VLOS 1.3

VLOS (formerly Vidalinux Desktop OS) is a Linux distribution based on Gentoo. Because Gentoo is notorious for its arduous installation process, VLOS uses the Enterprise Linux Anaconda installer to make it easier for end users to install it. The purpose of VLOS is to make the Linux operating system more accessible to home and office users. It combines the power of ebuilds and Portage and compiling all software from source (aside from a select few larger ones, which are available in binary) into an easy-to-use package. VLOS has selected the most appropriate tools for home and office use.

VLOS uses the Portage package manager to automatically build a custom version of the package to your exact specifications, optimizing it for your hardware and ensuring that the optional features in the package that you want are enabled--and those you don't want aren't.

VLOS packages are architecturally optimized to give you an improved performance.

VLOS 1.3 features:

• Linux kernel 2.6.17
• Newly enhanced anaconda installer!
• Both of Linux's major graphical user interface packages, GNOME 2.14.3 and KDE 3.5.4 have been updated.
• Better WiFi support and a faster performance!
• The default configuration of GNOME and KDE are slightly improved.
• Includes Amarok and Banshee, now you will be able to just plug your iPod in and not think about it.
• Desktop 3D features and support for lastest video cards. This new interface provides the technical foundations for an advanced desktop based on OpenGL. Among other things Xorg 7.1 supports lastest video cards.
• Now also included is the GNOME Power Manager. The GNOME Power Manager allows you to control the power saving features of your machine via a nice clean and simple interface.
• Search drill down results. A lot of effort went into making many tools that provide easy-to-use search interfaces, so users can find what they need more easily.
• Additional drivers and patches support more hardware than the plain vanilla Linux kernel.
• PCMCIA devices are handled directly and dynamically by the hotplug and udev subsystems.
• Firefox has many new features for faster, safer, and more efficient browsing.
• Libnotify, a library that features simple and attractive notifications for the desktop.
• Printing support is improved in this release with the inclusion of the hplip utility, which replaces hpijs.
• There is a completely revamped appearance with a bubbly new tango icon theme.
• This release includes Mono support and Mono applications such as Beagle, a desktop search interface F-Spot, a photo management utility; and banshee, a music organizer and player application.
• Firestarter is an easy to use iptables graphical interface, you will have a firewall up and running in minutes.
• You can now enjoy enhanced multimedia support with version 0.10 of the Gstreamer media framework.
• The GCC 4.0.3 compiler is included, and the entire set of VLOS packages is built using it. This provides security and performance enhancements throughout the system.
• Now uses HAL in KDE and Gnome to handle mounting.
• Many more features!