Fedora 11 Beta has been released. Here the release announcement:

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