Ubuntu continued its determined march towards world desktop domination. Most other distributions also made an effort here and the words like "beautiful desktop" are now a standard item on the feature lists of all major distributions. Ubuntu was the obvious trend-setter as it continued to attack the desktop, but Fedora also surprised a few people with its sudden dedication to impress users with desktop art. Instead, all major distributions focused on incremental improvements of existing features, small usability enhancements, and general desktop polish. While in previous years distributions seemed to concentrate on delivering exciting new features and grand enhancements, the last 12 months were somewhat more sedate in this department. Perhaps the most fitting description of 2007 would be "the year of increased polish of desktop Linux". It's that time of the year when DistroWatch looks back at the past 12 months and asks: what was it like to be part of the open source software community in 2007? Was it the year of Linux on the desktop yet? Were there any unexpected surprises? And did Linux or other open source operating systems help you accomplish your computing tasks? Or was there something that could have been done better? New distributions: ChurchPup, DEFT Linux, EduPup, Keldix Linux.Upcoming releases: NetBSD 4.0, FreeBSD 6.3.Released last week: CentOS 4.6, LliureX 7.11, Litrix Linux 7.12.News: Mandriva enters alpha development, Fedora loses project leader, MEPIS updates desktop artwork, Ulteo announces online services, Daniel Robbins releases Gentoo "stages".
Finally, many thanks to all our loyal readers and best wishes for the festive season! See you all in 2008! In the news section, Mandriva enters a new development process with Cooker Alpha 1, Max Spevack resigns as Fedora Project Leader, MEPIS updates its artwork for the upcoming release of SimplyMEPIS, Daniel Robbins announces updated "stage" tarballs, and Ulteo delivers the first of its online services.
Who were the winners and losers in 2007? Which distributions impressed most? Were there any major surprises? Read more in our feature story. Welcome to this year's final issue of DistroWatch Weekly! Yes, it's that time of the year when DistroWatch takes a brief look at the events that shaped the distribution world during the past 12 months.
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