GNOME 2.2 Released: Latest version of the popular, multi-platform desktop environment boasts improved usability and a host of new utilities and applications

Latest version of the popular, multi-platform desktop environment boasts improved usability and a host of new utilities and applications.

BOSTON, Mass – The GNOME Foundation today announced the release of version 2.2 of the GNOME Desktop and Developer Platform. Building on the developer platform advances of GNOME 2.0 and extensive work on usability and accessibility, users and administrators on all levels can look forward to a mature, flexible and powerful user interface, as well as a host of new applications and utilities. Developers can look forward to a more mature application development platform with several new developer programs and the advantages of GNOME’s component-based architecture.

“GNOME 2.2 release signals a new era in GNOME development,” said Miguel de Icaza, president of the GNOME Foundation and CTO and co-founder of Ximian, Inc. “The GNOME Release Team has attracted some of the best developers in the world and has moved to a more mature, schedule-based release program culminating in the enhanced functionality and usability of GNOME 2.2.”

GNOME is supported on a variety of platforms, including GNU/Linux (more commonly referred to as Linux), Solaris(TM) Operating Environment, HP-UX, Unix, BSD and Apple’s Darwin. The enhanced user interface features a commitment to accessibility and also boasts powerful features such as high-quality smooth text rendering and first class internationalization support, including support for bi-directional text. GNOME 2.2 also brings to the desktop the first appearance of a new multimedia framework, called Gstreamer.

“We’re seeing the results of the GNOME 2.0 Developer Platform, which was released last year,” said Jeff Waugh, GNOME Foundation board member and GNOME release team chair. “The industrial-strength GTK+ 2.0 toolkit, combined with add-on tools such as Glade, Python and our CORBA implementation make GNOME the natural choice for developers on a variety of platforms. GNOME 2.2 is the result.”

GNOME 2.2 also features improved theming, with the addition of icon themes, making the user experience much better and more customizable.

Availability

Developers and users wishing to install the GNOME 2.2 Desktop and Developer Platform may freely download the software at www.gnome.org. The software includes the GNOME 2.2 desktop interface, file manager, menus and utilities, as well as the complete set of development tools and libraries.

A number GNOME 2.2 versions of popular applications are available, with more to come later in 2003. GNOME 2.2 will be available later this year on the Solaris (TM) Operating Environment, HP-UX, Red Hat Linux and MandrakeLinux, as well as being distributed by Ximian and other Linux distributions as part of their offerings.

About GNOME

GNOME is a free software project that is developing a complete, easy to use desktop for Linux-based operating systems, BSD and a variety of other Unix and Unix-like operating systems. The GNOME desktop is used by millions of people around the world. More than 500 computer developers, including over 100 full-time, paid developers, contribute their time and effort to the project.

About the GNOME Foundation

Comprised of hundreds of volunteer developers and industry-leading companies, the GNOME Foundation is an organization committed to supporting the advancement of GNOME. The Foundation is a member directed, non-profit organization that provides financial, organizational and legal support to the GNOME project and helps determine its vision and roadmap. GNOME is an entirely free user environment for desktops, networked servers and portable Internet devices. The modern architecture and design of GNOME includes a technically advanced application development platform and a powerful end-user desktop environment. Major leading software industry and computer manufacturers support the GNOME development effort, which is led by a worldwide community of volunteers. More information on GNOME is available at www.gnome.org.

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