Red Hat releases Fedora Core 6

On Tuesday, Red Hat released Fedora Core 6, its newest hobbyist version of Linux, with an expandable new installation routine and a third try at incorporating Xen virtualization software.

Fedora Core 6, free and faster-moving alternative to Red Hat Enterprise Linux, is in effect a rough draft of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5, to be released in late 2006 or early 2007. The biggest change coming with RHEL 5 is Xen, open-source virtualization software that lets multiple operating systems run simultaneously, each in its own separate compartment called a virtual machine. Virtualization, a high-end feature now arriving in x86 servers, lets a single server replace several less efficiently used ones.

Xen appeared in Fedora Core 4 and 5, but the version in Fedora Core 6 should be close to what appears in RHEL 5, said Max Spevack, the Fedora project leader. One major feature is a graphical administration tool to control Xen virtual machines.

Also in Fedora Core 6 is Linux eye candy, based on the AIGLX project and the Compiz window manager. The features require 3D graphics video support, but permit several features. Among them, desktops of the graphical user interface can be mapped to faces of a virtual 3D cube that users can rotate. And windows can become transparent and wobbly like Jell-O when moved.

The Linux version also switches to the DejaVu font, an open-source font project derived from Bitstream's Vera typeface.

Download: Fedora Core 6 (list of mirrors)
View: FC6 Release Summary
News source: c|net News.com