Gnome 2.20 has been released and the new version has a lot of new features that makes it more attractive for the big companies. User Profile editor “Sabayon” is used to create new customized profiles for the receptionist, programmer and the regular user.
The standard program for email and calender is Evolution which has some new functions.
Something that apparently is a common problem is to forget to attach a file when you’re sending an email with the purpose to also send the file, a lot of people forget to send the file. This problem Evolution will try to combat as it searches for words like attach, attached and then alert you that you’re trying to send an email without any attached file.
The calender function in Evolution has got some add-ons as well, with some more advanced search options and a drop down menu (show) that gives you a list of active activities.
The image viewer in Gnome, eog, is faster and more stable. You also get access to the information that is stored inside the picture in the XMP-format (Extensible Metadata Platform) and EXIF. Information as blend rate, exposure time, flash is just some examples among others.
Another advantage with EXIF is that rotated pictures are rotated “correctly” when shown in the file manager.
The integrated PDF-reader. Evince, enables you to fill out a PDF-document which you later can save, print out or send. Evince also renders the pages faster.
The Media player, Totem, now detects if you’re trying to play a video where the correct codec is missing. A dialogue box pops up asking if you want to search for the codec that is missing and install it on the spot.
The file manager, Nautilus, has received some new functions which makes it easier to search for files and now you also get a list of the “Previously used files” which you can choose from. The interface now resembles more like windows and you also prompt a box with the preferences for your hard drive, that shows how much available space you have left and how much you have used.
Gonome 2.20 is also loaded with functions which does the environment more suited for companies that demand customization and security. With the “key ring” in Gnome you can store passwords for servers on the network and passwords for sites. The key ring starts once you log in and shuts down when you log out or if the screensaver starts.
Another nice feature for mobile users, is the new function for power managing. Now Gnome saves a history on how fast your battery ends. The information is used to give you the real time you have left before you need to plug in the laptop back to a power supply. If the capacity in the battery drops below a certain level you’ll receive a warning that it’s maybe time to change the battery.
Gnome 2.20 will also will also with the user profile manager “Sabyon” let administrators set up customized profiles for specific functions in companies. You can have one profile for the regular user, another for a Internet surfing and yet another for developers, there are of course many more this is just an example.
The profile manager is used to lock down certain function in the operating system but can also be used to customize OpenOffice.org. A neat way to ensure that all the users have the correct settings.
Gnome is in Ubuntu’s Gutsy Gibbon that will be released in October and in Novell’s Suse Linux 10.3 RC1
Fore more information visit gnome’s site where you can read more about it.
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Have to say that our small company is using this system to set up different profiles, works very well I have to admit.
And we saved some $ on choosing this system, so I just see good things with linux and open source applications.
nils
September 24th, 2007