MidnightBSD 2.1 debuted this week as the latest version of one of the few desktop-focused BSD open-source operating system projects.

GhostBSD 21.09.06 is now available as the latest release of this desktop-minded, FreeBSD-based operating system.

Started back in 2018 was an effort by the NetBSD project to update their operating system WiFi drivers by re-syncing more code from FreeBSD and making various improvements. Three years later the work has yet to be merged but after stalling for some time is back to being worked on by interested developers.

OPNsense as the FreeBSD/HardenedBSD-based firewall and routing platform long ago forked from pfSense is out with its newest major release.

The FreeBSD project just published their Q2-2021 report concerning all of their different development activities from April through June.

There is now covid going around the BSDs... DragonFlyBSD has ported it from NetBSD.

Software running on DragonFlyBSD and making use of pthreads is set to see better performance around low-level locks when heavily contested.

One of the most promising BSD-based desktop distributions in recent times has been helloSystem that wants to be the macOS of BSDs with a polished desktop experience. helloSystem has been making good progress towards their goals in recent months and this weekend now issued version 0.5.

Going along with the recent releases of FreeBSD 13.0, DragonFlyBSD 6.0, and OpenBSD 6.9, NetBSD 9.2 is now available as the latest feature release of this BSD operating system.

DragonFlyBSD 6.0 has officially launched today as the newest version of this popular BSD operating system.

The FreeBSD project published their Q1 status report yesterday that outlines the progress they made over the past quarter on advancing this leading open-source BSD operating system.

Following the recent FreeBSD 13.0 release and jumping ahead of the imminent DragonFlyBSD 6.0 release is now OpenBSD 6.9 to kick off May.

It was just earlier this month that FreeBSD 13.0 released while already GhostBSD has issued a new release of this desktop-oriented operating system re-based against the new FreeBSD 13.0 base.

It's been over one year already since the debut of DragonFlyBSD 5.8 while fortunately DragonFlyBSD 6.0 will be here soon for this popular BSD operating system.

FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE is now officially available as the debut of the big FreeBSD 13 feature update.

For many years it's been possible to run Linux games on FreeBSD along with other Linux applications thanks to FreeBSD's "Linuxulator" Linux binary compatibility layer. With that more recently it's becoming possible to run even more recent games thanks to improvements to FreeBSD's graphics drivers, the Linux binary compatibility code, and other FreeBSD improvements -- Steam is even working out for more titles.

FreeBSD 13.0 was supposed to be out by the end of March but a bumpy past few weeks has led to extra release candidates. Out this weekend is FreeBSD 13.0-RC5 for what might now be the final test release.

Last week saw FreeBSD 13.0-RC3 released as an "extra" build due to the fallout from the last minute WireGuard situation. Due to other bugs, FreeBSD 13.0-RC4 was issued today rather than going for the final release.

A third and final release candidate of FreeBSD 13.0 was warranted ahead of its formal 13.0-RELEASE later this month.

It's been a while since hearing much about Wayland efforts on FreeBSD, but it turns out the Sway i3-inspired Wayland compositor can run on this BSD after a number of setup steps. However, the likes of KDE Plasma on Wayland still aren't working well outside of Linux.

Towards the end of last year FreeBSD imported a WireGuard kernel module. That initial WireGuard port to FreeBSD was found to be of poor code quality and made without much involvement from upstream WireGuard developers. That FreeBSD WireGuard kernel code is now in the process of being replaced by a much better implementation.

If all goes well FreeBSD 13.0 will be officially released before the end of the month while out this weekend is the second release candidate for testing.

With plans of formally releasing FreeBSD 13.0 at month's end, FreeBSD 13.0-RC1 is available this weekend and on-schedule for helping to test and evaluate this forthcoming major BSD operating system update.

NomadBSD 1.4 is out today as the latest feature update to this operating system that is one of the BSD-based desktop initiatives.

There has been a lot of attention on helloSystem this week as a macOS-inspired operating system built atop FreeBSD with an emphasis on providing a polished desktop experience. Since we highlighting the FOSDEM presentation about it, there has been a lot of coverage on helloSystem and this weekend marks a new experimental ISO release.

Following last weekend's release of FreeBSD 13 BETA1, the second beta is now available for testing this big BSD operating system update.

While it was a sad blow when PC-BSD/TrueOS stopped pursuing its desktop ambitions as what was arguably the leading BSD desktop operating system out there with a nice end-user experience, since then we have seen efforts like MidnightBSD, GhostBSD, and others fill the avoid with continuing to enhance the out-of-the-box BSD desktop system. A new entrant that is quite interesting is helloSystem that aims to be a "macOS of BSDs" for a polished desktop experience.

FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE is aiming to debut before the end of March and there is good chances of that with the FreeBSD 13.0 release process so far being on schedule. With that, this weekend marks the availability of FreeBSD 13.0-BETA1.

If changes around pfSense land have you looking at other possible open-source firewall/router options, OPNsense that forked from pfSense six years ago is out with its newest feature release.

For those that have been trying to find a desktop-friendly BSD operating system that works smoothly out of the box but haven't yet found the perfect match, NomadBSD 1.4-RC1 is now available for improving this desktop-minded FreeBSD-derived open-source operating system.