Interesting Improvements In GNOME 2.24
Another change that started with GNOME 2.22 was the migration to the new gio/vfs virtual file-system. Not all GNOME modules were ported over in time for the 2.22 cycle, but this time around the Eye of GNOME Image Viewer, File Roller Archive Manager, Gedit Text Editor, GNOME Control Center, GNOME Media, GNOME Screenshot, Totem, Anjuta IDE, and Baobab were ported over to gio/vfs.
The 1.2 update of the Resize and Rotate extension (A Newbies Guide To RandR 1.2) has been present now in many of the X display drivers, but not many GNOME programs have picked up the RandR 1.2 support up to this point. The previously showcased gnome-display-properties found within the GNOME Control Center though now supports RandR 1.2 along with multi-head monitor support. The GNOME Desktop Library (libgnome-desktop) now also introduces an API for RandR management.
Last September when Vinagre was a VNC client for the GNOME desktop early in development we had already loved it and felt it was an excellent GNOME VNC client. Fortunately, it was made part of GNOME with the 2.22 release, but the excitement didn't stop there. With GNOME 2.24, Vinagre has improved bookmarking support in that it now allows for folders and it automatically will list Avahi-discovered machines. The capabilities have also been added to import/export Vinagre bookmarks. This Vinagre update also incorporates enhanced full-screen support and sending custom keys (such as Ctrl + Alt + Del) to the VNC server.
The complete list of major changes for GNOME 2.24 (as well as some of the initial plans for GNOME 2.26) can be found on the GNOME Roadmap. Tell us in the Phoronix Forums what best you like about this forthcoming GNOME release or what you wish would come as a feature in this desktop environment. The first beta release for GNOME 2.24.0 is scheduled for release next week while the final release is planned for the 24th of September.
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