows Games (green); LLApps – Linux Apps (blue); and LLGames – Linux games (purple).
The inclusion of Windows programs here is because there’s also a Windows version of the LL Store, as its GitHub page shows. Some of these are packages with the distro’s own tools and its own Free Mega Games Pack, but we can’t tell you much about those: the links are dead, or just lead to the LastOS forum’s homepage. The categories make little sense to us – this information feels like it’s relevant to the distro builder, not to the end user. Similarly, the color coding won’t be helpful at all for colorblind users.
A splash screen that will get some people excited: Photoshop CC, on Linux – click to enlarge
The store doesn’t visibly distinguish between FOSS, freeware, and proprietary apps, as far as we could tell. From curiosity, we tried to install Adobe Photoshop. After a reboot, it worked, and apparently it’s Photoshop CC 19 from 2018, although the Help > About box closes instantly and the Help system didn’t work either, making it hard to confirm. This version is available as a free download, but requires a valid Creative Cloud license to use legally. It’s a good demo of modern WINE’s compatibility, though. It seems that you can run Photoshop on Linux these days.
In terms of compatibility, performance, and so on, it’s Linux Mint. We quite like Mint’s restrained, dark, and sober looks ourselves, and LastOS Linux is a bit bright and neon-hued for our tastes, but your mileage may vary. It’s rather bigger than Mint – the ISO is 4.6 GB, while Mint itself is 2.8 GB. Our installed copy took about 13 GB of disk space, but some of the extras over and above what Mint provides, such as WINE, are quite substantial.
Inexplicably, LastOS includes the macOS Mojave wallpaper, as here opened in PhotoShop – click to enlarge
It’s true, the LL Store is easier than installing WINE yourself and then navigating running Windows apps on Linux. It’s a bit worrying that it installs a subscription-based proprietary app without a by-your-leave, though. On the whole, we prefer the way the latest Zorin OS handles this. While Windows users are accustomed to just going to vendors’ websites and downloading files, Zorin tries to ID the file and point users at a native version if one’s available.
We found a few mentions of the distro around the web, and a review in the January 2025 issue of Linux Format magazine. As well as its own forums, the distro also has its own community subreddit.
LastOS feels very much like an individual, or perhaps more accurately idiosyncratic, project. The spelling on the website and in the README file are a little erratic, and the choice of applications is a little like the choice of punctuation. In some places, there’s more than is really needed, and in others, not enough, and things you might want are missing. There is potential here, but we feel it would benefit from a bit more restraint in places, too. If the tools you need are in the LL Store, though, then that alone could make it a compelling offering. ®
Bootnote: farewell, Linux Format
Since we mentioned the UK’s Linux Format magazine, sadly, it looks like issue 329 is the last one, if this tweet is to be believed. This is sad news, but we salute it for lasting a quarter of a century, in famously difficult times for print media.
