

Boxes is now officially included in the collection of GNOME applications. The software allows users to set up virtual systems or access remote systems.

The GNOME Project has released version 3.6 of its open source desktop environment. GNOME 3.6 includes many changes to the environment's Nautilus file manager, some of which have proven to be quite controversial. The GNOME Shell has also received a facelift for the Activities Overview, its Message Tray has been redesigned, the lock screen has been updated, and the login screen has gained the ability to show media player controls and incoming messages.

Other improvements have gone into the GNOME Disks utility, the Empathy IM client and several other bundled applications. GNOME Boxes, which allows users to set up virtual systems or access remote systems, is now included as a standard GNOME application after being available as a preview in the last major release of the desktop. Integration of online accounts into the desktop has been enhanced to include Facebook accounts, which enables the built-in contact manager to pull contacts information from the social network, along with support for Windows Live and Microsoft Exchange.

Several planned features did not make it into the release, among them the automatic update functionality for shell extensions. An overview of all the new features in GNOME 3.6 is available in the release notes. The latest version of the desktop will be available for the upcoming Ubuntu 12.10 release and several other Linux distributions. The developers are currently preparing live images of the release which will be made available on the Getting GNOME page. The page also includes details of how to obtain the source code for the desktop environment and compile it manually.

See also:

First Look: GNOME 3.6, a feature from The H.

(fab)