14 DAY TRIAL // MEPIS has now made available the third release candidate of its upcoming Linux-based operating system, SimplyMEPIS 8.5 RC 3. The new release comes with several updates, both upgraded packages and fresh features, and is available for 32-bit, as well as 64-bit platforms. There is no clear time frame for the final release but this is the last release candidate version and SimplyMEPIS 8.5 should be coming in a week or two.
"We've updated the kernel to 2.6.32.10. The release notes from the Linux Kernel Team indicated that they have been hard at work making improvements. We have changed the Live media to use isolinux. This gave us the opportunity to add a hardware exploration tool to the boot options. Also we've expended the number of languages that can be selected at live boot. Soon we expect to take advantage of this to build a larger international Live media release, that will have appropriate KDE localizations built-in," Warren Woodford, founder of MEPIS, wrote in the official announcement.
Other than the updated kernel, which is now at the latest stable version - 2.6.32.10 - there don't seem to be that many updated packages, as SimplyMEPIS 8.5 RC 3 is focused more on new features. The changes mostly concern the Live CD environment, which is now more flexible thanks to the fresh hardware detection tool. SimplyMEPIS 8.5 RC 3 also comes with better localization and international support.
About SimplyMEPIS
SimplyMEPIS is a Linux distribution based on Debian Lenny. It features an LTS (Long Term Support) kernel and provides users with upgrades for all important packages. The MEPIS Assistant tools ensure that SimplyMEPIS can be used successfully in a desktop environment. SimplyMEPIS 8.5 RC 3 is the final release candidate and the stable version should be coming soon, the previous RC having been launched a little over a week ago.
Download SimplyMEPIS 8.5 RC3 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a development release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only.