Kororaa 15.1 (Squirt) released

The second release of Kororaa 15 (codename “Squirt”) has been released. Version 15.1 is available for download, in 32 and 64 bit with KDE 4.6 and GNOME 3.

This release includes a number of fixes and enhancements, as listed below. A special thanks to Prashanth for the review of Kororaa 15 which outlined many of these shortcomings.

Major changes:

  • Fixed KDE crash in live mode (prelink wasn’t properly disabled)
  • Fixed Kdenlive bug which stopped it from running
  • Fixed KPackagekit crash in live mode
  • Bypass the login screen and load straight to desktop
  • Disable screensaver and locked screen in live mode
  • Renamed desktop switcher to “Switch between Shell and Fallback desktops”
  • Added Google Talk Plugin repo for easy installation
  • Added a wrapper package (skype-helper) for Skype dependencies (can’t ship Skype though)
  • Added more GNOME Shell themes
  • Removed Gloobus preview (not complete in Fedora)
  • Removed GNOME Appearance Properties link (deprecated in GNOME 3)
  • Removed Synaptic package manager
  • Removed Miro (currently broken upstream)
  • Updated to Firefox 7
  • Updated to Openshot 1.4

Kororaa 15.1 comes with an RPM metapackage to install and configure Adobe Flash, now that Add/Remove Extras is gone. To get flash, install the flash-plugin-helper package. To remove flash, uninstall the flash-plugin package.

Kororaa 15.1 also comes with an RPM metapackage to install the dependencies for Skype (but not Skype itself). Simply install the skype-helper package, then download the Skype package for Fedora from their website and install using the package manager.

Upgrade
Existing Kororaa 15 users need not upgrade to 15.1 as these changes mostly affect live mode, while others have been pushed out via system updates.

Users still on Kororaa 14 may wish to upgrade to 15.1 and should do so via a new install (backup your data if necessary). Users who wish to stay with GNOME 2.x should not upgrade to 15.1, as it comes with GNOME 3. However, Kororaa 15.1 does include a desktop switcher for GNOME 3, so that users can switch between the new Shell interface and the 2.x style Fallback mode using the “Switch between Shell and Fallback desktops” link on the desktop.

Desktops
The GNOME 3 desktop has a custom theme available, as well as 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.
Kororaa 15 desktop - GNOME

The KDE desktop has a custom layout with specific default applications, such as Firefox for the web and VLC for media, etc. It now also comes with Linphone for those wanting a SIP client.
Kororaa 15 desktop - KDE

Features
Derived from Fedora 151, this updated release comes with the usual Kororaa extras out of the box, such as:

  • Tweaked KDE 4.6 and GNOME 3 base systems
  • Third party repositories (Adobe, Chrome, RPMFusion, VirtualBox)
  • Firefox 7 as the default web browser (with integration tweaks for KDE)
  • Firefox extensions included (Adblock Plus, DownThemAll, Flashblock, Xclear)
  • Microblogging client (Choqok for KDE, Gwibber 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.

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