Mandriva Spring

With easy installation and a sophisticated set of admin tools, Mandriva Linux is one of the world's great Linux distributions. The spirit of invention continues as Mandriva enters another season of updates. Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring offers improved hardware support, enhanced update features, and the innovative Metisse window system. We are proud to bring you Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring as this month's Linux Magazine DVD.

What's New?

Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring comes with updates to important desktop tools, such as KDE 3.5.6, Gnome 2.18, OpenOffice 2.1, and Mozilla Firefox 2.0. Installations are easier than ever with new enhancements to MandrivaUpdate and rpmdrake. You'll also find better support for a wider range of graphics cards, as well as improved tools for laptop users, such as better suspend-to-RAM and suspend-to-disk support.

Metisse

Enter the world of the 3D desktop with Metisse, a window manager developed by the In Situ project. Metisse offers a new approach to window management for X-based systems.

Metisse uses a "bird view" or pager view with depth perception, so you can display large windows side by side without resizing them. Metisse uses openGL commands for most features, which means it can run on entry-level 3D graphic cards. Mandriva Spring also supports the newest versions of the Compiz and Beryl 3D-accelerated desktops.

Easy Installation

The Mandriva installer supports more than 50 languages and automatically configures a range of hardware. The installer includes advanced configuration options and supports a rescue mode for saving the system in case of failure.

Control Center

The Mandriva Control Center is one of the most powerful configuration tools in Linux and a central spot for configuring your Mandriva system. From a single user interface, you can manage software, configure hardware devices, set up network connections, configure services, add or remove users, manage mount points, configure personal firewall protection, and set system boot options.

Why Mandriva?

Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring lets you surf the web, manage photos, chat with friends, watch movies, listen to music, and play games. Mandriva also provides tools for the server room, including a family of utilities you won't find in any other Linux. Whether you are a home user or a professional sys admin, you'll find something to celebrate in the latest Mandriva. We hope you enjoy Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring - this month's Linux Magazine DVD.

System Requirements

Processor: Pentium and AMD processors.

Memory: 256MB minimum; 512MB recommended.

Free Disk Space: 2GB minimum; 4GB recommended.

Graphics Card: NVIDIA, ATI, Intel i8xx and i9xx, SIS, Matrox, VIA. The 3D desktop requires NVIDIA GeForce or later, ATI Radeon 7000 or later, or Intel 865 to 965. Most 3D functions on most cards are supported. See the Mandriva hardware database for specific models.

Sound Card: All Sound Blaster-compatible cards and AC97 - please note that Creative Labs X-Fi cards are not currently supported.

Serial ATA: Most controllers supported in non-RAID mode and some in RAID mode.

See the Mandriva hardware database (http://www.mandriva.com/hardware) for additional information.

Figure 1: Mandriva's installer is famed for its ease of use.

Figure 2: See the Metisse window system in action.

Figure 3: Create your own music in the LMMS multimedia studio.

Figure 4: VirtualBox provides easy virtualization.

Help & Support

Mandriva offers several sources for help and support. Start with the websites listed in the box titled "Additional Resources." Other help sources include the Mandriva forums, http://forum.mandrivaclub.com, and the official Mandriva documentation, http://club.mandriva.com/xwiki/bin/view/KB/OfficialDocumentation.

Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring may not include some proprietary drivers. If your system has hardware that requires proprietary drivers, see your hardware vendor for more information.

Highlights

Linux Kernel 2.6.17

X.org 7.1

KDE 3.5.6

Gnome 2.18

GCC 4.1

glibc 2.4

Apache 2.2.4

Samba 3.0.24

Mono 1.2.3

OpenOffice 2.1.0

Evolution 2.10