As usual the new Foresight Linux release is the first distro to feature the new GNOME desktop environment, GNOME 2.22. Besides that, the rPath based distro has some new things to offer with the new version:
- A new .tar based installer which should take no more than 10 minutes to install, according to the release announcement.
- PackageKit software administration.
- Syslinux bootloader instead of GRUB.
- Improved ease of installation and use for ATI and nVidia drivers.
So if you’d like to give Foresight a try or just want to see what the new GNOME 2.22 is all about, you can go and get it from the rPath download mirrors.
GNOME 2.22 is the new version of the most widely used Linux desktop graphical environment.
It’s now ready for use after half a year since the last stable GNOME release (the GNOME project releases new stable versions bianually).
Among the many new goodies in GNOME 2.22 are:
- The GVFS virtual filesystem framework an under-the-hood improvement so that external mounted volumes become more transparent to the desktop environment and all of its apps.
- The PolicyKit framework aims to make privilege management safer for users.
- Cheese is a free clone inspired by Apple’s Photoboot, an app developed to take and process photos from your webcam and also video.
- Vinagre a remote desktop client.
- Evolution remains GNOME’s mail and calendar client but now it supports Google Calendars.
- Totem has now better subtitle management.
GNOME 2.22 will become available in a distro near you in the following weeks. Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron and Fedora 9 will feature it but, if you just can’t wait, Foresight Linux 2.0 is released now, at the same time GNOME 2.22, was and it already has it. For more details, new characteristics and some photos go to the GNOME Project official release notes web page.
