14 DAY TRIAL // Welcome to the 149th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!
The following Linux-based operating systems have been announced last week: Fedora 15, Puppy Linux Wary 5.1.2, Linux Mint 11, Zenwalk GNOME 7.0 and Bodhi Linux 1.1.0. In other news: Nelson Marques announced that it will release the Unity interface for the OpenSuSE 11.4 operating system; the KDE project announced the first Beta release of the upcoming KDE Software Compilation 4.7. For this week we've also prepared an interesting review about the Rapid Photo Downloader application. The weekly ends with the video clip of the week, the new and updated Linux distributions, and the development releases.
Summary:
On May 24th, the Fedora Project proudly announced the immediate availability for download of the final and stable version of the highly anticipated Fedora 15 operating system. Fedora 15 is dubbed Lovelock and includes the new GNOME 3 desktop environment with the GNOME Shell user interface.
Highlights of Fedora 15:
· Linux kernel 2.6.38.6; · Btrfs filesystem; · GNOME 3 desktop environment; · Indic typing booster; · Better crash reporting; · Redesigned SELinux troubleshooter; · Gnome Shell user interface; · GTK+ 3.0; · Xorg Server 1.10; · Deja Dup backup software; · LibreOffice 3.3 open source office suite; · Mozilla Firefox 4.0 web browser; · BoxGrinder appliance (virtual machines) builder; · Ledger, double-entry accounting system; · Higher compression in live images; · recoll, full-text search tool; · Dynamic firewall; · IcedTea Java plugin; · RPM 4.9; · Python 3.2; · Rails 3.0.3; · OCaml 3.12; · FreeIPA 2.0; · Maven 3; · GNU Debugger (GDB) 7.3; · GCC 4.6; · Sugar .92 environment; · eCryptfs support in authconfig; · LZMA comperssion for Live images; · Power Management improvements; · Retrace server; · Robotics suite.
Download Fedora 15 now from Softpedia.
On May 25th, Barry Kauler announced the immediate availability for download of the Puppy Linux 5.1.2 Wary operating system, an edition of Puppy Linux intended for antique machines. The new Puppy Linux Wary 5.1.2 distribution focuses on supporting older hardware components. It also brings lots of improvements and bug fixes over previous releases.
Based on the latest version of Puppy Linux 5 (Woof), the new Wary release has better hardware detection, a experimental non-root account called 'fido', and new helpful system-level GUIs. The outdated SeaMonkey 1.1.18 with a nice collection of add-ons for limited or slow Internet connection, is the default web browser. When Mozilla will release SeaMonkey 2.1, a PET package for Puppy Wary will also be available for installation.
Download Puppy Linux Wary 5.1.2 now from Softpedia.
On May 26th, Clement Lefebvre announced the new and highly anticipated Linux Mint 11 operating system, dubbed Katya. Linux Mint 11 (Katya) is based on the recently released Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) operating system and is powered by Linux kernel 2.6.38, X.Org 7.6 and GNOME 2.32.
Highlights of Linux Mint 11:
· Based on Ubuntu 11.04; · Linux kernel 2.6.38; · No Unity shell; · GNOME 2.32.1; · One-click installer for multimedia codecs and extra apps; · Lots of improvements to The Software Manager tool; · Performance improvements to The Update Manager tool; · Various improvements to The Desktop Settings tool; · A new set of wallpapers; · mint-search-addon for Firefox 4, Chrome and Opera web browsers; · Removed Gwibber; · gThumb as default photo viewer; · Banshee as default music player; · LibreOffice 3.3 office suite; · Overlay scrollbars; · Updated Mint-X theme; · Added 'apt download' command; · Adobe Flash Player 10.2 plugin; · Lots of bug fixes.
Download Linux Mint 11 now from Softpedia.
Also on May 26th, Frederic Boulet announced the GNOME version of the Zenwalk 7.0 operating system. The new version comes with the old school GNOME 2 desktop and several package changes compared to the standard Zenwalk, along with all of the GNOME packages of course. Zenwalk GNOME 7.0 adds the recent Linux kernel 2.6.37.4 and GNOME 2.32.1.
Highlights Zenwalk GNOME 7.0:
· Linux kernel 2.6.37.4 - with BFS scheduler and performance tweaks; · GNOME 2.32.1; · NetworkManager 0.8.4; · Gedit 2.30.4; · Nautilus 2.32.2.1· · Rhythmbox 0.13.3; · Viewnior 1.1; · Simple-scan 2.32.0.2; · gThumb 2.12.3; · LibreOffice 3.3.1.
Download Zenwalk GNOME 7.0 now from Softpedia.
Also on May 26th, Jeff Hoogland proudly announced the immediate availability of the Bodhi Linux 1.1.0 operating system. Along with the usual fixes and tweaks, Bodhi Linux 1.1.0 comes with a new kernel and a recent Enlightenment build. There is also some updated artwork, a new boot splash and login image has been added and five new Enlightenment themes are now available.
Highlight of Bodhi Linux 1.1.0:
Included in the ISO image: · Linux Kernel 2.6.39; · Enlightenment SVN Build from 05/23/11; · Intel 2.15 Drivers; · Midori 0.3.6.
In the repository: · Firefox 4.0.1; · Chromium Browser 11; · nVidia Driver 270.41.
Download Bodhi Linux 1.1.0 now from Softpedia.
· On May 19th, Nelson Marques announced that he's working very hard on packaging the famous Unity interface from Canonical/Ubuntu to the openSUSE 11.4 operating system. At the moment, only Unity 2D will be included in the openSUSE 11.4 GNOME:Ayatana software repository, and work on porting Unity 3D will continue. An 1-Click installer will also be available for those who want to test Unity under openSUSE. Read more about it here.
· On May 25th, the KDE project announced the first beta of the upcoming KDE Software Compilation 4.7 environment. From this point forward, the focus will be on bug fixing and polish, no new features will be added meaning that what you get with KDE Software Compilation 4.7 Beta 1 you'll also get with the final version, albeit in a rougher form. Read more about it here.
Review of the Week: Rapid Photo Downloader 0.4.1
· Downloading many photos at once can become a hassle at times, especially if there are hundreds of images separated only by a simple alphanumeric sequence. Rapid Photo Downloader is a software designed specifically with this task in mind, to ease the transfer of multiple files, from a photo or video camera to a personal computer.
Rapid Photo Downloader is an application that lives up to its promise. However, as the version number suggests, is not even close to complete. We could use a lot more parameters for renaming files, and the back-up feature could be a little more comprehensive (with more options).
Read the complete review here.
Video Clip of the Week: Fedora 15 Review
· For this week we've posted a 720p HD video clip that offers an in-depth look at Fedora 15 "Lovelock", sporting the new stable GNOME 3 desktop environment and the GNOME Shell interface. The video has 19 minutes and 17 seconds, and it was posted by InfinitelyGalactic. Enjoy!
· SecUntu 0.5 · Wolfer Linux 2 RC4
Distributions Updated Last Week:
· R.I.P. 12.6 · GParted LiveCD 0.8.1-3 · Berry Linux 1.10 · Trisquel 4.5.1 · Turtle Kevux 0.9.3 · SlimPup 2.1
Development Releases:
· grml 2011.05 RC1
· Calculate Linux Desktop 11.6 Beta 1
· Fuduntu 14.10 RC
· BlankOn Sajadah 7.0 Beta 1
· Clonezilla LiveCD 1.2.8-46
· ConnochaetOS 0.9.0 RC0
· Tiny Core Linux 3.7 RC2
· Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.7 Beta
See you again at the end of next week for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.