Mandriva, a worldwide Linux solutions provider, has announced the release of Mandriva Linux 2009. Mandriva Linux, formerly known as Mandrake Linux, was founded by Gael Duval, who now heads the Ulteo Project. Mandriva Linux was one of the first stable, desktop-oriented Linux distributions, back when there were only a handful of distributions.
Mandriva Linux for the desktop is available in three flavors:
- Mandriva One: a free edition that also contains non-free, proprietary software
- Mandriva Free: Similar to gNewSense in that it ships with just free and open source software
- Mandriva Powerpack: A commercial edition
Changes in Mandriva Linux 2009:
- An updated set of commercial applications in the Powerpack edition: Fluendo audio and video codecs, advanced touching-up of digital images with LightZone, virtualisation with VmWare, and Google applications
- Complete overhaul of the graphic installer
- Simplification and improved reliability of application installations and updates: notification of new distribution versions via Mandriva Online, and automatic configuration of official repositories
- Latest versions of leading open source applications: integration of KDE 4.1, GNOME 2.24, OpenOffice.org 3, Firefox 3
- Faster boot time
- Improved parental control utility, now with time-based restrictions
- Installer now capable of detecting low-resource systems or netbooks, and installing an appropriate environment (GNOME is default for netbooks)
- Detection and optional automatic removal of packages known as orphans (packages previously installed which are no longer required) to optimize free space and future updates
- Constantly improving hardware support (kernel 2.6.27) with particular attention paid to netbooks
- Easy, 100% graphical synchronization with mobile devices: Windows Mobile 2002 and 2003 as well as Windows Mobile 5 and 6, all Blackberry devices, and many Nokia devices
All three flavors of Mandriva Linux are available for download here. Our review of Mandriva Linux will soon be updated to reflect changes in the latest edition.
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