Fedora 9 is out today. The latest version of the popular Linux distro packs a bunch of updated and new features. Like Ubuntu 8.04, Fedora 9 includes the latest updates to the KDE and GNOME desktop environments, PulseAudio, and Firefox 3 beta. But unlike Ubuntu, the Fedora 9 LiveDVD weighs in at a hefty 3.33GB. Ubuntu distros typically fit on a single CD.

Fedora 9 also has several other major improvements, including:

• Experimental support for the Ext4 file system
• Spins, which are different versions of Fedora built with specific groups of software
• You can now download installation media using Jigdo
• Gnome 2.22, KDE 4.0.3 and Xfce 4.4.2 available on the LiveDVD
• Anaconda installer now supports resizing ext2, ext3, and NTFS file systems a well as creating and installing the OS to encrypted file systems
• Live USB installer now supports persistence, so you can run Fedora 9 from a USB flash drive and save your changes
• OpenJDK 6, an open source Java enironment is installed by default

Fedora 9 also comes with OpenOffice.org 2.4 and Firefox 3 beta 5.

Fedora 9 beta is available for download today, with a final release scheduled for April 29. The latest version of the free (as in beer) cousin of Red Hat Linux comes with a number of major updates, including support for the latest versions of the KDE and GNOME desktop environments. Here are a few highlights:

• Uses the 2.6.25-rc5 Linux kernel
• GNOME 2.22 with world time clock, improved file system performance, and security improvements
• KDE 4.0.2 with a completely redesigned desktop manager look and feel, and integrated desktop search
• Firefox 3 Beta as the default web browser
  
• Support for resizing ext2, ext3, and NTFS partitions during installation

One of the more noticeable improvements will be the fact that Fedora includes a new free Flash plugin for Firefox out of the box, so you'll be able to watch YouTube within seconds of booting up your system. You can find a complete list of changes in the Fedora 9 beta release notes.

[via Flexbeta]

This week's Squadcast features an interview with one of our own. Kristin Shoemaker joins Grant and Christina to talk about what it takes to switch to Linux and leave Windows behind, for good.

Also, we take a look at our five favorite Linux applications for people who've recently switched. Direct replacements for a few of those must-have apps on Windows.

More from Download Squad on switching to Linux.
Kristin's series on switching to Linux.
From the archives, Download Squad's "Switcher podcast" with Brad Linder, Alex Hung and Grant Robertson.

Download The Squadcast 07 in SD(480i) Mpeg4(84MB)

Check out previous episodes of The Squadcast

Love it or hate it, Windows is still pretty much the dominant operating system in the world. And while your heart may be with OS X or Linux, there might be just a couple of programs that you have to run on a regular basis that keep you coming back to your Windows machine. But just because you're running Windows Vista or XP doesn't mean you can't pretend you're using your OS of choice.

We've covered transformation packs that let you change the look and feel of Windows in the past. But Makeuseof has found a few packs that we weren't aware of. For example, you can grab a Fedora or Ubuntu transformation pack that makes your desktop look like Linux. Each transformation pack includes desktops, program icons, and tools for customizing visual styles. You can also use transformation packs to make Windows look like OS X or make XP look like Vista.

We probably don't need to tell you that beauty is only skin deep. Under the hood, if your computer is running Windows, you still have all the usual goodies and frustrations from the Windows registry to the blue screen of death. But at least these transformation packs can make your PC a bit easier on the eyes.

Like OS X, Linux is rarely thought of as an operating system for hard core gamers. Sure, you can use WINE and CrossOver to run Windows games on Linux. But if you don't need to run BioShock to be happy, there are thousands of free games available for Linux.

Fedora Games is a new LiveDVD based on Fedora 8, which was released last week. It comes packed with games. Lots and lots of games. You've got your card games, flight simulators, strategy games, arcade games, puzzle games, and so on.

While many Linux games are clones of popular Windows games with clever titles like Freeciv (A Civilization-clone) and OpenArena (an open-source package for Quake III Arena), there are also a few original goodies in there like The Battle for Wesnoth and Tremulous.

To run Fedora Games, you just need to download the disc image and burn it to DVD. You can then boot your PC from the DVD and start playing right away, or install Fedora Games to your hard drive.

[via Digg]

Red Hat is releasing the latest version of its Fedora Linux software today, and along with new features for users, Fedora 8 is the first version of the Fedora software that's targeted at developers who want to create their own Fedora-based Linux distributions complete with a new logo. There are already plenty of Linux distros based on other popular platforms like Ubuntu, so it kind of makes sense that if you want to get your name out there, you open the door to developers who might strip your name from the finished product.

As an end user, here are some of the changes you're more likely to notice in Fedora 8:

• Improved printer support
• Bluetooth enhancements
• PulseAudio gives you more control over audio settings for different users and applications
• GNOME Online Desktop integration
• Better power management in the kernel
• Better support for suspend, resume, and monitor backlighting for laptops

And if that's not doing it for you, there's already a list of proposed features for Fedora 9.

[via Extra Tech]

UNetbootin is a tool that makes installing Linux about as easy as it can be. Like Wubi, you can install UNetbootin on a Windows partition to get started. Unlike Wubi, the end result with UNetbootin is a dual-boot machine that can boot either into a Windows partition or a Linux one.

So why use UNetbootin instead of downloading and burning a liveCD? Well, if you don't have a spare CD-R writing around, of if your computer doesn't have a CD burner, UNetbootin uses a network-based installation technique. Just select the flavor of UNetbootin you want to install, reboot your machine, and follow the on-screen instructions. This would be an awesome tool for anyone who has one of those super-portable laptops that don't come with optical disc drives.

