F16 release announcement

The Fedora Project is pleased to announce the release of Fedora 16 ("Verne"). For detailed information, see the release notes:

http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/16/html/Release_Notes/

Fedora is a leading-edge, free and open source operating system that continues to deliver innovative features to many users, with a new release about every six months. Fedora 16 brings exciting new features for desktop users, for system administrators, and for developers. Highlights of these features can be found below. If the mere mention of Fedora 16 is all you need, download options can be found at:

http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora

What's New in Fedora 16?

For desktop users

A journey to the center of the desktop

• Gnome 3.2 The latest update to the most popular desktop environment brings new features, including
  • System Settings will gain an "Online Accounts" panel, which provides a central point for managing online accounts like Google, Facebook etc.
  • A new contact management application integrating with Empathy, Evolution and the new "Online Accounts" settings panel.
  • A new document management application, which provides a simpler alternative to traditional file management for both local and "in-cloud" documents.
• KDE 4.7 The most recent version of this feature-rich desktop environment brings more than just small updates.
  • DigiKam 2.0 adds face detection and recognition, geotagging and more.
  • Updates to the Plasma Workspaces window manager (KWin) makes it better suited for mobile devices, and also adds improvements for desktop users.
  • The new shutdown dialog allows users with multiple operating systems can select which one to reboot to.

For developers

Twenty thousands lines in C

• Perl 5.14 A new version of Perl brings many enhancements, including Unicode 6.0 support.
• GCC Python Plugins Extend GCC with Python 2 and 3, without dealing with the C internals of GCC.
• D2 Fedora 16 is the first Linux distribution to include the newest version of D, a systems programming language combining the power and high performance of C and C++ with the programmer productivity of modern languages such as Ruby and Python.

For system administrators

Around the world in eighty columns

• GRUB2 This leap forward allows better configuration options and better support for non-x86 architectures.
• 1000 system accounts Fedora 16 starts user IDs at 1000, providing more room for system accounts, making it easier for administrators not have services run as root.
• Chrony Chrony provides network time protocol (NTP) client and server pieces which are more tolerant of unstable clocks and Internet connections which are not always on.
• ext4 driver mounts ext2 and ext3 Fedora 16 uses the ext4 driver to mount ext2 and ext3 file systems, reducing the size of the kernel code.
• Improved virtualization tools:
  • Fedora 16 provides improvements to virtual networking, making large deployments easier.
  • Virt-manager guest inspection is a unique-to-Fedora tool allowing read-only access to guest file systems, applications, and Windows registry.
  • Fedora 16 provides locking of virtual disks to prevent a disk being used by multiple virtual machines simultaneously.

This is only a taste of what is included in Fedora 16. A more detailed list can be found at:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/16/FeatureList

Fedora 16 is not science fiction, it is here right now:

http://get.fedoraproject.org

If you are upgrading from a previous release of Fedora, refer to

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Upgrading

Fedora 16 full release notes and guides for several languages are available at:

http://docs.fedoraproject.org/

Fedora 16 common bugs are documented at:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F16_bugs

Fedora Spins

Fedora spins are alternate version of Fedora, tailored for various types of users via hand-picked application set or customizations. They can be found at:

http://spins.fedoraproject.org

Contributing

There are many ways to contribute beyond bug reporting. You can help translate software and content, test and give feedback on software updates, write and edit documentation, design and do artwork, help with all sorts of promotional activities, and package free software for use by millions of Fedora users worldwide. To get started, visit http://join.fedoraproject.org today!

Contact information

Journalists and reporters can find additional information at:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Press