The weekly roundup for Linux users

Dec 14, 2009 10:38 GMT  ·  By

Welcome to the 75th issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly!

The following Linux-based operating systems were announced last week: SimplyMEPIS 8.5 Beta 1, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 1, Sabayon Linux 5.1 and Elive 1.9.52. In other news: Google releases the Beta version of the amazing Chrome 4.0 web browser for Linux users; Mozilla releases the final version of the improved Thunderbird 3.0 mail and RSS client. This week's video clip shows an amazingly well done commercial of the Sabayon 5 Linux-based operating system. The weekly ends with the latest Linux distributions released and updated last week, and the development releases. Enjoy!

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Summary:

dots SimplyMEPISOn December 7th, Warren Woodford and the hard working MEPIS developers announced the first Beta release of the upcoming SimplyMEPIS 8.5 operating system, for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. SimplyMEPIS 8.5 is still based on the Debian Lenny Linux distribution, but it is now powered by the recently released Linux kernel 2.6.32 and it is built on top of the KDE 4.3.2 desktop environment.

Highlights of SimplyMEPIS 8.5 Beta 1:

· Linux kernel 2.6.32-1; · EXT4 filesystem; · KDE 4.3.2; · Mozilla Firefox 3.5.5; · Google Gadgets 0.11.0; · Kdenlive 0.7.6; · KMPlayer 0.11.1b; · JBidwatcher; · Sun Java Runtime Environment 6; · Adobe Flash Player 10; · MEPIS Network Assistant; · MEPIS X-Windows Assistant; · MEPIS User Assistant; · MEPIS System Assistant; · New artwork!

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SimplyMEPIS 8.5 Beta 1

Download SimplyMEPIS 8.5 Beta 1 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a beta release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only.

dots UbuntuOn December 10th, Canonical developers proudly announced that the first Alpha version of the upcoming Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) operating system had been released. As usual, we've downloaded a copy of it in order to keep you up-to-date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS development.

Highlights of Ubuntu/Kubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 1:

· Linux kernel 2.6.32; · Fast boot and resume; · GNOME 2.29.3; · KDE SC 4.4 Beta 1; · Byobu Window Manager; · Long Term Support!

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Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 1

Download Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 1 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is an alpha release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only.

dots SabayonOn December 12th, Fabio Erculiani proudly announced the immediate availability of the Sabayon Linux 5.1 operating system, now with KDE Software Compilation 4.3.4 and GNOME 2.28. Being based on GCC 4.4.1 and Glibc 2.10, this new release of Sabayon Linux offers numerous improvements and features, a "ready-to-use" version of the powerful and popular XBMC Media Center, a complete KDE SC desktop experience, OpenOffice.org 3.1 and all the other applications you'll ever need. Sabayon Linux 5.1 KDE is available for the x86 and x86_64 architectures, featuring a custom Linux kernel 2.6.31 and X.Org 7.5, with the latest Nvidia and ATI video drivers.

Highlights of Sabayon Linux 5.1:

· Based on Glibc 2.10 and GCC 4.4.1; · Linux kernel 2.6.31 optimized for desktop performance; · X.Org 7.5; · KDE SC 4.3.4; · GNOME 2.28; · OpenVZ and Server kernels (available in default repos); · Multi-language installer; · EXT4 filesystem; · Support for encrypted filesystems (available via installer); · Entropy framework 0.99.19.1; · Support to run Sabayon Linux from Windows, with QEMU; · XBMC Media Center 9.04.1; · World of Goo Demo; · New artwork; · OpenOffice 3.1 office suite; · Out of the box 3D desktop effects!

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Sabayon Linux 5.1

Download Sabayon Linux 5.1 GNOME Edition right now from Softpedia.

Download Sabayon Linux 5.1 KDE Edition right now from Softpedia.

dots EliveOn December 13th, the Elive team announced the release of Elive 1.9.52. Being powered by Debian, the Enlightenment E17 desktop environment and Linux kernel 2.6.30, the new development version of Elive brings many improvements and bug fixes in various areas. This release also features a new set of E17 modules, improved support for Bluetooth devices and a new MSN instant messenger.

Highlights of Elive 1.9.52:

· Updated Linux kernel packages to version 2.6.30; · Out-of-the-box support for Bluetooth devices; · New E17 modules (available in the "Features" category, in the E17's preferences dialog); · Trayer was moved to E17's systray; · Added Power Manager tool for notebooks; · Emesene replaced Amsn as the default IM client for the MSN protocol.

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Elive Linux

Download Elive 1.9.52 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is an unstable release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only!

dots Other NewsOther news:

· Google announced on December 8th that the Chrome web browser for Linux was finally in a Beta state and had been added on the official Chrome website for download. The actual version is Google Chrome 4.0.249.30 and it comes with binary packages for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and OpenSuSE operating systems. Both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures are supported at this time, as well as a preinstalled repository (at least on the Ubuntu platform) for easy updates. Read more about it here.

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· On December 9th, Mozilla announced the final release of the Thunderbird 3.0 e-mail, RSS and newsgroup client. Thunderbird 3.0 introduces tabbed e-mail experience, e-mail archiving (including GMail), a redesigned preferences and add-ons management dialogs (just like the ones from Firefox), global search and, last but not least, performance improvements. Based on the Gecko 1.9.1.5 platform, Thunderbird 3.0 for Linux is faster, more stable and eats fewer RAM. Read more about it here.

dots Video Clip of the WeekVideo Clip of the Week: Sabayon 5 Commercial

· For this week, we've posted a very nice and well done video commercial of the Sabayon 5 Linux operating system. The video has 54 seconds, and it was posted by the Sh4ke0. Enjoy!

Download from SoftpediaNew Distributions:

· Dime 65 CSA Server 1.0.0 · ArchOne KDE Edition 2009.12 · Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS Alpha 1 · Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud 10.04 LTS Alpha 1 · Ubuntu ARM 10.04 LTS Alpha 1 · Kubuntu 10.04 Alpha 1 · Kubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04 LTS Alpha 1 · Xubuntu 10.04 LTS Alpha 1 · Unity Linux 2010 Beta 1 · Comal-Linux 1230

Download from SoftpediaDistributions Updated Last Week:

· Virt-P2V 0.9.9 · Generations Linux 3.0.6 · ArchOne 2009.12 · PC/OS 2009.3 · Ultimate Edition 2.5 · GNUstep Live CD 2.0 · Webconverger 5.8

Download from SoftpediaDevelopment Releases:

· Clonezilla LiveCD 1.2.3-18

See you again next Monday, December 21st, for another issue of Softpedia Linux Weekly.