You can use UNetbootin to install Debian, Arch Linux, Fedora, Mandriva, OpenSuse 10.2, and Ubuntu 6.06 - 7.10. There are Linux and Windows-based installers available which means you can use UNetbootin to add Ubuntu to your Windows PC or to ad Mandriva to your OpenSuse machine. Windows Vista isn't currently supported, but an update should be coming in a few weeks that will allow you to use UNetbootin with Vista.

[via Howtoforge]

Vixta could be the Linux distribution with the smallest possible target audience ever: Linux users who love the look and feel of Windows Vista and wished their Linux desktops could look more like Windows.

Vixta is a Fedora-based distro with a custom KDE-based interface. You get widgets, a Vista-like start menu and taskbar, and evil looks from your die-hard open-source buddies. Under the hood, there's no mistaking Vixta for Windows. If you're a Linux user, that's probably a good thing, but somehow we doubt Vixta will convince many Windows users to switch to Linux.

You can't run Windows apps without the help of WINE, and while the menu system may look like Windows, all the underlying programs are Linux equivalents. That means you get Konqueror instead of Explorer, OpenOffice instead of Office, and Firefox instead of, well, Firefox. OK, maybe switching isn't really that hard, but try telling that to your grandma.

[via Tux Enclave]

Red Hat released Fedora 7 today, a new version of their Linux operating system developed in partnership with the open source community and Red Hat engineers. This is Fedora's first release to merge the Fedora Core and Fedora Extras package repositories under one set of packaging policies. Another first for Fedora 7 is all the software used is released under a free license, and all decision-making is made in public.

The big innovations touted for this release are:

• Revisor tool - a graphical appliation built on top of Fedora's other build tools that gives flexibility to build an ISO, a live CD, etc. Mike Spevack, Fedora's project leader, feels this is Fedora's crown jewel. Customized versions of Fedora are now possible to an extent that was not available previously.

• Live CD - first time for Fedora, (however not an industry shake-up here).

• Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology has been integrated with the Fedora graphical virtualization manager tool. KVM provides a full virtualization solution, and users have a choice between KVM and Xen, along with Qemu, in this release.

You can pick up a copy of this new version at the Fedora Project.
Thanks FF!

After thirteen years of not-so marital bliss, Eric S. Raymond, co-founder of the Open Source Initiative, is calling it quits on his partnership with Red Hat/Fedora. The final straw came after he spent 4 hours working on what should have been a routine upgrade only to have his entire system rendered unusable. In a scathing open letter posted on various Linux websites and mailing lists, Raymond lays bare his anger and frustration with what he claims is Fedora's "failure of vision which will condemn Fedora to a shrinking niche in the future."

As if that wasn't enough, Raymond goes one step farther by quickly rebounding with Ubuntu, an open source OS which he indicates has risen and addressed the challenges which Fedora never was able to.

As announced on Friday by David Eisenstein, the Fedora Legacy project is shutting down. As of his announcement (or maybe even earlier) Fedora Core 4 and earlier distributions are no longer being maintained or supported. He said that their current model of maintaining older distributions of Fedora Core are being examined, but right now everything is on (seemingly indefinite) hold. Jesse Keating later followed up and put it on record that the lack of contributors, and zero response to their call for help with the project, lead to the demise. I can't imagine anyone who would be absolutely dependent on Fedora Core 4, except maybe for older servers. If you're a dedicated Desktop Linux user, you're likely running Fedora Core 6, or another distribution like Ubuntu or SuSE.

The real question this leaves in my mind (an no doubtedly others) - is this just another case, in what has seemed like a recurring theme, of a concerted group of people being unable to provide support for Linux over the long term? Will Ubuntu LTS succeed where Fedora Legacy could not? With the rapid pace of Linux development, is long term support just a pipe dream, or a realistic goal?

[Via OSnews via CNet]

Reader Sergio wrote in to tell us that, hot on the heels of last just in time for this week's Ubuntu Edgy release, the final release of Fedora Core 6 is now available. There's lots of new stuff in the latest release of the Red Hat-sponsored, community-driven Linux distribution including an improved installation system, support for Intel-based Macs, improved Xen virtualization support and a new GUI virtualization manager, the Yum update system in place of Up2date, and major performance improvements. As always, the best way to get your hands on Fedora Core is via BitTorrent.

[Thanks, Sergio!]

Linspire, the Linux distribution criticized by some for being full of proprietary drivers and software, is trying to go the way of Fedora with a new "community-driven" distribution called Freespire. Two version of Freespire will be released, one with proprietary software and one without. The really-free version won't, for example, come with DVD playback, which users will instead have the option to purchase. Groklaw calls it "nauseating," saying, "this is what happens when proprietary folks who are not from the community show up prospecting for gold. They can't change their thinking, which is that they want to make money by hook or by crook." Freespire will be released in August, likely at San Francisco's LinuxWorld West.

[Via Slashdot]

It's not exhaustive, but informative. Joshua Drake has been using Linux professionally for over 10 years, and he shares his opinions and comparisons in an admittedly subjective but thorough comparison of the five major Linux distros for "non geeks." The comparisons are between Red Hat ES, Novell SLES, Fedora FC4, OpenSuSE 10, and Ubuntu Breezy Badger. Notice Linspire isn't in there? Again, this isn't exhaustive, but it's a quick read, especially if you know someone considering Linux, but they don't know which "Linux" to pick. I've been playing with Ubuntu myself lately, and will post some thoughts on it soon.

The latest edition of Red Hat's community-supported Linux distribution is now available for download. If you're a Linux geek, it doesn't get much better than this. Slashdot is linking to a  video describing the improvements over Fedora Core 4. What's one to do with Fedora Core Linux, you ask?  Well, why not build a bicycle-powered telephone system? Or do some wicked pagination? Or, perhaps coolest of all, build your own Tivo-killer!