Linux XP

Linux XP is a Fedora-based Russian distribution with the goal of porting the Windows XP user interface to the GNOME desktop. The latest version is 2008, released earlier this week: "Linux XP Desktop 2008 is officially released. It includes many new features and modern desktop themes. There are several exclusive applications in Linux XP to simplify system administration and user data migration from Windows to Linux XP. Features: Windows-like interface; 3D desktop; advanced control panel, simple file system layout, Windows migration tool; advanced network functions; easy installation; full NTFS file system support; easy program installation; advanced security functions; support for all modern file formats..." See the brief release announcement on the distribution's home page and the more detailed release notes with screenshots for more information. Currently only the Russian edition is available for free download: LXPD-2008-RU-R-639-i386-DVD.iso (1,528MB, MD5, torrent).

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KNOPPIX

Klaus Knopper has announced the release of KNOPPIX 5.3.1. From the changelog: "Dist-upgrade to Debian 'Lenny' (testing + unstable); changes initial boot system from initrd to initramfs for easier customisation; kernel 2.6.24.4 with custom modules - GSPCA, QEMU, KVM, VirtualBox, NDISwrapper, AVM; updated WiFi drivers and firmware for ipw*; Compiz 3D window manager 0.7.3 with experimental Compiz Fusion modules; KDE 3.5.9, KDE 4.0 as experimental boot option; ADRIANE, audio desktop with text-to-speech and Braille support, first release; Cloop 2.624 realtime decompression with threads and experimental 'suspend' feature; OpenOffice.org 2.3.1; VirtualBox OSE edition; Orca as screen reader for GTK+ programs; updated hard disk installer '0wn'; updated NTFS-3G." Download: KNOPPIX_V5.3.1DVD-2008-03-26-EN.iso (4,241MB, MD5, torrent), KNOPPIX_V5.3.1DVD-2008-03-26-DE.iso (4,241MB, MD5, torrent).

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FreeBSD

FreeBSD 7.0 has been released: "The FreeBSD Release Engineering Team is pleased to announce the availability of FreeBSD 7.0-RELEASE. This is the first release from the 7-STABLE branch which introduces many new features along with many improvements to functionality present in the earlier branches. Some of the highlights: dramatic improvements in performance and SMP scalability shown by various database and other benchmarks; the ULE scheduler is vastly improved, providing improved performance and interactive response; experimental support for Sun's ZFS file system; gjournal can be used to set up journaled file systems, gvirstor can be used as a virtualized storage provider; read-only support for the XFS file system; the Unionfs file system has been fixed...." Read the release announcement and release notes for further details. Download (FTP mirrors, torrents): 7.0-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso (509MB, MD5), 7.0-RELEASE-amd64-disc1.iso (499MB, MD5).

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Fedora

Jesse Keating has announced the availability of the alpha release of Fedora 10, the first development milestone leading towards the stable distribution release in late October 2008: "In an ongoing effort to prevent premature kitten death, the Fedora Project is ecstatic to present the availability of Fedora 10 (Cambridge) Alpha. Test now, make it better now, keep Cambridge on schedule, and protect the kittens in the future. Some highlights: many improvements, bug fixes, and enhancements from upstream; new graphical boot environment; wireless connection sharing; audio improvements to remove glitches; security audit tool; improved webcam support; better IR remote control support; RPM 4.6; OCaml; Haskell." See the release announcement and release notes for further information. A set of live and installation media is available for download from Fedora mirrors or via BitTorrent: Fedora-10-Alpha-i686-Live.iso (697MB, SHA1, torrent), Fedora-10-Alpha-i686-Live-KDE.iso (689MB, SHA1, torrent), Fedora-10-Alpha-x86_64-Live.iso (701MB, SHA1, torrent), Fedora-10-Alpha-x86_64-Live-KDE.iso (693MB, SHA1, torrent).

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Slacware

Patrick Volkerding has announced the release of Slackware Linux 12.1: "Well folks, it's that time to announce a new stable Slackware release again. So, without further ado, announcing Slackware version 12.1! Since we've moved to supporting the 2.6 kernel series exclusively (and fine-tuned the system to get the most out of it), we feel that Slackware 12.1 has many improvements over our last release (Slackware 12.0) and is a must-have upgrade for any Slackware user. Among the many program updates and distribution enhancements, you'll find better support for RAID, LVM, and cryptsetup; a network capable (FTP and HTTP, not only NFS) installer; and two of the most advanced desktop environments available today: Xfce 4.4.2, a fast, lightweight, and visually appealing desktop environment, and KDE 3.5.9, the latest 3.x version of the full-featured K Desktop Environment." More details in the release announcement. Order the official installation DVD from Slackware store (US$49.95) or download it via BitTorrent: slackware-12.1-install-dvd.iso (3,862MB). Happy slacking!

