PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011-07 is now available for download, PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011-07 features the following updates.

What’s new:

XFCE 4.8 Desktop Environment – Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user friendly.

Xfce embodies the traditional UNIX philosophy of modularity and re-usability. It consists of a number of components that provide the full functionality one can expect of a modern desktop environment. They are packaged separately and you can pick among the available packages to create the optimal personal working environment.

Xfce contains a number of core components for the minimum tasks you’d expect from a desktop environement:
Window Manager
Manages the placement of windows on the screen, provides window decorations and manages workspaces or virtual desktops.
Desktop Manager
Sets the background image and provides a root window menu, desktop icons or minimized icons and a windows list.
Panel
Switch between opened windows, launch applications, switch workspaces and menu plugins to browse applications or directories.
Session Manager
Controls the login and power management of the desktop and allows you to store multiple login sessions.
File Manager
Provides the basic file management features and unique utilities like the bulk renamer.
Setting Manager
Tools to control the various settings of the desktop like keyboard shortcuts, appearance, display settings etcetera.

Beside the basic set of modules, Xfce also provides numerous additional applications and plugins so you can extend your desktop the way you like, for example a terminal emulator, text editor, sound mixer, application finder, image viewer, iCal based calendar and a CD and DVD burning application.

Kernel – The kernel was updated to version 2.6.38.8. Additional kernels are available from our repositories such as a PAE kernel for computers with more than 4 gigs of memory. A BFS kernel for maximum desktop performance and a standard kernel with group scheduling enabled.

Xorg – Xorg server was updated to version 1.10.3. Mesa updated to 7.10.3 and libdrm to version 2.4.26. This update brings enhancements to the PCLinuxOS desktop including speed, 3D desktop support for most Intel, Nvidia and AMD/ATi video cards, better font rendering, black screen fixes for most Nvidia cards, better Flash playback and more. The most recent versions of Nvidia and AMD/ATi video drivers are included on the LiveCD and automatically configured for you. The bad news is users with older legacy video cards included in most dated computers may not function properly due to many depreciated xorg video drivers.

Toolchain – Gcc software compiler was updated to version 4.5.2 and glibc updated to 2.10.1. Locales were updated to version 2.12.1.

Package Manager – RPM was updated to version 4.8.1. apt-get and the Synaptic Package Manager were also updated to work with the updated rpm packages. yum and yumex will be available in the coming weeks as an alternative package manager.

Theme Update – PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011-07 release received a full makeover. 2011-07 features a new brush metal theme including updates to grub, plymouth, gdm, gfxboot and application splash screens. Additional themes are also installed from the previous 3 years releases

Theme screenshots located here:

Grub

http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/files/index.php?dir=Phoenix%202011/&file=grub.png

Plymouth

http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/files/index.php?dir=Phoenix%202011/&file=plymouth.png

GDM

http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/files/index.php?dir=Phoenix%202011/&file=gdm.png

Guest Desktop

http://cozmodesigns.co.uk/files/index.php?dir=Phoenix%202011/&file=desktop.png

Remastering Tools – mylivecd was updated to work with the latest release. mylivecd added the ability to install PCLinuxOS from the boot menu without having to go to the desktop first. There are 3 compression schemes available now for remastering your installation. xz maximum compression, xz normal compression and gzip for fast compression. xz max takes longer to generate the LiveCD but produces the most compressed image where as gzip will create a LiveCD fairly quick but the compressed image will be larger. mylivecd can also generate a LiveDVD with up to 4 gigs of compressed data. Usually a 10-12 gig installation will compress into a 4 gig DVD.

Software – PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011 LiveCD comes with the latest versions of most popular programs such as XFCE 4.8, Firefox 5.0, Thunderbird 3.1.11 just to name a few. OpenOffice Manager has been replaced with LibreOffice Manager. Due to the limited size of the LiveCD the office suite is not included but can be installed through the LibreOffice Manager either in LiveCD mode (3 gigs memory required) or preferably after hard drive installation. Addlocale has updated translations and can convert a PCLinuxOS installation into over 70 different languages. The software included on the LiveCD was based on community feedback as to what the PCLinuxOS users wanted to be included by default.

Direct Download:

PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011-07 iso

PCLinuxOS Phoenix Edition 2011-07 MD5SUM

Will be available on the following mirrors (620mb):

http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/pclinuxos/live-cd/

http://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/linux/pclinuxos/live-cd/

http://na.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/pclinuxos/live-cd/

The LiveCD defaults to the UK keyboard layout. You must select US keyboard from the initial boot screen from the LiveCD if you live in the USA.

*Please note existing PCLinuxOS Phoenix users who have been keeping up with their Synaptic Package Manager updates do need to download and install this release as you will avoid breakages with the current XFCE 4.6 Environment.*