Mandriva has released the latest version of its desktop Linux operating system, which can be downloaded free on its website and public mirror servers.

Mandriva Linux 2008 has a new base system built on version 2.6.22.9 of the Linux kernel, which adds some features such as fair scheduling support (distributes CPU usage amongst users).

Hardware detection has been reworked, now supporting several new devices — graphics cards, sound cards and wireless chips in particular. They've also added a wizard to import Windows documents and settings, a new network configuration center and improved the software management tools.

The OS comes with GNOME 2.20 desktop, KDE 3.5.7, OpenOffice.org 2.2.1, desktop accelerator Compiz Fusion 0.5.2 and the latest Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird.

Check out the release notes for detailed information on changes from the previous version, or the release tour to skip to the interesting bits and pictures. It's probably worth peeking at the errata for known issues and solutions, if you're serious about it.

Mandriva Linux is available as a hefty 4.1GB download with all the stuff needed to set up. The installation CD features KDE desktop and application suite, NVIDIA and ATI proprietary video card drivers, Intel wireless firmware, Adobe Flash and Sun Java browser plugins. ®

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