-HOWEVER, nLaunch CX is still not flagged as a prank. Does it mean it's actually real?

We said it wasn't (the other things, we didn't say wether they were or not )

Nah, we don't have anything, that was a prank , sorry ^^

It's just a sticker I use to identify my own CX calculators when I use them in class, as they aren't labeled "school property".

I like the plural

-HOWEVER, nLaunch CX is still not flagged as a prank. Does it mean it's actually real?

Haven't had the time to test this myself, but it does seem legit. Especially that last pic with the CM OS, since that model is completely white (if I'm not mistaken).

I'm definitely going to install this soon. Does it always display text while booting?

Does it always display text while booting?

The default builds display some text, but the author(s) of nLaunch and nLaunch CX have made it easy to tweak that behaviour and recompile.

Hmm should there be a news about this btw?

is this actually illegal?

Let's look at a physical knife. It can be used to cut food, which is fully legal. It can also be used to hurt or kill other living beings, which is usually illegal (with good reason).
Let's look at nLaunch (CX). It can be used to run Linux, which is fully legal. It also makes it possible to do other things, which may or may not be legal, or at least, morally right.
See the analogy ? The tool is legal in itself. What's not necessarily legal is the usage of the tool that some people do

Besides, even though manufacturers routinely try to curb it, the right for users to do whatever they please with the equipment they bought ("freedom to tinker") is usually well recognized, like the right to perform reverse-engineering for interoperability purposes...

it seems to me you pay for the os you get with you calc, so with this you don't pay the full price. so you don't pay CAS an you do use it...

I see where you're coming from, but I don't think it matters: anybody can download TI's Nspire OS for no fee from TI's site and use it.

And in my country you are not allowed to use the nSpire CX CAS on exams.but on the they only talk about hardware not software..

Software such as nLaunch raises interesting questions, indeed. My own take on the matter is the folllowing:

locking at my case it's definitely an non-CAS however the about section is saying "handheld type: TI-Nspire(TM) CX CAS" so.... what is it?

The usage of the Clickpad / Touchpad / CX CAS software effectively makes your calculator a CAS calculator, even if the case keeps not indicating "CAS". But it works both ways: using nLaunch (CX) on a CAS calculator to launch a non-CAS OS effectively makes that calculator non-CAS
To me, there's no (valid) reason why Nspire CAS calculators equipped with the non-CAS OS should be forbidden: what matters, for the purpose of taking an exam with or without a CAS, is the software abilities the physical calculator has at the time the test is taken, clearly. If the non-CAS calculator is running a CAS OS, the CAS capability can be used for cheating. If it's a CAS calculator running the non-CAS OS, the nonexistent CAS cannot be used for cheating.

I think I better have it not installed with my exams.

Indeed, because cheating on exams (which you would be doing if you plan on using a CAS in an exam where it's forbidden) is severely punished
Punishment for cheating on high-stakes exams is usually years without having the right to take any exam, so you won't be able to go to the university, for instance.