Dear Wiki user, You have subscribed to a wiki page or wiki category on "Fedora Project Wiki" for change notification. The following page has been changed by RahulSundaram: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Docs/Beats/OverView ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This release, the second test release of Fedora Core 6, includes significant new versions of many key products and technologies. The following sections provide a brief overview of major changes from the last release of Fedora Core. - === Desktop === + == Desktop == - This section describes changes at the user desktop level. + * There is now much improved look and feel for various international languages with a new default Dejavu LGC font which replaces Bitstream vera - * Java applets work out of the box in the '''Firefox''' Web browser, due to the inclusion of {{{gcjwebplugin}}}. + http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fonts/DejaVu + + * We feature the ability to run Java Applets by default in the Firefox web browser using GCJwebplugin. We have done extensive backports of the latest GCJ runtime which helps us run various other latest Java programs like Eclipse 3.2.2 and fixes various bugs in the earlier release which would help applications like Azureus and RSSOwl perform better and be more robust. + * Better visualisation and eye candy is provided through the compiz window manager. Compiz can take advantage of the AIGLX framework which is now provided as part of Xorg 7.1 release included in this version of Fedora. We have planned to include a graphical method to switch between the default Metacity window manager and Compiz. - * This release includes the development version of the GNOME desktop (http://live.gnome.org/TwoPointFifteen). GNOME 2.16 is scheduled to be available in the general release of Fedora Core 6. This release also includes the KDE 3.5.3 desktop (http://kde.org/announcements/announce-3.5.php). - - * The SCIM input method (http://www.scim-im.org/) is now enabled for all languages by default. Fedora Core 5 enabled it only for certain Asian locales. - * The distribution includes a major new release of the '''Eclipse''' IDE and framework (http://download.eclipse.org/eclipse/downloads/drops/R-3.2-200606291905/new_noteworthy/eclipse-news.html) . + http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/RenderingProject + * We now feature a Fedora updater applet using yum called Pupplet that provides the functionality of RHN applet in earlier releases. - * '''Network``Manager''' (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Tools/NetworkManager) has received numerous menu, user interface, and functionality improvements. However, it is disabled by default in this release as it is not yet suitable for certain configurations, such as system-wide static IPs or bonding devices. - - * Printing support is improved in this release with the inclusion of the {{{hplip}}} utility, which replaces {{{hpijs}}}. }}} - === System Administration === + http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/YumApplet - This section describes improvements of interest primarily to administrators and developers. + * Development versions of GNOME 2.15 and the general release of KDE 3.5.3 is available. GNOME 2.16 which will be part of Fedora Core 6 will feature a few incremental improvements such as the Orca screenreader and Alacarte menu editor. Other improvements are already part of the previous Fedora releases and this one too. - * This release includes a technology preview of `setroubleshoot`, a tool that drastically improves the usability of SELinux. For more information refer to http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SELinux/setroubleshoot. + * There is a ongoing to effort to the replace the Blue Curve icon set (The window manager theme in GNOME was already replaced by upstream Clearlooks in a earlier release itself which itself is based on the Blue Curve theme engine) with a new one called Echo + http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Artwork/EchoDevelopment - === System Level Changes === + * Dogtail(http://people.redhat.com/zcerza/dogtail/) is included in this release that provides a graphical test and automation framework for the desktop. - This section has not been updated for Fedora Core [[GetVal(DocsDict,BeatsVer)]] by the [http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DocsProject/ReleaseNotes/Beats beat writer]. + * GNUCash 2.0 accountancy application which provides major new features and interface improvements is included in this release. + http://lists.gnucash.org/pipermail/gnucash-announce/2006-July/000069.html + + * Helix Player has been moved out of Fedora Core (into Fedora Extras) since we provide the Totem media player that has a similar functionality. Totem also uses the Gstreamer media framework. Gstreamer media framework that is used by rest of the multimedia applications in Fedora Core makes it possible to add support for additional codecs easily to all the applications included now. + + == Performance == + + * All the applications in Fedora Core using DT_GNU_HASH which provides upto 50% boost on applications using dynamic linking. + http://lwn.net/Articles/192624/ + + http://sources.redhat.com/ml/binutils/2006-06/msg00418.html + http://lwn.net/Articles/192624/ + + * Performance and manageability is now improved through the split up the package dependencies in a much more granular way in this release. Examples of this include Gnome-utils which has split up into several different packages and PHP where the command line binary has been split up from CGI one. Also Beagle does not depend on Evolution and Evince on Nautilus file manager anymore. + + * Yum performance is extensively improved using a new re-implementation of the repository metadata parser in C language. + + * We have a new background service which caches and increases the performance of network filesystems such as AFS and NFS. This is part of the ongoing CacheFS development by Red Hat. + http://lwn.net/Articles/100321/ + + == System Administration == + + * Fedora installer, Anaconda can now connect to Fedora Extras and any custom repository and users can install applications from these repositories directly. We also support ipv6 in the installer now. + + * We have introduced a new virtualisation manager (virt-manager) which adds a graphical management interface layer on top of Xen + + * There is a ongoing Red Hat effort to increase the usability of SELinux by providing a graphical trouble shooting tool. Details and screeshot at: + http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SELinux/setroubleshoot + + Dan Walsh explains the tool in his blog at http://danwalsh.livejournal.com/7212.html + + * Fedora now features integrated smart card capabilities for secure authentication out of the box through our new Cool Key system. + + * We have introducing a new tool, lvm2-cluster for managing cluster volumes in a intuitive manner. + + == System Level Changes == + + * There is support for running Fedora on Mac in the new Intel processors. + http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FedoraOnMactel + + * Better I18N support through SCIM input method which is now enabled by default for all languages instead of just a few Asian locales as in the previous release. We have also integrated support for more languages such as Sinhalase (Sri Lanka) and Oriya, Kannada and Malayalam (India). We now provide a easy interface to switch the input methods using im-chooser. + + * There is a completely rewritten system-config-printer which uses the latest CUPS 1.2 with major enhancements. + http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Printing/AdminToolOutline + + http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Printing/AdminToolSpecifics + + * We have unified the packaging guidelines and review process for both Fedora Core and Fedora Extras repository. Fedora Core has switched to a new mock based system called Brew which makes the build process more closer to the Fedora Extras system. All of this means a more peer reviewed, uniform and consistent set of guidelines and process for developers and end users. + + * We have moved out the GNOME 1.x legacy stack out of Fedora Core. + == Road Map ==
