PCLinuxOS 2012-02 "Phoenix Xfce"

PCLinuxOS "Phoenix", an edition of the distribution featuring the Xfce desktop environment, has been updated to version 2012-02: "PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2012-02 is now available for download. It features the following updates: Xfce 4.8.3 desktop environment; the Linux kernel was updated to version 2.6.38.8, additional kernels are available from our repositories; X.Org Server was updated to version 1.10.4, Mesa updated to 7.11.2 and libdrm to version 2.4.26 - this update brings enhancements to the PCLinuxOS desktop including speed, 3D desktop support for most Intel, NVIDIA and AMD/ATI video cards, better font rendering, black screen fixes for most NVIDIA cards, better Flash playback and more; Toolchain - the GCC software compiler was updated to version 4.5.2 and glibc updated to 2.13.4; locales were updated to version 2.13.1; theme update.... Here is the full release announcement. Download: pclinuxos-phoenix-2012-02.iso (675MB, MD5).

Fuduntu 2012.1

Andrew Wyatt has announced the release of Fuduntu 2012.1, a new quarterly update of the distribution that was forked from Fedora last year: "The Fuduntu quarterly installation ISO image (2012.1) is now available for immediate download. This release marks a shift in release numbering. Going forward, Fuduntu releases will be numbered as follows: Year.Release. As we are a rolling release distribution with quarterly snapshots, you should expect four roll-up releases this year. We do not define a specific release date, we release when we believe it is ready which may happen at any time after the beginning of each quarter. Package updates in this release: Linux Kernel 3.1.6, Chromium 16, Adobe Flash Player 11.1.102.55. Many new packages are available in the repository including Xfce 4.8, LibreOffice 3.4.3, and Firefox and Thunderbird 9." Read the full release announcement for a more detailed description of the changes. Download (SHA1) links: Fuduntu-2012.1-i686-LiveDVD.iso (893MB), Fuduntu-2012.1-x86_64-LiveDVD.iso (915MB).

Release: Gentoo Linux 12.0

David Abbott has announced the release of Gentoo Linux 12.0. The live DVD is meant to merely showcase the current cutting-edge state of Gentoo and it does not provide a hard disk installation program. From the release announcement: "Gentoo Linux is proud to announce the availability of a new live DVD to celebrate the continued collaboration between Gentoo users and developers. The live DVD features a superb list of packages, such as Linux kernel 3.1.5, X.Org Server 1.10.4, KDE 4.7.4, GNOME 3.2.1, Xfce 4.8, Fluxbox 1.3.2, Firefox 9.0, LibreOffice 3.4.99.2, GIMP 2.6.11, Blender 2.60, Amarok 2.5, VLC 1.1.13, Chromium 16.0 and much more. Special features: writable file systems using Aufs so you can emerge new packages; persistence for $HOME is available. The live DVD is available in two flavors: a hybrid x86/x86_64 edition, and an x86_64 multi-lib edition." Download: livedvd-x86-amd64-32ul-2012.iso (3,452MB, SHA512, torrent), livedvd-amd64-multilib-2012.iso (3,716MB, SHA512, torrent).

Kororaa Linux 16 Beta

Chris Smart has announced the availability of the first beta release of Kororaa Linux 16, a Fedora-based distribution with GNOME or KDE desktops and many usability enhancements: "The first beta of Kororaa 16 (code name 'Chum') has been released and is available for download, in 32-bit and 64-bit editions for KDE and GNOME. This new release includes major updates of most packages including the Linux kernel, office and desktops (KDE 4.7 and GNOME 3.2). The GNOME 3 desktop has a custom theme available, as well as several extensions to provide an enhanced user experience (and help ease the transition from GNOME 2.x). It also comes with the GNOME Tweak Tool to allow further customisation. The KDE desktop has a custom layout with specific default applications, such as Firefox for the web and VLC for media." Read the full release announcement for a full list of tweaks and enhancements. Download (MD5) links: Kororaa-16-Beta-i686-Live-KDE.iso (1,639MB), Kororaa-16-Beta-i686-Live-GNOME.iso (1,421MB), Kororaa-16-Beta-x86_64-Live-KDE.iso (1,655MB), Kororaa-16-Beta-x86_64-Live-GNOME.iso (1,445MB).

Sabayon Linux 7 "Experimental"

Fabio Erculiani has announced the availability of three experimental editions of Sabayon Linux 7, containing the LXDE desktop environment, Enlightenment 17 and the Awesome window manager: "Directly from our 'Breaking Stuff' department, three new Sabayon 7 releases have seen the light. These releases all go under the 'Experimental' umbrella: 'LXDE' is a minimal, CD-sized flavour geared towards low-end computers, shipping the LXDE desktop environment; 'E17' is a minimal, CD-sized flavour made for people wanting to showcase the magic of Enlightenment 17; 'Awesome' window manager flavour. Features: latest and greatest package updates from repositories; Linux kernel 3.1...." Here is the brief release announcement. Download links: Sabayon_7_x86_LXDE.iso (644MB, MD5, torrent), Sabayon_7_amd64_LXDE.iso (673MB, MD5, torrent), Sabayon_7_x86_E17.iso (649MB, MD5, torrent), Sabayon_7_amd64_E17.iso (677MB, MD5, torrent), Sabayon_7_x86_Awesome.iso (651MB, MD5, torrent), Sabayon_7_amd64_Awesome.iso (684MB, MD5, torrent).

Oracle Solaris 11

Oracle has announced the release of Oracle Solaris 11, a UNIX operating system originally developed by Sun Microsystems and known for its scalability and innovative enterprise features: "Oracle today announced availability of Oracle Solaris 11, the first Cloud OS. Oracle Solaris 11 is designed to meet the security, performance and scalability requirements of cloud-based deployments allowing customers to run their most demanding enterprise applications in private, hybrid, or public clouds. As the first fully virtualized operating system (OS), Oracle Solaris 11 provides comprehensive, built-in virtualization capabilities for OS, network and storage resources. Oracle Solaris 11 offers comprehensive management across the entire infrastructure - operating system, physical hardware, networking and storage, as well as the virtualization layer." See the press release and read the detailed release notes to learn more. A variety of ISO images for x86 and SPARC architectures, including a live CD image and an image for USB drives, are available for free download from this page (after creating and signing in to an Oracle.com account).