5 KEY NEW IMPROVEMENTS IN OPENSUSE LINUX 12.2

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It's been almost a year since the last release, but a raft
of updates make this new Linux distribution well worth checking out

The latest release of the world's most
powerful and flexible Linux Distribution brings you speed-ups across the board
with a faster storage layer in Linux 3.4 and accelerated functions in glibc and
Qt, giving a more fluid and responsive KDE desktop. The infrastructure below
openSUSE has evolved, bringing in mature new technologies like GRUB2 and
Plymouth and the first steps in the direction of a revised and simplified UNIX
file system hierarchy. Users will also notice the added polish to existing
features bringing an improved user experience all over. The novel Btrfs file
system comes with improved error handling and recovery tools, GNOME 3.4,
developing rapidly, brings smooth scrolling to all applications and features a
reworked System Settings and Contacts manager while XFCE has an enhanced
application finder. It's still less than a year since we
saw the launch of openSuse 12.1.

The openSUSE project is a community
program sponsored by Novell. Promoting the use of Linux everywhere, this
program provides free, easy access to openSUSE, a complete Linux distribution.
The openSUSE project has three main goals: make openSUSE the easiest Linux for
anyone to obtain and the most widely used Linux distribution; leverage open
source collaboration to make openSUSE the world's most usable Linux
distribution and desktop environment for new and experienced Linux users;
dramatically simplify and open the development and packaging processes to make
openSUSE the platform of choice for Linux developers and software vendors.

"Now,
faster speeds, an improved infrastructure, and fresh polish on existing
features are all among the enhancements this latest version brings", says Poortvliet who is currently the openSUSE community manager.

Ready
for a quick rundown? Here are five key new improvements you'll find in the new
release of this popular Linux distribution.

1.
Speed times four

Improvements in four areas are behind openSuse 12.2's faster speeds. First is
the addition of the Linux 3.4 kernel, which includes "a faster
storage layer to prevent blocking during large transfers," Poortvliet
said. Meanwhile, glibc 2.15 boosts the performance of many functions,
particularly on 64-bit systems, and Systemd 44 enables faster booting. Last but
not least, KDE 4.8.4 makes the desktop more
responsive, he added.

2.
A more advanced infrastructure

openSUSE
adopts the latest developments in Linux distribution technology as they mature.
“The GRUB2 bootloader is now the default,
we’ve begun the process of revising and simplifying the UNIX filesystem
hierarchy to improve compatibility across distributions, and during startup
and and shutdown Plymouth 0.8.6.1 provides flicker-free
transitions and attractive animations.” Poortvliet
explained.

3.
A more polished desktop

Along with Gnome 3.4
comes smooth scrolling, a reworked
System Settings app, and an improved Contacts manager, Poortvliet noted. Xfce 4.10, meanwhile, offers an improved application finder, while the
Dolphin file manager is "both prettier and faster," Poortvliet said.
Then, too, there's the Btrfs file system, which comes with improved error
handling and recovery tools.

4.
A raft of apps

XOrg 1.12 introduces support for multitouch
input devices, and multi-seat deployments. Mozilla
Firefox supports the latest Web technologies. The
llvmpipe software 3D renderer enables Gnome
Shell and virtual machines to use compositing even where no
3D hardware is present. GIMP
2.8 and Krita 2.4 make Free image
processing and natural media painting competitive with proprietary tools. Tomahawk Player promises to make listening
to music on your computer a social experience.

5.
Cool stuff

Last but not least, openSuse 12.2 includes a number of cool scientific tools
offering math applications such as numeric computation, plotting, and
visualization, for example. The Stellarium astronomical simulator "lets
you explore the night sky without a telescope," Poortvliet explained,
while "programmers will enjoy version 1.0.2 of Google's Go language as
well as the latest C++ language standards implemented in GCC 4.7.1 and Qt
Creator 2.5."

Aside from these
technical changes, the documentation team has made a major revision of the
reference manuals, and has introduced changes to make it easier for community
contributors to write openSUSE documentation.

For more details
about the latest innovations in openSUSE 12.2 visit opensuse.org/12.2.

Ready
to take openSuse Linux 12.2 for a test drive?
You can download it for free from the project site.