Friday, March 16, 2007

Gnome 2.18 Released

GNOME 2.18


GNOME 2.18 is the latest version of the popular, multi-platform free desktop environment, providing all the tools a user needs for everyday work, and a platform for developers to write new software.

GNOME's focus is ease of use, stability, and first class internationalization and accessibility support, so that GNOME and its applications are usable by anyone, anywhere. GNOME runs on a variety of platforms, including GNU/Linux (commonly called Linux), Solaris, HP-UX, BSD and Apple's Darwin. Work has been done in this release to make it easier to port GNOME tools to Windows as well.

GNOME is part of The GNU Project, and is Free Software.

GNOME 2.18 Release Notes


The Release Notes explain the contents of this release, showing what GNOME is, what's new, and how to get it, with links to further information.

The Release Notes are available in other languages: Arabic, Catalan, German, French, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Panjabi, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai.

We encourage you to submit screenshots of GNOME 2.18 to our gallery. You can check out the great screenshots submitted by our intrepid community. These shots demonstrate our users' beautiful desktops, as well as some of the new features in this version of GNOME.

Getting GNOME 2.18


LiveCD and Disk Images for Virtual Machines


To download and preview the latest version of GNOME, try our easy LiveCD. Download, burn, and reboot - Without touching your current system, it just shows you the latest and greatest in GNOME and beyond.

You can alternatively download a disk image, and launch GNOME in a virtual machine using your favorite virtualization software. You don't even have to leave your current system to try out GNOME!

The LiveCD and the disk images contain all of our supported languages.



GNOME in Distributions


Although Linux distributions and other flavors of UNIX do not immediately integrate new GNOME versions, in the next few months many of the biggest distributions will package and ship GNOME 2.18. To see the latest information about who is shipping GNOME 2.18, visit our Get Footware page.

Building From Source


Of course, our sources are always available so you can build GNOME from scratch. To ease the build, we recommend that you use GARNOME or jhbuild.

Source Tarballs:

Other Announcements


The Community Announcement is the official email announcing the release to the people who actually did the work.


Users




Developers







About GNOME · Download · Support · Community · Developers · Foundation · Contact




GNOME 2.18 (Simply Beautiful)


GNOME 2.18 is out, on time as usual. The top-class free desktop for the masses looks and feels better than ever. This is another progressive release in our road to perfection. It integrates another load of improvements done in the visual design, the performance of the desktop components, and the growing collection of integrated applications. The web browser and the themeable window manager are two good examples to check.








Personal security is now fully integrated into the desktop, allowing digitally signed communications, encryption of emails and local files, and user-friendly management of personal keys. Internationalization records progress in all directions, with support for vertical text layout and a full Arabic localization matching the quality standards. The official release incorporates essential tools for developers, which hopefully will contribute to get more and better software for the GNOME users.

What's more important, for the first time we ship online games, chess with a 3D look, and endless Sudoku entertainment.

The GNOME desktop is distributed through free and commercial operating systems including Debian, Fedora, Mandriva, OpenSolaris, RedHat, SLED and Ubuntu. GNOME is also present inside XO (the One Laptop Per Child device) and an increasing collection of mobile devices. Users can already get their hands on GNOME 2.18 trying our official live demos or the testing versions released by some distributions. Check the Get Footware page and give it a try.



In More Detail



Everyone




  • Tomboy, the note-taking applet, helps you to keep better track of your most important notes by pinning them, making sure they will always easier to find.

  • Using Tomboy to create lists is now as simple as adding a * or a -.

  • Never lose track of your work and pick up where you left off by finding the recently opened files, or just search for new distractions with the new Deskbar applet.

  • Find out where all your disk space is going with the new ring chart view in GNOME's Disk Usage Analyzer.

  • Save battery power with GNOME Power Manager's control over your processor.

  • Whether you have two monitors or not, the GNOME Document Viewer now supports opening multiple instances of a document at the same time.

  • Use the new history feature to navigate your documents like a web page.

  • Hand out better printed slide notes and keep your audience engaged with Evince's new presentation mode.

  • Digitally sign or authenticate your documents using Seahorse, the new front-end to GNU Privacy Guard.

  • Use Seahorse to manage the security of your desktop and your OpenPGP and SSH keys.










Developers




  • Create applications faster using the new Glade graphical interface builder.

  • Display all your reference documentation using the new integrated help system.

  • Improved bug reporting ensures that GNOME just keeps getting better.











Fun




  • Encode your audio in more formats including OGG, MP3 or even AAC!

  • Turn up the volume on your music and movies with the new and improved volume control that now supports advanced sound cards including the Audigy 2.

  • Take a break and try our two new games: Chess with glChess, where you can play either against a friend; or try to master the computer opponent or try yourself in solving a Sudoku with GNOME Sudoku, the Japanese crossword puzzle.

  • Challenge a friend to an online game of Nibbles, Iagno, or Four-in-a-Row.











Share Your Desktop




  • Connect to your desktop from anywhere in the world.

  • If you rotate your photos in the camera, they stay that way when you view them with the Eye of GNOME Image Viewer.

  • Show your friends how you customized your desktop from the login screen to the appearance of your favorite GNOME applications.











Universal Access




  • Added support for vertical text layouts in Chinese and Japanese.

  • Added New text-to-speech drivers including Loquendo, Cepstral Swift, and eSpeak.

  • Improved support for Orca.

  • Improved support for Chinese using the IBMTTS engine.

  • Improved support for Gnome Magnifier.

  • Added Thai dictionary to GNOME Dictionary.

  • Improved results display in GNOME Dictionary.











About GNOME


We produce free software that makes computers friendly, useful, and fun. We provide a graphical environment that is easy to use, a set of integrated programs, and tools to develop and maintain your own applications.

GNOME is available in dozens of languages. It is compatible with multiple operating systems. It works on home computers, laptops, mobile devices, supercomputers, and small embedded appliances. You can find GNOME across the world in homes, schools, offices, and probably also in your neighborhood.

GNOME has won a reputation for its simplicity and ease of use. We love software that just works: logical, clean, intuitive, and full of sense. Attention to detail is always appreciated: we polish interfaces as well as internal processes, in a constant search for beauty and integration.

The coordination of this large project relies on the GNOME Foundation, an open organization formed by volunteers, professionals and companies.

Learn more about GNOME's best assets at www.gnome.org.

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