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Fedora 11 Preview:
When Fedora 10 was released, users and press alike gushed: "Slick and stable... has a rock solid feel." "Fast and easy." "A great release." What's next for the free operating system that shows off the best new technology of tomorrow? You can find out at:
http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease
We also hope to repeat the crazy success of Fedora 10's Beta contest! Test five things in the Beta that are important to you as a user. If you find a bug *and* report it, you get the free attention of a package maintainer on a problem personally important to you! Do your part to make Fedora 11 that much better.
Among the top features of this ground-breaking release:
- Automatic Fonts & Mime Installer - Allows programs on the desktop to automatically install applications, fonts, multimedia capabilities, and clipart.
- Fingerprint Readers - Better experience for systems with fingerprint readers, including support through the graphical Authentication Configuration tool and gnome-about-me.
- Intel, ATI, and Nvidia kernel modesetting - Fedora 10 provided the first steps by a major distribution in using the kernel modesetting (KMS) feature to speed up graphical boot. Fedora 11 has increased the video card coverage of the KMS feature, with more to come.
- Virt Console - Fedora 11 provides more accurate mouse pointer positioning and higher screen resolutions for virtual machine consoles, along with other improvements such as simpler use of USB devices.
- MinGW Cross-compiler - Build and test full-featured Microsoft Windows programs, from the comfort of a Fedora system, without needing to use that "other OS."
- Volume Control - The multimedia experience of Fedora users is improved by an easily understandable and much more flexible volume control.
But wait, there's more! For developers there are all sorts of goodies:
- Python 2.6 - This new version in Fedora is a precursor to Python 3000 (3.0), including many compatibility measures to help developers get their code prepared for the next generation of Python.
- NetBeans 6.5 - NetBeans IDE 6.5 is a significant update of NetBeans IDE 6.1 that includes improved JavaScript, AJAX, Ruby, and database support.
- gcc 4.4 - The gcc compiler suite has been updated to the latest version, featuring better error detection for the latest in safety and execution.
- Eclipse profiling tools - Add the power of various native profiling tools into the Eclipse IDE and integrate with the rest of the development environment.
Peek under the hood and there is still more:
- Desktop Environments - Updates to Gnome 2.26 and KDE 4.2.1 bring the latest innovations and functionality to desktop users. Xfce and Sugar have also been updated.
- Anaconda Storage - New storage code for the Anaconda installer improves the ability to handle new types of storage. The rewrite does not change the user interface.
- Minimal Platform - New installer features make it much easier to create very small installations for embedded applications, such as for a server or desktop appliance.
- Control groups - Allows system administrator to partition the system resources into different sub groups, and dedicate these sub groups resources to different applications' need.
- DeviceKit - A simple, modular system service to manage devices and designed to partially replace HAL. Users gain a graphical disk management application that integrates nicely into the desktop.
- DNS Security - DNSSEC (DNS SECurity) is a mechanism that can prove integrity and authenticity of DNS data.
- ext4 filesystem - ext4 is the new default file system for Fedora 11 (replacing ext3) allowing for larger file system support and better performance by providing real-time fragmentation prevention and smarter data allocations.
- sVirt MAC - sVirt integrates SELinux with the Fedora virtualization stack to allow Mandatory Access Control (MAC) security be applied to guest virtual machines
- Power Management - Fedora 11 includes new power monitoring utilities and a new system daemon that automatically adjusts power settings to reflect the current system use. There is also a facility to review the system and make suggestions on improving power consumption.
- IBus input method - Ibus has been rewritten in C, and provides a simple, clean default system for changing the way international users input information into a Fedora system.
And that is only the beginning. A more complete list and details of each new cited feature is available:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/11/FeatureList
For release information, including common and known bugs, please refer to the release notes:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_11_Beta_release_notes
Since this is a Beta release, there may still be some rough spots still in the polishing phase. Some of them are already known and in the process of fixing. If you find a problem, please check the list of known issues and then file a bug:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_11_Beta_release_notes#Known_Issues