I have gone through the Fedora feature list I am still confused what's new in Fedora 18 release from an end user's point of view. I found above list very technical and difficult to interpret.
Can somebody help in simple language.
Changes that I can feel right out of the box?
From the post - Five notable new features in Fedora Linux 18 'Spherical Cow'
1. The MATE desktop
The enduring popularity of GNOME 2 has been striking in contrast, and we've already seen numerous examples of efforts to preserve the classic desktop. Now, Fedora is offering a like-minded option in the form of MATE.
“This desktop is perfect for users who have been running GNOME Classic or other window managers like Xfce as an alternative to GNOME 3,” the Fedora team notes in the software's release announcement.
Users of Fedora 18 actually have many desktops to choose from, including also Xfce 4.10, KDE Plasma Workspaces 4.9, Cinnamon, and GNOME 3.6.
2. A rewritten installer
Fedora's Anaconda installer has been completely rewritten for this release so as to make it easier to use for a wider range of users.
A hub-and-spoke model, for instance, makes installation easier for new users, “offering them concise explanations about their choices,” the project team explains.
Other improvements include new visuals to improve the overall look and feel of the installation experience.
3. 'Secure Boot' support
The Fedora project was one of the first distributions to recognize the implications of the Secure Boot technology enabled in Windows 8's Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), and Fedora 18 is the first release to include the fruits of its labors. So, thanks to the software's included UEFI Secure Boot support, it can boot on systems that have Secure Boot enabled.
Tools are also available that allow administrators to create custom certificates to sign local changes to GRUB or the kernel, the release notes point out.
4. Samba 4
Also notable particularly for systems administrators is the inclusion of Samba 4, the latest version of the suite of tools that provide file- and print-sharing services in heterogeneous OS environments. Samba 4 goes even further than its predecessors, in fact, by introducing the first free and open source implementation of Active Directory protocols.
5. Eucalyptus
Last but not least is that Eucalyptus makes its debut in Fedora 18, which includes the cloud software's 3.2 release. Also included are OpenStack's Folsom release and version 3.1 of the oVirt engine.
For the complete list of features, see: Fedora 18 Accepted Features
There is a special part in the release notes for desktop users.
Asked: 2013-01-17 06:33:29 -0600
Seen: 304 times
Last updated: Jan 17 '13
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