Mandriva Linux 2008 Spring

The latest version of Mandriva is a competent and well-implemented desktop release with lots to commend it to those with some Linux know-how.

Linux distros are a bit like buses (bear with me on this) — miss one and another is bound to come along sooner or later. In the case of Mandriva Linux, it's the 2008 Spring edition that benefits from the usual long list of component updates together with full support for the Asus Eee PC, improved synchronisation with mobile devices, PulseAudio sound infrastructure and a handful of other enhancements. Let's start by getting the updates out of the way: the 2008 Spring edition is built around a 2.6.24 Linux kernel with X.org 7.3 and both 3.5.9 and 4.0 implementations of the standard KDE desktop. An alternative download with a GNOME 2.22 desktop is also available for those that prefer it, while on the application front there's the OpenOffice.org 2.4 suite, the Firefox 2.0.0.13 browser, plus a variety of other useful desktop programs and utilities.