The Elive Team announced the latest version of their Linux distribution being ready for user testing. Elive's 1.8.4 development version brings important improvements and temporary features like the removal of the Fast Boot mode, new drivers and a translation of the installer.

The kernel used in this version has been changed to the old mode configuration, thus improving the chances for your system to boot properly, if you experienced difficulties trying to boot the last version of Elive. Another important addition is the two new categories of ralink drivers required for the EeePC model 1000h.

The X manager E17 has also undergone a bug fix (the one about the mouse), but at the cost of some important options not being available. Shutdown/reboot/suspend/hibernate are not featured in this development version, but it goes without saying that this situation is only temporary.

The installer has been translated into Spanish for now, but further translators are most welcome to make the installation process easier via the Eltrans application from the Elive Menu. Also, the /mnt/Windows_C partition not mounting by default problem has been resolved by fixing a small bug with the VFAT(FAT32).

Bigger support for Windows applications by specific menu enhancements is featured now, resulting in easier management and access. For instance, a new menu called "Wine" appears in your application list, where all the applications or games are listed.

Since it doesn't fully achieve its goal of accelerating the boot process of generic machines, the Fast Boot mode is no longer available, this feature acting properly only if a system is designed for a specific hardware. Other actions are necessary for the boot time to be reduced significantly, such as removing a lot of kernel modules, enabling it in fixed mode and also removing some unused services and enabling fixed ones. As an advice, it's better to have patience and give the kernel sufficient time to load normally; however, if a rapid boot is desired, the suspend feature could prove to be useful.

Download Elive 1.8.4 right now from Softpedia.