openSUSE 11.2 available for immediate download

David Heath
Friday, 13 November 2009 06:50

Business IT - Open Source

Incorporating many new features, the openSUSE project has announced the immediate availability of version 11.2 of the popular Linux package.

Immediately available from the openSUSE project openSUSE 11.2 provides a "secure and stable Linux-based operating system that is easy to use and includes everything needed to get started with Linux on the desktop or server."

Featuring new releases of Firefox, OpenOffice.org, GNOME, KDE, and more than 1,000 open source desktop applications. openSUSE also includes a full suite of server software, and a variety of open source development tools.

According to the media release, Some of the new and interesting features of this release include:

KDE 4.3, a major update to the KDE platform, which offers improved networking support, and better integration of Firefox and OpenOffice.org with the KDE environment.

GNOME 2.28, the latest release of the popular GNOME desktop, which includes a brand new theme, improved software update application, improvements in GNOME's Webcam and video application, and new functionality to prepare the GNOME platform for GNOME 3.0 in 2010. This includes a preview release of GNOME 3.0 with GNOME Shell.

OpenOffice.org 3.1 is a complete office productivity suite compatible with Microsoft Office. This release includes improvements to change tracking and collaboration in Writer, and major enhancements to the drawing application.

Robust social networking capabilities with the addition of GNOME and KDE microblogging clients that handle multiple social network sites, including Gwibber and Choqok.

Storage improvements such as the ability to encrypt the entire hard disk for greater data security. Users can also take advantage of the next generation of file systems for Linux with Ext4 or btrfs.

First technology preview of WebYaST: a Web-based remote administration tool for openSUSE systems that enables simplified maintenance and administration.

Usability enhancements which include the ability to install GNOME or KDE live media from USB, numerous improvements to make openSUSE 11.2 run better on netbooks, and support for in-place upgrades using Zypper, so users of openSUSE 11.1 can update to 11.2 without running an installer at all.

openSUSE is free of change and may be freely distributed.