New Raspberry Pi Model A+ & OS Updates
 
11/15/18: Raspberry Foundation releases a new version of the Raspberry Pi Model A+. The Model A/A+ has always been the "Little Brother" of the model B/B+, with just 1 USB port and 1/2 the RAM of the Model B/B+. This new version of the Model A+ is the "Little Brother" of the Model B+3+, with its updated Wifi and BlueTooth, and improved switching power supply section. It is also has the the same Quad Core CPU of the Model B+3+.
 
With 512MB and a Quad Core CPU running at 1.4GHz, at $25, this is a Pi-Killer system. There are many Pi Systems out there that are similar to the Model A+ that are Quad Core Systems and just as low price as a Model A+, but until now the Model A+ was a single core CPU. As a Quad Core system, this Model A+ version will be equal to or surpass many of those tiny systems.
 
"But the Raspberry Pi 0 only goes for $5!" And? The Raspberry Pi 0 fills a different niche from the Raspberry Pi A+ and B+ fills. The R-Pi 0 Does not have a robust Switching Power Supply and must rely on the power input to be smooth and steady. It does not have Op Amps for Stereo Headphone Output. Nor does it have Digital Display output to connect it to the Raspberry Pi LCD Screen or similar monitor. The Model A+ has these all things.
 
The Model A+ was created to provide schools in poor communities (like in Africa) to have low cost computing lab with a Teacher system using the Model B+ and several Student systems using the Model A+. It is also created to fill in a Robotics/Drone niche before the R-Pi 0 came out. The R-Pi Zero came out as a Donation System - where when one buys a R-Pi 0, a second one is sent to a extremely poor community school systems. but in the Maker Community, the R-Pi 0 took the foot hold that was held in by the Model A+ and continued to supplant it. One has to realize that two systems are very different and are on different niches.
 
With the release of the A+ with a Quad Core CPU, it surpasses the R-Pi 0 and puts it back where it belongs - a low cost computer system. This is the first major release of the model A+ since 2014 when it first came out after the release of the B+. The B+ has undergone several versions including the R-Pi 2, R-Pi 3 and the current R-Pi 3+, while the Model A+ went through a simple RAM Upgrade in 2017 from 256MB to 512MB, no other version of the Model A+ had came out before or since until now. It now has the Quad Core 64bit CPU of the R-Pi 3+, along with its many hardware enhancements to Wifi, Bluetooth and Switching Power Supply, but it is still a Model A+ with no ethernet and only 1 USB Port.
 
They will continue to be sold for $25.
 
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/new-product-raspberry-pi-3-model-a/
 

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Raspbian Stretch has been updated with a few bug fixes and enhancements to its GUI and software. VLC - the multi-media application for sound and movies will also be released with this update. Thonny 3 (a Python SDK system) has been enhanced with more programming options on the GUI Desktop side. The GUI Desktop Configuration has been cleaned up and made easier to understand and use.
 
You can update your existing Raspbian Stretch with the "sudo apt-get update" and "sudo apt-get upgrade" console commands but this will not give you VLC Media player or the enhanced Thonny 3, you would need to install those in by hand. However the Raspberry Pi Foundation has created a 3rd option : Disk image with Desktop GUI and Recommended Software. This will give you the VLC and Thonny 3 packages. They still have the standard Raspbian option with the GUI and programs and the Raspbian Lite, a non-GUI/text only version of Raspbian. I will have the three options here to download at the cabin later this weekend linked to this thread.
 
For now, check out the Raspberry Pi website at:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/