Announcing Fedora 11 Beta

[Jesse Keating]

This is the part where I usually come up with something clever to say
before the useful information regarding a development release.  I had
something great, I really did.  In fact I had the most clever statement
in the world.  Only you see, my cat jumped on my keyboard, right when I
was testing emacs (I don't even use emacs!) and the darn X session just
got zapped!  All my cleverness gone, and this, well this is just a
tribute.

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.

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/

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

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla

-- 
Jesse Keating
Fedora -- Freedom² is a feature!
identi.ca: http://identi.ca/jkeating