If you just can’t wait, you can download the One (live / install CD) or Free (traditional installer, 100% free / open source software) editions of Mandriva Linux 2008 Spring right here. Direct BitTorrent download links can be found here, as the mirrors are likely to be overloaded for several days. The commercial edition, Powerpack, featuring exclusive commercial applications, is available immediately for direct download, and can be pre-ordered in boxed form (delivery will begin in two weeks), at the Mandriva Store. A large amount of information on the new release is also available at the Mandriva Wiki:

Main 2008 Spring page
2008 Spring Release Tour: a graphical guide to what’s new in 2008 Spring
2008 Spring Release Notes
2008 Spring Errata
2008 Spring Reviewer’s Guide: a useful read if you plan to review 2008 Spring

The result of six months of heavy development and testing, 2008 includes all the latest software and many enhancements over previous Mandriva Linux releases. You will find KDE 3.5.7 and the new GNOME 2.20 already integrated, a solid kernel 2.6.22.9 with fair scheduling support, OpenOffice.org 2.2.1, cutting-edge 3D-accelerated desktop courtesy of Compiz Fusion 0.5.2, Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.6, and everything else you’ve come to expect from the latest Mandriva Linux release. We have integrated a reworked hardware detection sub-system, with support for a lot of new devices (particularly graphics cards, sound cards and wireless chips). Also, the addition of new features and ongoing improvements to the renowned Mandriva tools continues, including a wizard to import Windows documents and settings, the new network configuration center, and improvements to the Mandriva software management tools.

You can read about the most exciting new features of Mandriva Linux 2008 in depth in the Release Tour. The Release Notes contain important information on changes from previous releases. The Errata will contain information on any future known issues and solutions for them.

Mandriva Linux 2008 was developed by the Mandriva development community, based around the Cooker development distribution. This open, community-driven development system has been in place since 1998, making it one of the longest-standing open source development communities around. The involvement of the Mandriva development community helps us to make Mandriva Linux one of the largest, most up-to-date, integrated, internationalized and standardized distributions available, for which we thank our contributors greatly. We’re proud of the standardization efforts included in Mandriva Linux 2008, including support for the Freedesktop.org XDG menu, user directories and icon theme specifications.

Mandriva Linux 2008 is available for download free of charge at the Mandriva website. The One installation CD is the recommended download with everything you need to start using Mandriva Linux 2008: it comes with a full KDE desktop and application suite, NVIDIA and ATI proprietary video card drivers, Intel wireless firmware, Adobe Flash and Sun Java browser plugins, all included.

Enjoy your brand new Mandriva Linux 2008 system!

“The GUADEC organisation wanted to make a bold move and remove the use of paper for promotional materials as much as possible,” said Bastien Nocera, a member of the GUADEC 2007 organization committee. “Thanks to Mandriva, GUADEC sponsors have been able to offer videos, code and application demonstrations on the USB key,” he continued. “We hope to have set a standard in social responsibility by cutting detritus, and hope Mandriva and other conferences will continue this work in the future.”

GUADEC is the official annual meeting of the GNOME community, where GNOME developers and users come together for presentations, talks, and workshop sessions. Mandriva is proud to help in supporting this vital and significant event. Mandriva’s involvement in GUADEC will run beyond sponsorship: several Mandriva staff members will be present to improve communication between the Mandriva and GNOME communities and to continue to improve the integration of GNOME and Mandriva. Mandriva’s lead GNOME developer, Frederic Crozat, is also an active participant in the GNOME development community and will be at GUADEC to continue his work on various aspects of the GNOME project.

Mandriva Flash, the Linux key, is a complete Mandriva Linux desktop on a bootable USB key. Mandriva Flash is designed to allow the user to take their desktop and all their vital documents with them wherever they go. The Mandriva Flash provided to GUADEC participants will be a special edition based on Mandriva Linux 2007 Spring and including the very latest version of GNOME, 2.18.

“We are very proud to be in a position to support this important event and to give something back to the GNOME community,” said David Barth, Mandriva Vice-President of Engineering. “Our staff and contributors are looking forward both to spreading the word about Mandriva and being involved in important work on the future of GNOME.”

