* PulseAudio
* KDE 3.5.9 in the release and also available KDE 4.0.3 in cooker
* GNOME 2.22
* Compiz Fusion 0.7.2
* Kernal 2.6.24.4
* Open Office 2.4.0
* New Artwork, more below...
Whats Improved?
* Installer is now able to detect other Linux installations (working!)
* Improvements to the Mandriva package management system(urpmi)
Mandriva Linux 2008.1 Spring have up-to-date version of the major components such as KDE 3.5.9(KDE 4.0.3 also available), GNOME 2.22, Compiz Fusion 0.7.2, OpenOffice.org 2.4.0, Linux Kernal 2.6.24.4. Mandriva support vast varieties of hardware, it automatically detects and configure most of the hardware.
The Desktop
The desktop is polished and clean. The artwork and sounds are improved, with addition of new screensaver, which shows some close-up photos of flowers. Mandriva Linux 2008 now include new sound system, PulseAudio. The taskbar is loaded with many applets. Mandriva Control Center gives total control over the desktop and the system.
PulseAudio
With PulseAudio many sound applications can use sound system at once. It can also enable you to use the sound device in another network computer(with some simple configuration). Mandriva 2008 is the first Mandriva Linux version to include Pulse Audio, by default. Mandriva Developer has done the best to ensure best PulseAudio experience in Mandriva Linux.
Multimedia
Ogg, MP3, AVI, WMA, MPEG 1, MPEG 2, and Quicktime files is supported out of the box with xine Engine. Sound application such as Amarok and Kaffeine Player uses xine Engine in Mandriva Linux to enable MP3 support.
DVD can be played in Kaffeine Player, making Mandriva Linux run swiftly. Because with major Linux distro like Ubuntu or openSUSE you don't have such codecs already installed.
Dose it Flashes?
Flash Support:Mandriva need to improve its Flash integration. It is not that Adobe Flash cannot be installed, but after installing it, Firefox crashes very often. Adobe Flash depends on ALSA drivers where as Mandriva Linux 2008 include PulseAudio, this conflicts with the flash content where sound is required.
Mandriva recommends to install Gnash or Swfdec Mozilla plug-ins(but Swfdec does not support interactivity). You can install these packages from the package manager.
Or you can simply downgrade with ALSA sound system to over come the problem with Adobe Flash, but you will miss the functionality provided by PulseAudio.
Installation
Installing Mandriva Linux is interactive and easy. It gives total control over partitioning, desktop selection, tweaking your system as per your need. And the most important is customize package selection where you can make your computer a Server System (Web/FTP, Mail, Database, etc.), a Developer System (C and C++ development libraries, programs and include files), Game Station (Some Amusement programs), Network Client (clients for different protocols including ssh). And it also gives control over individual package selection. Making all the packages available on the DVD, Mandriva has done a great job.
I have describe the whole process on installing Mandriva Linux in THIS step-by-step guide with screenshots of each and every step.
Requirements:
| CPU | Any Intel or Amd, 1GHz or better |
| RAM | 256 MB min.,512 MB recommended |
| Drives | CD-ROM required (DVD-ROM required, if installing from DVD) |
| Graphic Card | Intel i8xx or i9xx or equivalent supported, For 3d desktop features NVIDIA GeForce or ATI. |
Conclusion:
Mandriva has improved since its previous release. With 6th position at distrowatch.com, its community and popularity is increasing. I consider Mandriva Linux as a very good desktop operating system for beginners and power users. After you play around with Mandriva, you will found it the easiest Linux Desktop.
With Mandriva Linux 2008.1 Spring I only had issue with Flash, and in all my other activities I don't had any problem.
Mandriva Linux 2008.1 Spring
Company/Developer - Mandriva S.A
WebSite - www.mandriva.com
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