Delayed two days, Mandriva announced last night (February 12th) the beta version of the upcoming Mandriva Linux 2009.1 (Spring) distribution. This beta release brings a Live CD, for anyone who wants to test it without installing it, and some of the hottest Linux technologies, such as: Linux kernel 2.6.28, X.org Server 1.5.99.902, KDE 4.2, GNOME 2.26 Beta, XFCE 4.6 Beta 3, OpenOffice.Org 3.0.1, LXDE, Python 2.6.1 and above all that, support for the EXT4 filesystem, in the installer.

The development cycle of Mandriva 2009.1 will continue with two release candidates in March, and it will conclude with the final release in the middle of April 2009. With the Spring edition, Mandriva will try to compete with the upcoming Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) and Fedora 11 (Leonidas) Linux-based operating systems. Mandriva Linux 2009.1 will also be the first version with stable and official support for the evolutionary EXT4 file system!

"This Beta version proposes step 1 of Speedboot. This should improve your boot time. It’s not enabled by default. To test it, enter speedboot keyword at boot time. You can use Bootchart to test precisely effects on your boot time." - said the Mandriva developers in the official release announcement.

Highlights of Mandriva Linux 2009.1 Beta:

· Linux kernel 2.6.28 (with EXT4);
· KDE 4.2;
· GNOME 2.25.90;
· XFCE 4.6 RC1;
· Qt 4.5.0 RC1;
· Syslinux 3.73;
· X.org server 1.5.99.902;
· OpenOffice.Org 3.0.1;
· Python 2.6.1;
· Eclipse 3.4.1;
· ltsp 5;
· module-init-tools 3.6;
· Diskdrake improvements.

Mandriva Linux 2009.1 Release Schedule:

December 23rd, 2008 - Alpha 1 release
January 19th, 2009 - Alpha 2 release
February 12th, 2009 - Beta release
March 3rd, 2009 - Release Candidate 1
March 24th, 2009 - Release Candidate 2
April 16th, 2009 - Final release

Mandriva 2009.1 (Spring Edition) will be delivered, as usual, on 100% FREE edition CDs and DVDs for 32bit and 64bit platforms, and the One edition, with KDE 4.2 and GNOME 2.26 Live CDs.

Download Mandriva 2009.1 Beta right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a beta release and it should not be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only. Please report bugs to the Mandriva Bug Tracker.