The Fedora Project has, today, released the 25th version of its popular Linux distribution. The release comes in three editions: Workstation, Server, and Atomic. New packages common to all releases include Docker 1.12 – which allows for building and running of containerised applications, Node.js 6.5 – the latest version of the popular server-side JavaScript engine, support for the Rust programming language, and support for multiple Python versions – 2.6, 2.7, 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5 – which will help developers to run test suites across several Python configurations.
Fedora 25 Workstation will likely be of most interest to readers who want to give the release a test spin. This release is pretty exciting; it’s the first to officially debut the long-awaited Wayland display server which replaces the legacy X11 system. Wayland aims to “provide a smoother, richer experience for graphical environments and better capabilities for modern graphics hardware.”
The other big additions include GNOME 3.22 which “offers multiple file renaming, a redesigned keyboard settings tool and additional user interface improvements” and Linux Kernel 4.8 which supports new hardware. Fedora 25 also includes support for the decoding of MP3 files.
To get your hands on Fedora 25, you’ll have several options. If you’ve currently got Fedora 24 you can use GNOME Software to upgrade to Fedora 25; this upgrade should typically take less than 30 minutes, depending on system configuration and network speed. If you’re looking to try Fedora out as a new user coming from Windows or macOS you will be given the Fedora Media Writer if you try to download the new release.
With Fedora Media Writer, users will be able to download the current Fedora release and write it to removable media, such as a USB device. From the USB device, you can “test drive” the operating system without having to install it on your actual hard drive. If you want to do an install, you can do so from the USB Live Media that you created.