14 DAY TRIAL // Manjaro Xfce, a Linux distribution based on well-tested snapshots of the Arch Linux repositories and 100% compatible with Arch, has been upgraded 0.8.12 RC1 and is now ready for testing and download.
Manjaro users are now waiting for the release of the 0.9.0 branch, which already seems to be quite promising, but it looks like the developers have other plans. Now they have released a new RC version of a previous unannounced 0.8.12 version and it's likely that it will become stable very soon. It's unclear whether the 0.8.12 and the 0.9.0 Manjaro branches will coexist, but it's also possible that 0.9.0 will take much longer to finish than previously anticipated.
The development cycle for Manjaro is not really all that clear and it's difficult to anticipate how many update packs will be available for a stable release or when we will be able to get a stable version of a distro that's now under construction. It's also becoming a little bit confusing to keep track of every project under the Manjaro umbrella.
Manjaro Xfce 0.8.12 is definitely a surprise
No one was expecting to see an RC for Manjaro 0.8.12 and everyone was kind of hoping to be done with the updates for the previous stable and to start testing some of the more exciting stuff that's being developed.
"The Xfce edition remains our flagship offering and has received the attention it deserves. Few can claim to offer such a polished, integrated and leading-edge Xfce experience. We ship components from the Xfce 4.11 series after having tested them in-house, ensuring suitability for everyday use. This edition now uses LightDM for login management, display locking and user switching, including custom integration for Xfce," wrote the developers.
The Linux kernel used by default in the new branch is 3.16, but others will be available from the official repositories (3.10.65, 3.12.36, 3.14.29, 3.18.3, 3.19-rc5), and a number of tools and applications have been upgraded as well.
More details about this release can be found in the official announcement. You can download Manjaro Xfce 0.8.12 RC1 right now from Softpedia. This is still under development, so it's not advisable to use a production machine.
