SimplyMepis Shaping Up - 11.0 RC 2 Released

SimplyMepis 11.0 RC 2 was released last week and the annoying thing about that project is that their release announcements say nothing about the release. So, if one wants to keep up they have to download each developmental release and test it. So, I did.

 The basic look and feel hasn't changed since my last test. It's possible it could receive an update before final. What I did notice soon after boot was that the graphic driver setup assistant is gone. It was inoperative my last test, but it's completely gone now. Instructions in the Mepis Manual have the user going back to the old-fashioned manual procedure. This isn't a big deal for most of us old goats, but for a distribution known for being "user-friendly," this isn't a plus. Will it be back before final?

 Fortunately, I didn't have to play around with any settings or boot flags to get a graphical desktop. The boot to blank locked-up screen was somewhat fixed last test, but I did have to talk it into a graphical interface.

 The main components this time are Linux 2.6.36-1, X.Org X Server 1.7.7, GCC 4.4.5, and KDE 4.5.3. Some of the software included is Firefox 4.0, GIMP 2.6.10, GNOME MPlayer and KMPlayer, LibreOffice 3.3.2, and the whole suite of KDE apps.

 Everything seems fairly ready for release. I had no issues with audio, graphics, or any other hardware. It seems stable and fully operative. There is no hint as to when final will be released, but Woodford usually goes through three release candidates. But if I had to guess, I'd say to expect SimplyMepis 11.0 final somewhere around the first week in May.