During these weeks we have heard and tested various versions and distributions based on Ubuntu 18.04, the latest LTS version of Ubuntu. But we still had one to try and know, one of the most popular in the Ubuntu world and that has no relation to the official Ubuntu flavors. This distribution is called Elementary. The team of Elementary has released a development version of the next big version of Elementary, this is, the first beta of Elementary Juno.
The new version is not known when it will finally be released to the general public, but in the meantime we can enjoy this version that will tell us what's new in Elementary Juno and have a base to develop new apps for Elementary. The main novelty of Elementary Juno will be its new App Store and the inclusion of paid apps, as occurs in macOS. This will be available to all developers, hence the importance of the launch of this first beta. Elementary Juno will be based on Ubuntu 18.04, having Pantheon and Gala as desktops and window manager. The App Store will be a new software manager for distribution that also you will have the possibility of having paid apps. Currently there are already 95 apps.
Various changes and novelties related to aesthetics and the operation of the desktop are the novelties of Elementary Juno, all in order to look a little more like macOS, the main goal of this distribution.
We can get the first beta of Elementary Juno through the Elementary official page. In it we will also know the information that the Elementary OS team has published for those who want to create their paid apps. But we have to remember that this version of Elementary is still unstable and therefore its use is not recommended for a production team since we could lose the data due to a bug that still exists.
"... all in order to look a little more like macOS, the main objective of this distribution."
So ... I don't know why they keep insisting on that. I use elementary since the second version (moon) and it has had an evolution that I liked. It certainly has some elements of MacOS and the first version was quite similar, but I don't think its main objective is to look like this. I think it is a distribution that is charting its own path and that must be respected and comparisons left behind.
Greetings.