A beta version of the upcoming version 7.1 of the Linux-Mandrake distribution is now available from MandrakeSoft. Several new features have been slated for the new release, including:
- Enhanced USB support
- Support for i810-based video cards
- ATA 66 (UDMA 66) interface
- DrakX graphic installation procedure has been improved to ease installation it now fully handles multi-CD installation
- If Windows is also on the computer, DrakFont gives the user access to his Windows fonts under Linux.
- DrakBoot allows for easy graphical configuration of boot loader (lilo and grub)
- PrinterDrake (printer configuration) now supports more printer types and options.
- All Helix Code GNOME improvements incorporated
- New menu system. Menus now look the same under all graphical environments and updates automatically when new packages are installed.
- Modified Qt library (foundation of KDE applications) supporting Chinese
- Now includes brand new XFree 4.0 servers, with new modular architecture.
- For professional environments, now shipping ReiserFS, a new journalized file system.
The beta, codenamed "Hydrogen," can be downloaded at
Linux-Mandrake's Web site. Note that this is a beta version, so it's still experimental, but it's a great way to see where Linux distributions are headed.