Starling 0.5.0 is a free, open-source-oriented software family built around a new Linux desktop written in Swift. The release targets x86_64 (amd64) PCs running Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, offers a Windows route through WSL2, and adds first-party office, terminal and developer tools.
What Starling 0.5.0 is
Starling combines a conventional 2D Linux desktop with an optional walkable 3D waterfront city. The project describes its shell, compositor, framework and applications as Swift software. Its UI framework ports Flutter’s Dart framework to Swift while continuing to run on the Flutter engine’s C core.
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The desktop includes a Wayland compositor, an X11 server, floating and tiling window management, workspaces called spaces, a dock, Launchpad and screen recording. That combination is intended to let users keep a familiar desktop workflow while experimenting with a spatial, explorable interface.
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Version 0.5.0 is an early release, not a mature long-term-support desktop. The published build instructions identify x86_64 Ubuntu 26.04 LTS as the base platform and specify Swift 6.2.3 for building. Those requirements can change as Starling develops.
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Supported hardware and operating systems
The native desktop is distributed as a downloadable .deb package for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS on amd64 hardware. Release notes report graphics testing with AMD, Intel and NVIDIA GPUs, as well as VirtIO-GPU/virgl graphics in a virtual machine. The notes do not establish support for every graphics adapter, ARM computers or other Linux distributions.
Windows users can run Starling through WSL2 with Ubuntu 26.04. In that setup, the Starling session runs inside WSL and is viewed through an RDP connection on the Windows host at localhost:3390.
How to install the desktop
Native Ubuntu installation
- Use an amd64 PC running Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, and confirm that its graphics hardware is supported by your own driver and virtualisation setup.
- Download the Starling 0.5.0 Ubuntu
.debrelease package. - Install the local package with Ubuntu’s standard package installer, then start the Starling desktop session using the session entry provided by the installation.
- If the graphical session does not start, check the GPU driver and whether the machine is running a supported Ubuntu version before troubleshooting the desktop itself.
Windows through WSL2
- Install or update a WSL2 Ubuntu 26.04 environment.
- Install Starling inside that Ubuntu environment using the Linux package supplied for the release.
- Start the session with
starling-session. - Open an RDP client on Windows and connect to
localhost:3390.
This is a different deployment model from a native Linux login: WSL2 hosts the session and RDP supplies the display connection.
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What is included on the desktop
Starling lists nine first-party applications:
- Settings
- Files
- Terminal
- Text Editor
- Calculator
- App Store
- Task Manager
- Video Player
- Image Viewer
The App Store is the route for installing additional applications. The built-in Terminal is a real pseudo-terminal (PTY), so it runs the user’s login shell rather than a simulated command prompt.
Starling Office and file compatibility
Starling Office is presented as a free, open-source suite containing Writer, Slides and Sheets. Its homepage says the applications open, edit and save Microsoft Office-compatible DOCX, PPTX and XLSX files. That is a compatibility claim for the current software, not a guarantee that every advanced feature in those formats will render identically.
The project describes the suite as “Free to use. Open to study, change, and build on.” The release material does not state whether Office is preinstalled in every desktop image, so users should expect to obtain it through the project’s application distribution when necessary.
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Starling Terminal on Linux, macOS and Windows
Starling Terminal is a separate cross-platform terminal application for Linux, macOS and Windows. On Linux it supports GNOME, KDE, Wayland and X11. It can run local shells or connect to remote workspaces, with persistent sessions that can be reconnected after a dropped connection.
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Building apps with the Starling SDK
The SDK is aimed at Swift developers. It includes a terminal widget, shell and escape-sequence handling, fonts, scrollback and text selection, plus a plain-app template for applications that do not need terminal functionality.
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The starling-create tool downloads the appropriate SDK bundle and scaffolds a Swift Package Manager project. It supports Linux, macOS and Windows. A Swift toolchain is the only prerequisite identified by the SDK page.
- Install a compatible Swift toolchain.
- Run
starling-createto choose the project type and generate a SwiftPM project. - Allow the tool to download and cache the matching SDK bundle under
~/.starling/sdk. - Open the generated project in your normal Swift development workflow and build it for the supported desktop platform.
The published bundle sizes are 14 MB for macOS, 17 MB for Windows and 23 MB for Linux. Those figures describe the SDK downloads listed by the project and may change with later releases.
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Starling’s current scope compared with established Linux desktops
Starling’s differentiators are its Swift implementation, optional 3D environment, integrated app distribution and cross-platform terminal and SDK. Its current boundaries are equally important when evaluating it.
| Area | What Starling 0.5.0 provides |
|---|---|
| Base system | Ubuntu 26.04 LTS on amd64 for the native desktop; Ubuntu 26.04 through WSL2 on Windows |
| Display technology | Wayland compositor and an X11 server |
| Window management | Floating and tiling layouts, spaces, dock and Launchpad |
| First-party desktop apps | Nine listed applications, including Files, Terminal, App Store and Task Manager |
| Office formats | Writer, Slides and Sheets with DOCX, PPTX and XLSX open, edit and save claims |
| Remote sessions | Terminal supports persistent remote workspaces; WSL2 desktop access uses RDP at localhost:3390 |
| Developer tooling | Swift-based SDK, starling-create, terminal widget and plain-app template |
| Release maturity | Version 0.5.0, with platform requirements subject to change |
There is no neutral head-to-head test in the release material, so claims about speed, stability or superiority over other desktops would go beyond the evidence available for this launch.
Who should try it
- Ubuntu 26.04 amd64 users who want to experiment with a Swift-native desktop and can tolerate early-release limitations.
- Windows developers who already use WSL2 and want to test a Linux graphical session without replacing Windows.
- Swift developers looking for a packaged terminal component or a starting point for Starling applications.
- Office users who need Writer, Slides and Sheets and whose workflows fit the stated DOCX, PPTX and XLSX compatibility.
Users requiring a proven desktop across many distributions, architectures or production-critical workflows should verify current support before switching from an established environment.
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