New Distribution: Dream Studio Introduced

Lost in all the news of and attention paid to Mandriva 2011, a new distribution was added to the Distrowatch database. This Ubuntu-based distribution is designed to provide users the means to "create stunning graphics, captivating videos, inspiring music, and professional websites." Version 11.04 was released the other day, so let's take a peek.

Some software highlights include:

● Blender

● Ardour

● MakeHuman

● Sonic Visualiser

● Smasher

● Synfig Studio

● Darktable

● Kompozer

● Hydrogen

● SooperLooper

● SoundConverter

● Winetricks

● A lowlatency kernel

 Dream Studio aims to be simple, stable, and stunning. It certainly seems simple and easy to use. There is no boot screen choice, it's practically blank and after a few seconds, it begins the boot. There is no login screen either, it logs in automatically. My test drive was too short to determine the stability, but we'll give that to them as well. I'm not sure all would agree Dream Studio is stunning, but I certainly think it's pretty.

It reminds me a bit of Ubuntu Studio. I can't ascertain a link between the two projects but the similarity in themes, not a common color scheme, are indisputable. The Website mentions Unity, but I got a GNOME 2.32 desktop. This anomaly could be explained perhaps by taking into account 3D capabilities of the graphics card. I suppose Nouveau doesn't do the trick for my NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX card. The menu is chocked full of software, much more than is mentioned on the site or in the release announcements. And of course, Dream Studio 11.04 is completely compatible with Ubuntu 11.04, so all the software in Ubuntu's repos can be installed with no problems.

All in all, it seems like a nice addition to the Ubuntu-derivate list. It probably fills a niche and can make getting started on multimedia pursuits easier than having to add all that creativity software after installing another distro. So, if you're the artist type (or would just like to be), then give Dream Studio a spin.