Released: July 2007
Manufacturer: Redhat
Description: Open Source Linux operating system packaged by RedHat

Every 6 months or so, the geeks over at RedHat.com serve up a new release of their Linux test platform known as Fedora.

Fedora is the system they release for free to developers so they can fix bugs and improve features for inclusion in their commercially licensed RedHat Linux Enterprise OS (Fedora is open source where as you have to pay for RHEL), basically a way to make the nerds of the world work for them for nothing.

Fedora 7 is their latest release for PC, available in 32 bit and 64 bit flavours for just about every CPU on the market. Added improvements in this release are mainly in the areas of system administration, updating packages and desktop features – so while general users may not notice any differences from Fedora 6, administrators (geeks) will benefit from many of the improved features.

The new “spins” capability in version 7 gives administrators the ability to package specific configurations of system settings and software packages (spins), which means you can create your own install CDs to distribute to your friends or network users. Some of the new other features like the Beryl 3D Desktop are clearly aimed at people who are impressed by Windows Vista and Mac OS X’s fancy desktop environments (non-moron users will have disabled these settings regardless of their OS), but these are also an indication as to RedHat’s secondary target market. The automatic and manual update processes have been given a major overhaul, so when you update or install new software the YUM application you use runs about five times faster than in previous releases.

This release is really more of a bunch of updated patches for Fedora 6 as far as I can see, nothing too revolutionary if you’re considering the upgrade; but as the Fedora OS evolves in each of these upgrades, it comes closer and closer to being a complete replacement for the MAC or Windows operating systems. In about three or four years, we may well be seeing systems like this coming pre-installed on retail computers in large, commercial volume.

• Pros:
  Easy installation & initial configuration.
  New ‘spins’ feature is good for system rollouts.
  Vista-like 3D Desktop (Beryl). 
• Cons:
  Not a huge update from Fedora 6, probably doesn’t warrant it’s own number.
  Lots of new features require updates / configuration.
  Vista-like 3D Desktop (Beryl).

Rating: 3 out of 5