Raspberry Pi Launches New Debian 12 "Bookworm" Raspberry Pi OS, Ready for Raspberry Pi 5

Raspberry Pi has launched a new version of its Debian Linux-based Raspberry Pi OS, bringing with it a move to Wayland and support for the upcoming Raspberry Pi 5: Raspberry Pi OS "Bookworm."

The last major update to Raspberry Pi OS came in November 2021 with the launch of a version based on Debian 11 "Bullseye." Taking over from the previous Debian 10 "Buster"-based operating system, the at-the-time latest Raspberry Pi OS brought a range of tweak and changes — the biggest of which was a boost to the clock speed of Raspberry Pi 4 Model B devices from revision 1.4 onwards, increasing the CPU from 1.5GHz to 1.8GHz.

The new Raspberry Pi OS "Bookworm" comes with no such speed boost, sadly, but represents an even bigger change: a shift away from the ageing X Window System to the newer Wayland, using the Wayfire display management system. While this prepares the platform for the future, it comes with some side-effects — not least of which are compatibility issues with VNC clients.

Another major change, though one inherited from the Debian upstream, is that the Python environment within the OS is now externally managed — meaning that the traditional approach of installing Python libraries using pip install library will be rejected with a warning message. Many libraries are available at a system level through the apt package management system, and for those that aren't Raspberry Pi has provided guidance on setting up a Python virtual environment (venv).

Raspberry Pi OS "Bookworm" is also the first to ship with the Mozilla Firefox browser, which has been tweaked to ensure peak performance on the single-board computer range. This comes alongside, rather than in place of, the existing Chromium browser, with users prompted to choose their preferred default during the revamped first-boot "Welcome Wizard."

The new release also brings with it support for the Raspberry Pi 5, unveiled late last month and due to go on sale in the coming weeks. Those running older hardware, including the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B and Raspberry Pi 400, will be able to upgrade to the new operating system or continue to use the old "Bullseye" version — now relegated to "legacy" status.

Raspberry Pi OS "Bookworm" is now available to download from the Raspberry Pi website, in 32-bit and 64-bit variants with a choice of console-only "lite," desktop, and desktop-with-recommended-software builds. Those with existing Raspberry Pi installations are advised to flash a new image, rather than attempt to upgrade.