Mandriva Linux Free 2007

• It’s Free as in Free and Open Source Software, and Free as in you don’t have to pay.
• It’s 3 CDs.
• Catch the Mandriva Linux Free 2007 torrent using your favourite BitTorrent client!

Mandriva Linux One 2007

• 1 CD with the greatest software. Use it in Live mode, install it in minutes from the desktop.
• There’s the Free Software version, with no proprietary drivers.
• There are the free, as in gratis, KDE and GNOME versions, available in 4 flavours according to your language. These include the proprietary drivers for WiFi, video, etc.
• Grab the Mandriva Linux One 2007 torrent using your favourite BitTorrent client! And share it people, spread the love!

Mandriva Linux Discovery 2007

• The DVD designed for Linux beginners, with simplified menus and ergonomy (also available on CD).
• Includes a free 1 month subscription to Mandriva Club (Silver level), to Mandriva Online (the powerful update notification service) and 1 month of free commercial support by Mandriva on our Mandriva Expert platform.
• Includes full versions of LinDVD for DVD playback; Flatout, a hit game powered by Linux; more full versions of commercial software.
• You’re one small step away from adopting Linux with Mandriva Linux Discovery 2007.

Mandriva Linux Powerpack 2007

• 2 DVD’s of pure Mandriva Linux experience for those of you who want to get some.
• Includes a 6 months subscription to Mandriva eTraining including the Linux System Administration course (certified by the Linux Professional Institute), a 1 month subscription to Mandriva Club (Silver level), to Mandriva Online (the powerful update notification service) and 2 months of free commercial support by Mandriva on the Mandriva Expert platform.
• Also includes full versions of LinDVD for DVD playback; Flatout, a hit game powered by Linux; also more full versions of commercial software.
• Fellow Linux lovers, meet Mandriva Linux Powerpack 2007.

Mandriva Linux Powerpack+ 2007

• A 2 DVD solution for your Small Office / Home Office.
• Increased security with Invictus Firewall, the Mandriva-made and exclusive redundant firewall solution, VNC software for remote administration, new VPN configuration tools, ERP, CRM and CMS solutions.
• Best in class commercial software: Arkeia Smart Backup, BitDefender, VMWare.
• Includes a 6 months subscription to Mandriva eTraining including the Linux System Administration course (certified by the Linux Professional Institute), a 1 month subscription to Mandriva Club (Gold level), 3 free months of Mandriva Online (the powerful update notification service) and 3 months of free commercial support by Mandriva on the Mandriva Expert platform.
• Yes, this is Mandriva Linux Powerpack 2007.

We’re very proud of Mandriva Linux 2007. Congratulations to the team, special cheers to our contributors, translators, documentalists and testers!

You too, join the community that is making Linux better on the desktop since 1998!

Do read the release notes and errata.

It’s time to embrace 3-dimensional Mandriva Linux. Tyr delivers a ONE CD with 3D Desktops enabled:

• AIGLX and XGL support
• Both FREE and proprietary drivers handled, for INTEL, Nvidia and ATI chipsets
• Compiz window manager for some neat effects
• Ready for KDE and GNOME desktops (“KDE 3.5.4 and GNOME 2.16 RC1″-inside)
• Featuring the new Drak3D tool for easy management

ONE is a live-and-install CD. Just slide into your drive, boot on the CD, and enjoy the ride.

More news from the neat-user-experience-department: the new version of RPMDRAKE, our application management tool, is included. We revamped the User Interface and we want your feedback.

More and more:

• DrakVPN, a tool for managing Virtual Private Networks, is also available.
• Invictus Firewall : Mandriva Linux is certainly the first Linux distro to include a redundant firewall solution. Stay tuned during the next few days for more information on Invictus.
• More applications went into the XDG menus.
• WARNING: some ONE Cd’s (10 versions are available for BETA 3) include proprietary drivers. If you want a purely free Tyr, check out the info.

Ok, that’s enough teasing. Find more information in our development wiki — paying particular attention to the known issues — then download Mandriva Linux Beta 3 Tyr and help us correct eventual bugs by filling reports in Bugzilla.

w00t