Raspberry Pi has released a major update to its Raspberry Pi Desktop for PC and Mac, marking the first refresh in four years. The new version is built on Debian 13 Trixie and transitions to the 64-bit amd64 architecture, dropping support for 32-bit systems as Debian has discontinued such support for PCs.
The updated software integrates the Raspberry Pi Connect client, enabling screen sharing and remote terminal access. The interface now features the company's latest control center and application dock, aiming to replicate the Raspberry Pi user experience on third-party hardware.
Users can deploy the system via a bootable ISO image on a USB drive, with an optional persistence mode for saving changes. For permanent installation on hard drives or SSDs, the system includes the Calamares installer. The previous version was based on Debian 11 Bullseye, released in 2022.
The development team noted that maintenance of the PC version was previously deprioritized due to resource allocation toward other projects and the fact that the OS is provided for free. However, consistent user demand prompted this release. Most PCs and Intel-based Macs from the last 15 years are supported, while Apple Silicon Macs remain incompatible due to experimental Debian support.
