Fedora 14, known as "Laughlin," officially launched on Tuesday, offering numerous new features aimed at enhancing the user experience for this open-source desktop operating system.
Usability Focus
In recent releases, Fedora, sponsored by Red Hat, has concentrated on improving usability. According to DistroWatch, Fedora is the second most popular Linux distribution after Ubuntu. Recent improvements have targeted networking, software management, and hardware support, focusing on bug fixes and stability in the latest release.
Enhanced Desktop Environment
One significant addition to Fedora 14 is "libjpegturbo," a library that dramatically improves performance for users loading and saving JPEG images. This library "practically halves processing time on most systems," claim the developers, even benefiting those on older hardware.
Another notable feature is SPICE (Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environment), a desktop virtualization framework enhancing the remote desktop experience. SPICE provides sound, display, and device support, along with basic support for accelerated 2D graphics and encryption.
For netbook and small device users, Fedora 14 includes a subset of MeeGo, offering a better experience on these platforms.
Cloud Availability
Fedora 14 is the first version available on Amazon's EC2 cloud computing environment, allowing systems administrators to test its cutting-edge features in the cloud. This offers a preview of future updates for downstream distributions like Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
Improved Server Management
Support for Intel's IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) remote server management software makes it easier for systems administrators to manage hardware remotely. This includes features like Serial-over-LAN and identity LED manipulation.
System Initialization and Session Management
Fedora 14 introduces the new systemd, a next-generation system initialization and session management daemon set to replace Upstart and System V init. Systemd offers benefits such as parallel and on-demand service starting, faster boot times, and improved process, daemon, and socket tracking.
Developer Tools
Developers will find improved debugging tools in Fedora 14, including a new Python scripting feature in GDB, the GNU debugger. Fedora 14 includes Python 2.7, Rakudo Star (Perl 6 implementation), and support for the D programming language, which blends the power of C and C++ with the productivity of modern languages like Ruby and Python.
Technical Specifications
Named after Nobel Laureate and physicist Robert Laughlin, Fedora 14 runs version 2.6.35 of the Linux kernel. The default desktop environment is GNOME 2.32, with KDE 4.5 also available. The distribution is available for 32- and 64-bit systems from the project's site. Fedora 15 is scheduled for release in April 2011.
Conclusion
Fedora 14 is a robust new release with numerous compelling features, making it well worth exploring for both users and developers.
