CuerdOS has released version 2.1 of its performance-focused Debian distribution, delivering a series of refinements and security updates across its desktop variants. The Spanish-developed distribution now ships with UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) enabled by default and includes 124 vulnerability fixes in its CuerdTools utility suite.
The release updates the Linux kernel to version 6.18.9 and makes several desktop environment changes aimed at improving performance and user experience. The Xfce edition replaces the XFWM4 compositor with Fastcompmgr for better responsiveness, while the Sway variant swaps Swaylock-fancy for GtkLock and adds SwayOSD for on-screen display notifications. The KDE Plasma edition introduces an Olive accent color by default, switches to OnlyOffice as the default office suite, and includes optimizations to prevent conflicts with the Vivaldi browser. The LXQt variant now uses LabWC as its compositor.
CuerdOS differentiates itself through kernel patching and the Ananicy daemon, which manages CPU and I/O priorities to deliver smoother performance under load. The distribution previously enabled Ananicy by default but disabled it in version 2.0. The project maintains its own repository and has streamlined its package catalog to focus on quality and maintainability. Four editions are available in ISO sizes ranging from 3.1 GB (Xfce) to 3.7 GB (Plasma), with downloads offered for Plasma, Xfce, Sway, and LabWC desktops.
