GNOME 2.32 Is Here, GNOME 3.0 Is Next

GNOME 2.32 has been released and is available for download and compile now. The latest version of the popular desktop environment for Linux comes with several new features and improvements as well as updated applications, but is generally considered an evolutionary update.

GNOME 2.32 will be the last release in the GNOME 2 line. The group initially planned to launch GNOME 3.0 at this point, but decided to wait another six months to ensure that it's a quality release.

As such, GNOME 2.32 was created to make sure users don't miss out on the updated apps and plenty of bug fixes introduced in the last six months.

"The GNOME Project's focus on users and usability continues in GNOME 2.32 with its hundreds of bug fixes and user-requested improvements," GNOME's Paul Cutler wrote in the official release notes.

"GNOME 2.32 is the last planned major release in the GNOME 2.x series, with only maintenance releases for GNOME 2.x planned going forward," he added.

"GNOME 2.32 features a limited set of new features in some applications as GNOME developers continue to focus on the upcoming GNOME 3.0 release scheduled for April, 2011," he explained.

While all the default GNOME apps got updated and improved, a few stand out.

Empathy, the instant messaging client in GNOME, has gotten a rather major update. Contacts using more than one IM service or protocol can be grouped together in so-called "metacontacts." You can also search for a contact easier through the live search feature.

Nautilus, the GNOME file browser, has added a few new features that should prove quite useful and should have probably been included for quite some time.

There is a new dialogue to handle conflicting files when copying or moving. The icons of cut files will also become transparent to make them stand out. The Wastebasket has also seen some improvements, there is a new button to restore files and there is more info on the deleted files.

There are plenty of other small features and improvements in most GNOME apps. There are changes for developers as well. GNOME also encourages developers to start dropping the deprecated libraries which will be removed in GNOME 3.0.

GNOME 2.32 is available for download here on Softpedia.