ArcaOS 5.1.1 released

It's been two years since the release of ArcaOS 5.1, which was a hugely important release because it brought UEFI support to this continuation of IBM's OS/2, ensuring longevity for the project for years to come. Since I don't think much is known about what, exactly, Arca Noae, and eComStation before it, has access to within the licensing agreement with IBM, it's difficult to ascertain just how much room they actually have to make changes to the code at the core of the old OS/2. Regardless, I tested ArcaOS 5.1 before and during its release, and the support for UEFI and GPT partition layouts was excellent on my machines.

Almost 18 months later comes the next release in the 5.1 branch, ArcaOS 5.1.1, and as the version number implies, this isn't another major release on the scale of 5.1. Looking at the list of changes, it mostly contains a ton of upgraded versions of various programs and tools included in ArcaOS. After some digging into some of those upgraded versions, I think I can safely say we're looking at a ton of small bugfixes, but there are also a few other things that stand out to me as welcome changes.

For instance, the changelog mentions various improvements to the installer and related tools, such as an improved method of determining the right screen resolution and font scaling during the installation. Considering I had to deal with some issues there - I think the installer UI elements were grossly oversized - this is a welcome fix. There are also refreshed" Firefox and Thunderbird builds, although I don't know if that means an update to the latest ESR releases, or just a rebuild of what was already shipping with ArcaOS 5.1.

I never found the time around the 5.1 release to do a proper review - I was knee-deep in baby and toddler care overload at the time - but if Arca Noae is willing to provide me with a 5.1.1 copy, I should be able to actually review it now that I'm only ankle-deep in baby and toddler care overload.