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GNOME 2.26 is set for release for March 18th and if you’re wondering exactly what the developers have cooked up for their latest bi-annual release, well you’ve come to the right place. Techpark6 has been running the Release Candidate for the last two weeks to figure out what changes are in store for GNOME 2.26.

Your a Linux user and you want to convert videos from DVD to iPhone or convert video files in flash format to stream online, what are you choices? A few years back you were stuck with command line only utilities like FFmpeg, which works great but doesn’t offer the ease of use found in GUI applications. Now with the popularity of Linux, you have 3 great GUI applications that can easily handle all your video converting needs.

Ubuntu, the popular Linux distro that seems to be on the doorsteps of mainstream acceptance, gets better and better with each release. Their latest release 8.04 (Hardy Heron) is certainly no exception and in fact is their most polished release to date. Hardy Heron is the second ever “LTS” (long term support) release from Ubuntu which entails 3 years of support for desktop versions and 5 years of support for server versions. With that in mind, it seems the developers from Ubuntu concentrated squarely on stability for Hardy Heron.

Mythbuntu is a relatively new Ubuntu derivative aimed squarely at the HTPC enthusiasts. The distro consists of modified versions of XFCE/Xubuntu and MythTV. While MythTV has always been one of the best HTPC platforms around, it certainly hasn’t been one of the the easiest to install. With Mythbuntu 7.10, all that is starting to change.

Fedora 8 is the latest release from the Fedora project and it is just packed with a slew of exciting new features. Some of the more notable features are Pulse Audio (new Linux Sound System), Codec Buddy, Online-Desktop, Compiz and Gnome 2.20. Fedora 8 also offers a new theme (unique to Fedora) and more visual treats for the desktop user. After using Fedora 8 from the various Release Candidates to the final Fedora 8 release, I came away impressed with the overall release, but wished a few quirks and bugs were ironed out before the final release.

I’ll cut to the chase and say from the start that Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy) Desktop Edition is simply the best desktop operating system that I have ever used. From installation, to setup, to regular everyday use Gutsy is just a thing of beauty. I have been keeping up with the release since its initial rocky Alpha period, to the polished final Release Candidate released on October 15, 2007 and then apt-get upgrading to the final release. The end result is that the Ubuntu team has put together everything that you could possibly want in a desktop operating system and more.