The first beta release of Kororaa 16 (codename “Chum”) has been released and is available for download, in 32 and 64 bit versions for KDE and GNOME. This new release includes major updates of most packages including the kernel, office and desktops (KDE 4.7 and GNOME 3.2).
Upgrade
We are currently working on a way for existing version 15 users to upgrade to the final release of version 16, however this is not yet available for the beta release. For those wanting to test out this release, it is recommended to perform a fresh install or use a virtual machine. It’s a Live DVD, so it can be tested without installation too 🙂
Known issues
- Some addons for GNOME have caused crashes and the gnome-shell-extension-alternative-status-menu is not included in the beta. To shutdown, hold down the Alt key while hovering over Suspend option in menu.
- Searching (Alt + F2) in GNOME causes Shell to crash.
- Jockey (the proprietary driver manager) was accidentally left out, but is installable (GNOME: jockey-gtk jockey-selinux KDE: jockey-kde jockey-selinux)
Desktops
The GNOME 3 desktop has several extensions to provide an enhanced user experience (and help ease the transition from GNOME 2.x). It also comes with the GNOME Tweak Tool to allow further customisation.
The KDE desktop has a custom layout with specific default applications, such as Firefox for the web and VLC for media, etc.
Features
Derived from Fedora 161, this new major release comes with the usual Kororaa extras out of the box, such as:
- Tweaked KDE 4.7 and GNOME 3.2 base systems
- Third party repositories (Adobe, Chrome, RPMFusion, VirtualBox)
- Firefox 8 as the default web browser (integrated with KDE)
- Firefox extensions included (Adblock Plus, DownThemAll, Flashblock, Xclear)
- Microblogging client (Choqok for KDE, Empathy for GNOME)
- Full multimedia support (excluding Flash, see next)
- Installer for Adobe Flash plugin
- Jockey device manager to handle drivers such as AMD/ATI and NVIDIA
- Video editor (Kdenlive for KDE, OpenShot for GNOME)
- VLC as the default media player
- SELinux enabled (particularly worthwhile for Flash)
- English (Australian/British) support & dictionaries
- and more..
Feedback
We’d love to hear your feedback on the forums, so download it today and let us know! 🙂
Thanks!
Note: Kororaa is not provided or supported by the Fedora Project. Official, unmodified Fedora software is available through the Fedora Project website.
4 thoughts on “Kororaa 16 (Chum) Beta released”
I’m going to try out Kororaa for the first time after seeing it mentioned on Distrowatch. I’ll be sure to let you know what I think. I’ll be nice I know it’s a beta release.
Hi Joe,
Sounds great 🙂 The GNOME one has some annoying bugs, but I think the KDE one is quite stable. Looking forward to hearing whatever you have to say!
Cheers,
Chris
Actually I think I discovered one bug I’m sure you’re aware of. I would search for an application in the GNOME lens and it would crash that lens. I only tried it out briefly last night before heading off to bed. I plan to dive into both GNOME and KDE tonight. If I have issues I’ll roll back to version 15.
Hi Joe,
Thanks for that – there are some major bug in this GNOME compilation for some reason. I don’t think that Fedora suffers the same so it must be something I’m doing. I’m trying to find some time to test it more. AFAIK the KDE version is OK.
-c