Mageia 6 Enhances Linux Desktop Experience With Better Tools, New Look

Visually, Mageia 6 looks different from its past releases thanks in part to the new default theme, which includes new icons for the desktop operating system.

On July 16, Mageia 6 was officially released, providing users of the community Linux distribution with the first major update since Mageia 5 debuted in June 2015. The Mageia Linux distribution was first formed in September 2010 as a fork of French Linux distribution Mandriva, which ceased operations in May 2015. Like Mandriva, Mageia historically has used the KDE Linux desktop as the default, and that is still true with version 6, though Mageia now offers users easy installation of other desktops as well, including GNOME and Xfce. The new Mageia 6 release also provides its users with enhanced tools and stability as well as overall ease-of-use improvements. In this slide show, eWEEK takes a look at some of the highlights of the Mageia 6 Linux distribution release.

Mageia 6 offers the KDE Plasma 5.8 open-source desktop environment as the default choice, though users can also choose to run a GNOME or Xfce desktop.

The Mageia Control Center (MCC) provides a set of tools to help users configure their systems. In the new update, the MCC gets a new look to help users more easily control and manage various system functions.

Among the features of the MCC is network sharing configuration, making it easier for users to set up sharing with Microsoft Windows drives and directories.

Mageia 6 now also includes the DNF package manager as an optional component for users, providing an enhanced system for updating and installing new software.

Mozilla’s Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version 52 is the default browser included with Mageia 6.

The Mageia community plans on supporting the new Mageia 6 release for the next 18 months, until Jan. 16, 2019.

At the heart of Mageia 6 is the Linux 4.9 kernel. The Linux 4.9 kernel was first released in December 2016 by Linus Torvalds and has been updated multiple times over the course of 2017 for bug fixes and stability improvements.