First Alpha version of the Mandriva Linux Spring was released last night and includes the latest and greatest technologies, such as KDE 4.0 RC2, GNOME 2.21, PulseAudio, Kernel 2.6.24 RC5 and X.org 7.3. Let's have a detailed look at them:

PulseAudio

The default sound server for all Mandriva installations is now powered by PulseAudio. Using it will allow everyone to easily control playback from various different applications on various different sound devices in all graphical environments.

X.org 7.3

The full X.org 7.3, including X.org server 1.4, is to be found in this first Alpha release. This has several implications for some drivers and also for input methods.

KDE 4.0 RC2

Everyone heard about the latest KDE 4.0 release candidate and the features that it brought. Now, you have the possibility to test it and see if what you've heard about it is true. However, it is not currently included on the discs, but is available from the Cooker repositories (which are the appropriate repositories to use with this Alpha version of Mandriva). To install KDE 4.0 RC2, add these repositories in the usual way, and install the task-kde4 package.

Kernel 2.6.24 RC5

Another latest version... as the Linux kernel 2.6.24 RC5 is included in Mandriva 2008.1 Alpha 1, providing the widest possible hardware compatibility.

UUID-based drive mounting

Mandriva 2008.1 Alpha 1 uses UUIDs (unique identification numbers) for mounting drives and partitions. This should result in the elimination of situations where different drives try to use the same mount point due to being assigned the same device node when plugged in at different times.

There are also two known issues in this release:

� Can't mount two or more partitions NTFS - because of UUID default use, installer cannot mount more than one NTFS partition. If more than one is detected, then it just stops. Whether you disable UUID use or you click on NTFS partition in diskdrake and remove mount point.
� synaptics doesn't work on laptop - because of a bad configuration of Xorg, touchpad does not work. To make it work just edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and modify InputDevice line for Synaptics to look like this:

InputDevice "SynapticsMouse1" "SendCoreEvents"

Mandriva 2008 is available in the following editions:

� as a Free edition for the x86-32 and x86-64 architectures, on one DVD, with a traditional installer
� as a One (KDE-based) combined live / install CD edition

Download Mandriva 2008.1 Alpha 1 now from Softpedia.