Fedora 16 will be coming out in a week. Sadly I’ve been pretty silly busy and haven’t been able to keep up with the Fedora team as they push out their latest take on what Linux ought to be.

I’m going to wait until day 0 this time, and give it a whirl. Partly because I don’t have much time this week to install it more than once, adn secondly because I somehow screwed up Re-Fit on my Mac by updating the default EFI software. There are a few changes that I’m REALLY looking forward to, too. The distribution that was the first to bring us Gnome3 (and tons of other great innovations), makes release 16 no less special.

BUH-BYE HAL – udisks, upower, and libudev will be the replacement for this concrete underwear.

– udisks, upower, and libudev will be the replacement for this concrete underwear. Grub is gone, replaced by Grub2 – EFI isn’t here yet, but it’s coming, to be sure. It should be noted that normally grub isn’t compatible with GUID partition tables, but Fedora has some patches in place.

– EFI isn’t here yet, but it’s coming, to be sure. It should be noted that normally grub isn’t compatible with GUID partition tables, but Fedora has some patches in place. No more MBR to corrupt – the MBR has been replaced by a GUID partition table (Mac techies will find this one familiar). This is also part of UEFI. W00t!

– the MBR has been replaced by a GUID partition table (Mac techies will find this one familiar). This is also part of UEFI. W00t! Cloud Cloud Cloud – Sorry, but it really is out there and it’s really not going away. F16 has several cloud connectors, cloud makers, cloud talkers, cloud walkers, cloud whatevers, ready and raring to go in the repos.

– Sorry, but it really is out there and it’s really not going away. F16 has several cloud connectors, cloud makers, cloud talkers, cloud walkers, cloud whatevers, ready and raring to go in the repos. Gnone3 (3.2, to be precise) – I was a early and earnest fan of Gnome3 in F15. I didn’t think it was quite there yet, but I saw where it was going and it made me happy. F16 is a step closer.

There are a ton more upgrades and improvements, along with Fedora’s usual suite of spins and even a refined instation process.

All in all, I can’t wait to see the new Jules-Verne inspired artwork on my 17″ MBP’s screen. Fedora is a great upstream distro, and more than capable as your everyday laptop. After having gotten to know a few of Fedora’s members a little bit over the past year or so, I can honestly say it is inline with that I expect from Linux as a product and a concept. Plus it’s not brown or orange.