The KDE community proudly announced today, June 1st, the immediate availability of the first release candidate of KDE 4.3, the next-generation KDE desktop environment for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X platforms. However, the focus of this release is to fix the remaining issues before the final one comes out, at the end of July, 2009. When it will be launched, KDE 4.3.0 will definitely be the most modern, beautiful and attractive desktop environment. The most important feature of KDE 4.3 RC1 is the new Air theme, which replaces the Oxygen one (still available via right-click -> Desktop Settings).

The Ubuntu developers have announced the release of the second alpha of Ubuntu 9.10, named "Karmic Koala". The second alpha includes the latest 2.27.1 GNOME desktop development release and the new 2.6.30 Linux kernel.

Just a few weeks after NEC presented its first host controller chip for USB 3.0 and Fresco Logic released its USB 3.0 expansion card, and even before the first products offer the new SuperSpeed mode, a Linux driver for the xHCI (Extensible Host Controller Interface) is waiting in the wings. Intel developer Sarah Sharp writes in her blog that the patch is on the list of those due for inclusion in the 2.6.31 kernel.

Community is key with Fedora. As the free, open-source, home-oriented version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Fedora Project relies on the developer and tester community to keep the operating system to its semiannual release schedule. A new version of the OS, Fedora 11, was released today and is available for download.

Last week it was BSD week: OpenBSD 4.5, NetBSD 5.0, and DragonFlyBSD 2.2.1. FreeBSD 7.2 completes the picture, with every major BSD now having a new and fresh release waiting to be installed on your desktop, laptop, or server.

Mandriva has unleashed its Spring 2009.1 release, the latest version of its popular and freedom-based, easy to install and use Linux distribution.

The Ubuntu project has published a "release candidate" or final testing version for the upcoming 9.04 version of its popular Linux distribution.

The Fedora project has announced the availability of the Fedora 11 beta release. Fedora 11 includes several compelling new features such as support for kernel modesetting, Ext4 by default, and faster boot time.

The final version of GNOME 2.26.0 has been released and includes a number of new features, changes and updated applications. This release of the free open source desktop environment also includes several updated translations, stablisation work and bug fixes. According to the developers, the 2.26.0 release is not intended to be a revolutionary release, but rather one focused on stability, accessibility and ease of use.

Sourceforge, the previous owner, has transferred the domain to the foundation, and agreed to sell ads on the site. The Linux Foundation agreed, in turn, to handle editorial and community stewardship.