PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011-07 - Final is here

[Sproggy]

PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011-07 is now available for download, PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011-07 features the following updates.

What's new:

XFCE 4.8 Desktop Environment - Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user friendly.

Xfce embodies the traditional UNIX philosophy of modularity and re-usability. It consists of a number of components that provide the full functionality one can expect of a modern desktop environment. They are packaged separately and you can pick among the available packages to create the optimal personal working environment.

Xfce contains a number of core components for the minimum tasks you'd expect from a desktop environement:
Window Manager
    Manages the placement of windows on the screen, provides window decorations and manages workspaces or virtual desktops.
Desktop Manager
    Sets the background image and provides a root window menu, desktop icons or minimized icons and a windows list.
Panel
    Switch between opened windows, launch applications, switch workspaces and menu plugins to browse applications or directories.
Session Manager
    Controls the login and power management of the desktop and allows you to store multiple login sessions.
File Manager
    Provides the basic file management features and unique utilities like the bulk renamer.
Setting Manager
    Tools to control the various settings of the desktop like keyboard shortcuts, appearance, display settings etcetera.

Beside the basic set of modules, Xfce also provides numerous additional applications and plugins so you can extend your desktop the way you like, for example a terminal emulator, text editor, sound mixer, application finder, image viewer, iCal based calendar and a CD and DVD burning application.

Kernel - The kernel was updated to version 2.6.38.8. Additional kernels are available from our repositories such as a PAE kernel for computers with more than 4 gigs of memory. A BFS kernel for maximum desktop performance and a standard kernel with group scheduling enabled.

Xorg - Xorg server was updated to version 1.10.3. Mesa updated to 7.10.3 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. The most recent versions of Nvidia and AMD/ATi video drivers are included on the LiveCD and automatically configured for you. The bad news is users with older legacy video cards included in most dated computers may not function properly due to many depreciated xorg video drivers.

Toolchain - Gcc software compiler was updated to version 4.5.2 and glibc updated to 2.10.1. Locales were updated to version 2.12.1.

Package Manager - RPM was updated to version 4.8.1. apt-get and the Synaptic Package Manager were also updated to work with the updated rpm packages. yum and yumex will be available in the coming weeks as an alternative package manager.

Theme Update - PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011-07 release received a full makeover. 2011-07 features a new brush metal theme including updates to grub, plymouth, gdm, gfxboot and application splash screens. Additional themes are also installed from the previous 3 years releases

Theme screenshots located here:

Grub

http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/files/index.php?dir=Phoenix%202011/&file=grub.png

Plymouth

http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/files/index.php?dir=Phoenix%202011/&file=plymouth.png

GDM

http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/files/index.php?dir=Phoenix%202011/&file=gdm.png

Guest Desktop

http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/files/index.php?dir=Phoenix%202011/&file=desktop.png



Remastering Tools - mylivecd was updated to work with the latest release. mylivecd added the ability to install PCLinuxOS from the boot menu without having to go to the desktop first. There are 3 compression schemes available now for remastering your installation. xz maximum compression, xz normal compression and gzip for fast compression. xz max takes longer to generate the LiveCD but produces the most compressed image where as gzip will create a LiveCD fairly quick but the compressed image will be larger. mylivecd can also generate a LiveDVD with up to 4 gigs of compressed data. Usually a 10-12 gig installation will compress into a 4 gig DVD.

Software - PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011 LiveCD comes with the latest versions of most popular programs such as XFCE 4.8, Firefox 5.0, Thunderbird 3.1.11 just to name a few. OpenOffice Manager has been replaced with LibreOffice Manager. Due to the limited size of the LiveCD the office suite is not included but can be installed through the LibreOffice Manager either in LiveCD mode (3 gigs memory required) or preferably after hard drive installation. Addlocale has updated translations and can convert a PCLinuxOS installation into over 70 different languages. The software included on the LiveCD was based on community feedback as to what the PCLinuxOS users wanted to be included by default.


Will be available on the following mirrors (620mb):

http://ftp.ch.debian.org/mirror/pclinuxos/live-cd/

http://debian.ethz.ch/mirror/pclinuxos/live-cd/

http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/pclinuxos/live-cd/

http://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/linux/pclinuxos/live-cd/

http://ftp.vim.org/ibiblio/distributions/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/live-cd/

http://ftp.nluug.nl/ibiblio/distributions/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/live-cd/

http://na.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/pclinuxos/live-cd/

http://pclosusers.com/isos/

*Please note existing PCLinuxOS Phoenix users who have been keeping up with their Synaptic Package Manager updates do need to download and install this release as you will avoid breakages with the current XFCE 4.6 Environment.*

PCLinuxOS  is released under the following license: Apache, Artistic, BSD, GFDL, GPL, GPL-2, GPL-3, LGPL, LGPL-2.1, LGPL-3, MPL, Nvidia, AMD/ATi and Adobe Flash. PCLinuxOS is copyrighted 2003-2011 all rights reserved and trademarked through the Linux Mark Institute. Linux is trademarked by Linux Torvalds.

PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition is released under the PCLinxuOS trademark of Bill Reynolds (Texstar)

[tschommer]

Thanks a million, Sproggy! I've got it installed and really love it 

Torsten

[Texstar]

Thanks for the updated iso. Looks and runs great!

[Sproggy]

you guys are very welcome ... it is always great being part of this community and being able to give back makes it all that more worth it ... i now have a few weeks to get Phinx ready for Prime Time ... got a bit of holiday lol

Kori

[tschommer]

... got a bit of holiday lol

Enjoy it, you really deserve it! 

[salim]

that sounds great

[timeth]

Looks awesome Kori! Good stuff mate 

[exploder]

Congratulations on a fine release! 

[Texstar]

Please note the LiveCD defaults to the UK keyboard layout. You must select US keyboard from the initial boot screen from the LiveCD if you live in the USA.

[OMSkates]

Will Sproggy's new default desktop show up in a new task-xfce install?

[Redeemed-05]

Looks great, thank you Sproggy.

[kalwisti]

Will Sproggy's new default desktop show up in a new task-xfce install?

I also wondered about this ... My current guess is "No," based on the information posted in the release announcement:

*Please note existing PCLinuxOS Phoenix users who have been keeping up with their Synaptic Package Manager updates do need to download and install this release as you will avoid breakages with the current XFCE 4.6 Environment.*

Source: http://www.pclinuxos.com/
"PCLinuxOS Phoenix XFCE Edition 2011-07 – Final is here." 18 July 2011.

Maybe Texstar could confirm this for us? (If so, I'm happy to download the new release and do a fresh install. I've been looking forward to trying Xfce 4.8.)

[Sproggy]

this will need a fresh install ... altho the migration scripts should and do work in all my testing 100% ... i cannot calculate in the different factors that may occur because of rogue *rc files etc .... this is why you are advised to install this release as a fresh install

Will Sproggy's new default desktop show up in a new task-xfce install?

yes i will create a task- for the current 2011 desktop ...

Kori

[greywolf]

Sproggy,

I have placed this on 6 or 7 peoples machines so far (mine included) and every single one is raving about how great it is. I have to say, this is without doubt one of THE best distros I have had the pleasure to run. Absolutely superb job!

cheers,
greywolf.

[alex]

This is in my eyes beautiful. The color, panels and base packages are great. Everything I need Works. My desktop preferences have always been: #1 Gnome-#2 Xfce-#3 KDE (PCLinuxOS made me become a KDE fan). With this release I'm learning towards the "Phoenix Xfce" edition. I know they all do basically the same thing, but this is very cool. At least to me. Congratulations to everyone involved and thank you all. We appreciate what you do.