Bookworm — the new version of Raspberry Pi OS
The latest Raspberry Pi OS has been released, and it is the first to officially support the newest flagship Raspberry Pi 5 board.
Raspberry Pi OS “Bookworm” is based on the recent Debian 12 “Bookworm” release. This brings an updated set of software, packages, and tooling to users of Raspberry Pi OS.
The most important of these is the move to using Wayland rather than X11 as the display system.
For the last 35 years or so, most Unix desktop environments, including the Raspberry Pi Desktop, have been based on the X11 window system. But, as is hardly surprising for a piece of software several decades old, X11 has various limitations when used on modern computers. To address these, most Linux distributions are moving to use Wayland; those which have not already done so are planning to do so in the future.
There is also a couple of new plugins. The “Power” plugin is enabled by default, and monitors for power supply problems like low power supply voltage or excess USB current. If either occur, a notification will be displayed to let you know what has happened, and an icon is then shown on the taskbar — clicking this takes you to a web page with more information on the problem and possible fixes.
Support for Raspberry Pi 5
In parallel with the final stages of the Raspberry Pi 5 programme, the software team has been busy developing a new version of Raspberry Pi OS to add support to the new product.
Raspberry Pi OS is the sole supported first-party operating system for Raspberry Pi 5
PipeWire
PipeWire is now plumbed in as the default sound system, and NetworkManager replaces dhcpcd for networking (giving users the ability to connect to hidden wireless networks, VPNs, and use a Raspberry Pi as a wireless hotspot).
Firefox
One other significant change is the OS are now offering a second browser option, with the launch of a Raspberry Pi-optimised version of Mozilla Firefox.
Bookworm 32-bit and 64-bit
The new Raspberry Pi OS comes in 32-bit and 64-bit versions that cover all models of Raspberry Pi.
- Release date: October 10th 2023
- System: 32-bit and 64-bit
- Kernel version: 6.1
- Debian version: 12 (bookworm)
Download
The OS is available via the Raspberry Pi Imager, or you can download an image and write it using your preferred tool.
Download Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm