14 DAY TRIAL // Slackware Linux, a complete 32-bit multitasking "UNIX-like" system that is currently based around the 3.10 Linux kernel series, is now at version 14.1 Beta.
Slackware Linux 13.37 has been for a long time in development, but the 14.x branch seem to be advancing a lot faster than the previous version.
The biggest change in the latest version of Slackaware is the addition of a new stable kernel, 3.10.12. This is a very big improvement and it's good to see that the developers have decided to add a much newer kernel to the distribution.
“Hey folks, I'm calling this a beta! Really, it's been better than beta quality for a while. There will probably still be a few more updates here and there (and certainly updates to the docs),” stated the developers in the official changelog.
Other major changes include the addition of GRUB 2.0, Mozilla Firefox 24.0 ESR, Mozilla Thhunderbird 24.0 ESR, and a host of other updated packages.
The developer has also chosen to revert from using efibootmgr 0.6.0 to an older functional version. How this decision will impact the UEFI capabilities of the distribution remains to be seen by the time of the launch.
A complete changelog that encompasses all the changes and the updates can be found in the official announcement. Users have been asked to test the distribution and make suggestions where they're due.
A full installation of Slackware Linux will give users the X Window System, C/C++ development environments, Perl, networking utilities, a mail server, a news server, a web server, an ftp server, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, Netscape Communicator, plus many more programs.
Download Slackware Linux 14.1 Beta 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.