The developers behind the popular Fedora Linux operating system have released Fedora 17 “Beefy Miracle.” Fedora doesn’t get as much attention these days as Ubuntu or even Linux Mint, but the open source, community-driven operating system has been around for years — and was one of the first Linux distros I ever took for a spin.
You can download Fedora 17 from the project website.
At first glance, Beefy Miracle doesn’t look like a huge change from Fedora 17. But it does include a number of updates, including:
- GNOME 3.4 desktop environment with new search features, improved themes, and more
- GIMP 2.8 image editor
- Updated developer tools including Juno, Eclipse, GCC 4.7, and Java 7
- Improvements for servers and cloud-based applications
While the main branch of Fedora is based on the GNOME desktop environment, there are a number of “spins” featuring alternative desktops and other software. For instance, there are Games and Design Spins with software for gaming and designing graphics.
Most spins are still based on Fedora 16, but updated version should be available soon.
If all you’re looking for is an alternate desktop environment though, Fedora 17 KDE Spin, LXDE Spin, and Xfce Spin are all available for download now.