Linux Mandriva 2009.1 Preview and Screenshots

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Dark Star

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First Look : Mandriva 2009.1 Rc2 ​

Mandriva one of the leading distro provider has finally released their last testing version for their upcoming spanking distro named 2009.1 Spring ... 2009.1 tries mend the flaws that 2009.0 came with.. 2009.1 brings the latest technology from the Linux world, featuring the cutting edge softwares and tools to enchant audience with a soothing experience... Lets see what 2009.1 final will bring to us...

  • Linux Kernel 2.6.29.1 or higher with etx4 filesystem
  • KDE 4.2.2
  • Gnome 2.26.0 or higher
  • XFCE 4.6
  • The Gimp 2.6.6
  • K3b 2 or its developing version.
  • Openoffice 3.0.1
  • Xorg 1.6
  • A Gui tool for creating Live USB
  • .Speedboot
  • Lots of new stuff from repositories and many other enhancements...

Mandriva 2009.1 tries to be simple yet powerful.. MDV developers has added speedboot to enhance booting experience .. Mandriva developers manages to significantly reduce the boot time by 25%, which should help you boot the system in less than 20secs.. Please note that Bootchart didn't list correct speed when you are working with speedboot which hopefully should be fixed by bootchart developers.. So inorder to correctly calculate time using stopwatch...



Mandriva 2009.1 KDE One Edition Default Desktop​

My test setup has the following specs..

Code: 
AMD Phenom X3 8650 @ cooled by Sunbeam CCF 120mm

Jetway Ha07 

4 Gb DDR2 800 Mhz Ram

640 Gb WD AAKS hard disk

ATI HD 3300 IGP

Thermaltake M9

Samsung 19” TFT 943 NWX with max resolution of 1440x900

Since MDV 2009.1 came up with Xorg 1.6, I was little worried that it won't work with ATI graphics as AMD has yet to release Catalyst 9.4 with Xorg 1.6 and latest kernel support.. But thankfully they included Catalyst 9.4 Beta which help do things in swift manner.. Surprisingly Ubuntu shipping the same driver [fglrx 9.4] didn't even booted, maybe because MDV ships radeonhd along side with fglrx..

People using older ATI card don't get desolate, despite AMD dropped support for their older cards you can still use it in full swing in MDV 2009.1 courtesy RadeonHD..

As usual MDV set my resolution correctly and I was able to use Compiz right away.. one thing to note MDV 2009.1 KDE comes with dual composite . You can either use Kwin composite effects or go on with flamboyant ride with Compiz 0.8 ... initially you will get error while enabling Kwin effect even if your graphics and monitor set correctly.. It shows that Xdamage and Xcomposite is not installed..

Actually you need to enable X-extensions from Mandriva Cp..Navigate to MDV CP -> Hardware -> Setup graphics server -> Options and enable translucency [extension] and now you can enable Kwin effetcs...

One to the Live CD and you will notice a whole new looks of Mandriva .. Mandriva still using Splashy though with kernel 2.6.29.x up in the sleeves I was hoping for Plymouth extension. Nonetheless you can hope for plymoth in 2010.0 .. The boot process was slick and this time its pretty faster.. The artwork has been implemented completely with 2009.1 ISOs but stilll there is few things left namely new La-ora implementation and new MDV product tour...

The installation ended up in 6minutes which is pretty fast .. After installation I booted and get few screens asking me to configure the root password and all.. If you have working net your repositories will configured at first boot only..

Mandriva has opted for Desktop folder instead of folder view which is pretty good and works fine...



KDE File Manager Dolphin​

The software front was a bit led down though.. Mandriva 2009.1 left K3b, torrent client, and printer wizard from One edition.. You will get all the mentioned in the FREE and Powerpack edition by default. Hopefully they will add it in final release...Though Kget is included to meet your regular/torrent download need but I don't find it as potential as other client for torrent download..

For rest of things you won't regret using it.. Mandriva comes with full Openoffice suite , Amarok, Dragon and Totem for office and multimedia needs... Mandriva did implemented Codeina [automated codec installer] with dragon player yet they included Totem in KDE version pretty weird eh ?

I was able to play mkv,avi , mpg,mp3 and host of others files out of the box.. But since few are container formates don't think every format to work out of the box..Playing Full HD movies was awesome with 9.4 beta you will love the playback though it still hangs a bit at some places but I believe with final fglrx release it should be fixed :)

You might notice sluggish video playback while composite is enabled and for some reason I get very low volume with Dragon player which is not the case with Smplayer or VLC.…





KWIN Composite effects | Kwin Cover Switcher with HD video playing​

Hardware detection is top notch.. It set my graphic card, monitor and even correctly listed my Wireless keyboard controller which in previous release was listed as unknow device in previous version.. Multimedia controls on my keyboard worked flawlessly :)

The only problem is notification.. I never loved the way it uses notifications, they are just not positioned correctly and with Canonical coming up with Growl alternative I believe MDV should improve up notification or implement KDE notification within their applications..

KDE%20Notification.jpeg
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KDE Notification | Mandriva applications with improper notifications​

Apart from few glitches and missing software mandriva 2009.1 is shaping to be a great release.. and with KDE 4.2.2 and Gnome 2.26 it is very stable .. and I hardly faced any plasma or kapplication crash till date..





K3b 2 Development Snapshot | Mandriva Classic Menu​

IMHO 2009.1 is really a step up version over 2009.0 .. the developers did shifted the release schedule to prevent including pre-released software like they did with 2009.0...





Mandriva hardware database

​

In the end I would say Mandirva 2009.1 is really a stable release and with its vast repositories you won't find any problem searching for your favorite software.. If you can't wait for few days go get the Rc2 its quite stable for rest final version will be out soon …Mandriva 2009.1 repositories comes with all the latest software for your need, developers did every possible step to prevent any sort of application crash or bug by providing latest software..

Release Schedule of Mandriva 2009.1 : http://www.techenclave.com/open-source/release-schedule-upcoming-major-linux-distro-124174.html

Please dig the review here : http://digg.com/linux_unix/Mandriva_2009_1_Preview_and_Screenshot

Regards and thanks for reading..

Darky ;)
 
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Nice preview ..I already have Mandriva 2009.1 RC2 installed but did not have time for testing.

First impression is quite impressive.........Hoping more stability from KDE 4.2.2...
 
Is this mounts NTFS DRIVES directly out of box and supports mp3 ?????

Nice preview Mate!!!!looking really cool.....
 
Nice review. Never used linux for the long run.

Will try this one for the looks and features. Queued. :P
 
6 mins to install out of the box... that's pretty impressive :)

Sorry got to spread more reps around .... looking forward to DreamLinux review too. :P
 
Nice review as always by darky on darky's fav open source ....will try it out definately now currently running ubuntu 8.10 with kde 4.2
 
cool review on mandriva. i tried rc1 which wouldnt boot on my tablet (worked on desktop) and this time i'll wait for final release before trying it again...
 
Don't use k3b guys it didn't finish DVD burning gets stuck at 99%, didn't try Cd and I am not gonna try it...

Also the problems I mentioned here are gonna rectified in 2009.1 Final :D
 
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