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Mint

Clement Lefebvre has announced the release of Linux Mint 5.0, an enhanced and user-friendly desktop Linux distribution based on Ubuntu 8.04: "It is with great pleasure that I officially announce the release of Linux Mint 5 Elyssa." Among the many new characteristics of this release the most notable are: miscellaneous improvements to mintMenu, mintUpdate and mintInstall; various feature enhancements on the GNOME desktop; performance improvements through reduced memory usage; improved usability compliant with the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines; more available software and better localisation; changes in default software selection (Transmission, Rhythmbox, Brasero...); upstream improvements, including the PulseAudio sound server and a new command-line firewall configuration tool. Read the brief release announcement and check out the comprehensive release notes for further information. Download: LinuxMint-5-r1.iso (691MB, MD5). Besides the standard edition, Linux Mint 5 "Light", containing no proprietary software and restricted file formats, is also available.

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Debian

Daniel Baumann has announced the availability of the first set of live CD images for Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 "Lenny", complete with a hard disk installer and available in three desktop variants (GNOME, KDE and Xfce): "The Debian Live team is pleased to announce the first beta of Debian Lenny's Live images. This is the first official release of Debian Live and the whole team has been working hard during the past 2.5 years to make Debian's own live systems become a reality. Main features: 100% Debian; Live Magic - a GUI front-end around the live-helper scripts, offering a subset of the features of live-helper in an easy-to-use graphical user interface; Live Installer - a special udeb for the Debian Installer that installs the system from the live image." Read the full release announcement for more details and known issues. Download (MD5): debian-live-lenny-i386-gnome-desktop.iso (733MB), debian-live-lenny-i386-kde-desktop.iso (702MB), debian-live-lenny-i386-xfce-desktop.iso (503MB). ISO images for the amd64 architecture are also available.

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PC-BSD

Kris Moore has announced the availability of the first beta release of PC-BSD 7.0, a user-friendly desktop operating system based on FreeBSD 7.0: "The PC-BSD team is pleased to announce the immediate availability of PC-BSD version 7-BETA1! This release marks the first PC-BSD based on FreeBSD 7-STABLE and the KDE 4.1 desktop, and also provides many new ways to install, including DVD, USB and network/Internet installation choices. Our PBI site has also been updated with a wide variety of software ready for PC-BSD 7, with more being added weekly. This release is beta, which means things are still being worked on and fixed in preparation for the final release. Users are encouraged to report bugs to our bug database or our testing mailing list." More information can be found in the release announcement, release notes and changelog. Download the installation DVD image from here: PCBSD7-x86-BETA1-DVD.iso (1,989MB, MD5, torrent).

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Mandriva

Adam Williamson has announced the availability of the second beta release of Mandriva Linux 2009: "Mandriva is proud to announce the release of Mandriva Linux 2009 Beta 2 'okapi'. This beta includes a completely new installer for the Free (and, in the final release, Powerpack) edition, and is testing the Fedora system-config-printer printer configuration tool as an alternative to printerdrake. The new beta also brings Firefox 3, OpenOffice.org 3.0 beta, and support for the Ethernet adapter used in many new Eee PC (and other netbook) models. As always, Mandriva reminds you not to use pre-releases in any critical situation; install them only on a test system or partition, or in a virtual machine. Additionally, we strongly discourage using this pre-release to upgrade from any earlier release of Mandriva Linux." Read the release announcement and release notes for more details. Download: mandriva-linux-free-2009-okapi-dvd-i586.iso (3,950MB, MD5), mandriva-linux-free-2009-okapi-dvd-x86_64.iso (3,982MB, MD5).

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Ubuntu

The fourth alpha release of Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" is ready for testing: "New features: X.Org server 1.5 brings much better support for hot-pluggable input devices such as tablets, keyboards, or mice; Linux kernel 2.6.26; encrypted private directory; guest session - the GNOME user switching applet now provides an extra entry for starting a guest session, this creates a temporary password-less user account with restricted privileges; Network Manager 0.7 which comes with long-expected features, such as managing system-wide settings, 3G connections (GSM/CDMA.), multiple active devices, PPP and PPPoE connections, devices with static IP configurations, routes for devices." Read the release announcement and release notes for more details and known issues. Download (MD5): intrepid-desktop-i386.iso (691MB, torrent), intrepid-desktop-amd64.iso (692MB, torrent). As usual, other Ubuntu sub-projects, including Kubuntu (download) and Xubuntu (download), have also released new alpha builds.

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