14 DAY TRIAL // Oracle has announced that its Oracle Linux operating system has reached version 7.0 Beta 1, bringing new features, updated packages, and several improvements, just like it does in all the new releases.
It's been quite a while since the previous Oracle Linux update, but the developer of this Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.0-based on operating system implemented a huge number of fixes and improvements.
“We are pleased to announce the availability of the first beta build for Oracle Linux 7. The beta is available to download from the Oracle Linux download page on Oracle Technology Network. The Oracle Linux 7 beta includes the latest beta build of Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) Release 3 Update 2, as well the Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK). We are very interested in your feedback and have setup a new mailing list for users to post their questions and comments,” said the developers in the official announcement.
As usual, each new version of Oracle Linux comes with multiple Linux kernel versions available. First of all, there is the Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK), which is based on mainline Linux version 3.10. This particular version is not the newest you can find, but it is a long term support one. It's also the default version used in the distribution, although that might change before the final release of the new OS.
The Oracle developers also make their own kernel. Users of Oracle Linux 7.0 Beta 1 will have access to the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3 (UEK R3) starting with 3.8.13, which is based on the mainline Linux kernel version 3.8.
Oracle Linux 7.0 Beta 1 uses the Anaconda installer that is also employed by the Fedora developers for their OS and comes with a number of changes. For example, an enhanced graphical interface has been added, a new text interface that can be used in a write-only mode has been implemented, support has been added for the non-partitioned, directly-formatted devices, tmpfs can now be configured as part of the installation, and users can now also configure btrfs, ext4, or XFS for the root file system.
The boot loader has also received some additional support, for the BIOS, EFI, Open Firmware, GPT, HFS+, and NTFS.
More details about the latest Oracle Linux distro can be found in the official announcement. Download Oracle Linux 7.0 Beta 1 right now from Softpedia.
Remember that this is a development version and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.