Using PolyOS 7

Install

The install guide covers making the USB drive, starting from it, and what to do if something goes wrong.

A fresh install: PolyOS installs on a whole drive and replaces everything on it, including Windows if it's there. To keep Windows, use the dual-boot ISO (advanced). After installing, PolyOS starts straight to your desktop.

First start

Setup happens once, on the USB drive, before PolyOS installs. It checks your computer first: the exact model, processor, memory and graphics. Most computers get Everything on; older ones get Smooth or Light, which turn off blur and see-through glass. Then your edition, Wi-Fi and, if you like, a Poly Account: sign in and you can use it to sign in to this computer too, with the same name and password. Then your account (if you didn’t use your Poly Account) and your look. After the restart you go straight to your desktop; the recommended drivers and your edition’s apps install in the background once you’re online, and a notification says when they’re done.

Settings

• Display: resolution, refresh rate, orientation and brightness; with a second screen, Duplicate, Extend or one screen (also Win+P), remembered and set up again whenever you plug it in.
• Sound: output and input devices, microphone level, and the full mixer for per-app volume and surround.
• Account: your Poly Account, and how you sign in: a 4 to 6 digit PIN for the sign-in and lock screens (installing and Terminal’s sudo still ask for the password), your password and a recovery key.
• Personalization: wallpaper, colors, dark or light.
• Apps: installed apps (uninstall with a button), startup apps, and usage: time in each app.
• Storage: how full your drives are, what your folders take, and clearing the trash and caches.
• Power & Performance: power modes, what closing the lid and the power button do, the hardware check.
• Updates: automatic downloads, an install time, restart questions and the update channel.

Quick settings (the Wi-Fi, sound and battery icons): Wi-Fi, Airplane mode, Energy saver, Night light, Sound, brightness and volume.

Updates

PolyOS updates itself from Settings › Updates (and About › Update now), with or without an account. Updates are signed: PolyOS checks every update’s signature and checksums before installing it. You choose whether updates download and install automatically, at what time, and whether PolyOS asks before restarting. Channels: Stable for most people, Beta and Developer for early versions. Some updates are for one edition only: PolyOS gets them only if this computer uses that edition or developer mode. Google Chrome updates with the rest of the system.

If an update stops with “dpkg returned an error code (1)”, another package on the computer was left half installed. PolyOS 1.2.2 and later repair that and try again by themselves, and name the package if it still fails. On an older version, open Terminal and run sudo dpkg --configure -a then sudo apt-get -f install, and install the update again. Details: /var/log/polyos-update.log.

Without internet, download the newest ISO from the download page and install over the old version.

Drivers

Driver Manager shows your computer’s maker, model and firmware version, and every part: processor (with its microcode updates), memory, drives, screens, NVIDIA, AMD and Intel graphics, Wi-Fi (including Broadcom), Bluetooth, touchscreens and pens, and webcams. It installs what Debian has for them, and firmware updates from your computer’s maker (BIOS/UEFI, SSDs, docks) through the Linux Vendor Firmware Service, where Dell, Lenovo, HP and others publish them for Linux.

Poly Account

A Poly Account is optional. It adds device management, recovery, sync and account emails; PolyOS works fully without one.

• Connect a computer: during setup, or Settings › Poly Account › Connect. Sign in there, or use the 6-digit code: open the link page on any device and enter it.
• Each computer has its own key, so removing one (Devices › Remove device) doesn’t affect the others. The computer never keeps your password.
• Remote management (restart, lock and install updates from the website) is off until you turn it on at that computer.
• Recovery: a verified email resets your password; so does a recovery key from Poly Account › Recovery.
• Poly Sync keeps settings, theme, wallpapers and pinned apps the same on your computers. Files aren’t synced.
• Set up like one of your computers: with Poly Sync on, each computer keeps a backup of itself in your account (its settings, edition and PolyMarket apps; no files or passwords). When you install PolyOS on a new computer and connect your account, pick one: the new computer gets its settings and edition, and its apps install once it’s online.

Keyboard shortcuts

Vara

Vara is the PolyOS assistant and AI agent. Ask it from Start or with Win+V: it opens apps, changes the volume, brightness and Wi-Fi, and writes and runs code, makes 3D models and works with ROS 2 robots and Arduino boards, asking before it changes anything. Choose its provider (Ollama Cloud, OpenAI, NVIDIA or Claude) in Settings › Vara.