Before delving into the features of Fedora 10, it’s important to know about its desktop environments. The operating system offers two options: KDE 4.1 or GNOME 2.24. Both are current versions of Linux’s desktop environments.
KDE 4.1 was released in July, 2008. It fulfilled its promises of being the next-generation desktop environment. KDE 4.2 will be released at the end of January, 2009, and promises to build on the success of KDE 4.1. Fedora’s developers want to ensure that KDE gets strong support when it comes to distribution. There have been problems due to differences between Fedora and KDE development phases.
If you choose to go with GNOME 2.24, this desktop environment has robust features that most will like, such as Empathy instant messaging and tabbed browsing. These functions greatly enhance GNOME’s Nautilus file manager. Empathy uses Telepathy instant messaging as its foundation. As a result, this function is designed to support audio and video chat capabilities. It also provides tighter desktop integration than you will find in the Pidgin messaging program.
Although Empathy promises some advancement over GNOME, it still has a long way to go to get to that next step. Originally, Fedora 10 had Empathy in its operating system, but replaced it with Pidgin. You can, however, use Empathy by installing it from the repository.
Fedora is the foundation for derivative distributions, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Creative Common's Live Content DVDs, and the One Laptop Per Child XO. You can also use Fedora’s easy tools to distribute content through USB, installation discs, or CD/DVD. Applications you can use include Fedora Xfce Spin, Fedora Games Spin, Fedora Electronic Lab, or Fedora Developers Spin. These are all free. You can go to the websiteand download them. Fedora even allows you to create a Live USB stick, using Windows. If you’re concerned about your Internet connection’s speed, you can use the Free Media application.
