A new version of the Fedora Linux distro, Fedora 28, was released in its beta version. Here's a look at some of its new features. Credit: Thinkstock Fedora 28 has just been released in its beta version. That means this Linux distro isn’t likely to be completely free of bugs and that you have a chance to participate in ensuring that it’s ready to go public on May 1. This news won’t be particularly surprising to the more enthusiastic Fedora users. Fedora’s release cycle is a fairly regular after all. Every six months, more or less, a new Fedora release is published. Many Fedora users have come to expect to see them around May Day and Halloween each year. Yet, while not surprising, the news is still exciting because of a number of new and enhanced features. New features in Fedora 28 beta So, what do you have to look forward to in this beta release or the planned May release? Inclusion of the Modularity initiative for Fedora 28 Server, which allows systems administrators to run multiple versions of the same software on a single stack without compromising system stability. Support for AArch64 (ARM) as a primary architecture for Fedora 28 Server, making it easier to run Fedora on alternative hardware architectures. GNOME 3.28 for Fedora 28 Workstation, bringing a host of quality-of-life improvements to desktop users and developers, including Thunderbolt 3 support, new power-saving features, and the ability to favorite files, folders, and contacts. We’ve also got promise of: An extended battery life — maybe as much as 30 percent on laptop batteries Fewer questions to answer at setup time A user password that will be sufficient for working as root Less redundancy between the Anaconda installer and the GNOME initial setup Improved VirtualBox support with new guest drivers in the kernel package and VirtualBox Guest Additions The latest GNOME desktop environment Some snazzy new wallpapers Other notable changes include: Secure Thunderbolt 3 support Users can type either emoji annotation or Unicode names on the same dialog Ruby 2.5 GCC 8 Django 2.0 Erlang 20 GHC 8.2 Golang 1.10 You can download the Fedora 28 beta release today — use Fedora Media Writer to put it on a USB drive and test it on your system in live mode. More information and instructions are available for Fedora 28 workstation here. Just remember to use a spare USB stick and expect that its prior contents are going to go bye-bye. To learn how you can get involved, check out the Fedora Project page. Related content how-to Compressing files using the zip command on Linux The zip command lets you compress files to preserve them or back them up, and you can require a password to extract the contents of a zip file. By Sandra Henry-Stocker May 13, 2024 4 mins Linux opinion NSA, FBI warn of email spoofing threat Email spoofing is acknowledged by experts as a very credible threat. By Sandra Henry-Stocker May 13, 2024 3 mins Linux how-to The logic of && and || on Linux These AND and OR equivalents can be used in scripts to determine next actions. By Sandra Henry-Stocker May 02, 2024 4 mins Linux how-to Using the apropos command on Linux By Sandra Henry-Stocker Apr 24, 2024 3 mins Linux PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe