Version 4.2 of Zenwalk Gnu-Linux is officially released. This version comes with the Linux kernel 2.6.18.6 & Xorg-7.1.1 along with new features and hundreds of updated packages.

Some of the more noticeable changes include "Zenpanel" which is Zenwalk's new system configuration panel that makes customizing your Linux system easy.

Zenwalk 4.2 Desktop introduces a new panel layout and RSS feed reader that were added to XFCE among other nice enhancements such as an original Tango derived Icon theme. Howl has been replaced with the more modern and supported Avahi zeroconf subsystem. Python has been upgraded to version 2.5 to bring new features and stability to the overall system. Fam has been replaced with Gamin resulting in noticeable speed increases to file and directory monitoring, making changes to files and viewing of large directories faster then ever. The Thunar filemanager is completed by the Search4files file search tool which we chose for it's simplicity (it's a frontend to slocate, find, Tracker or Beagle). Optionally , the more powerful Pinot Meta Search Engine can be installed via Netpkg.

Mplayer multimedia system replaces Gxine and comes both with Theora support as well as a ready to use Firefox plugin. The Mplayer version included in Zenwalk includes patches created by Zenwalk to enhance the GTK2 GUI and add session support. Audacious (the XMMS like music player) now also comes with a Mplayer plugin so that you can even use Audacious as a universal yet simple media player.

Zenwalk installer has been enhanced with a brand new automatic partitioning option. This new install mode is especially intended for users who don't know how to plan and create partitions on hard drives but still want to install a true Linux System rather than a Live CD. In this mode the setup will choose an appropriate partitioning layout : 2 or 3 partitions according to the size of the disk (with dedicated /home partition for easy reinstall without loosing data). The disk will be automatically partitioned and formatted, then the install process will continue as usual. Of course this option has to be used with caution : the target disk must be dedicated to Zenwalk.

Zenwalk-4.2 is a ultra-modern, light weight and full-featured GNU-Linux desktop operating system with emphasis on multimedia, networking and development. We hope that you will enjoy this new release as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Cheers

JP