Steemtux Weekly Linux News #2 - New releases of Wine, BleachBit, X.Org Server & VirtualBox
This week it's new software releases all the way. Let's just get started right away :)
WineHQ Wine 3.3 development release now available
The WineHQ Wine 3.3 development release is now available for both Linux and Mac. This release includes some new features such as beginnings of Vulkan support, Direct3D multi-threaded command stream and multisample textures are enabled by default, and support for game controllers through SDL.
There are also 35 bugs fixed in the 3.3 development release.
I rarely use Wine myself, but I like that they're getting closer on Vulkan support and the support for game controllers can come in handy.
BleachBit gets it's first update after 19 months
BleachBit 2.0 has a few improvements and new features. If you don't know what BleachBit is, it's comparable to CCleaner. It works on both Linux and Windows and is open source.
New features include drag and drop support for shredding files, fixed preservation of thumbnails on Chrome and Chromium, using HTTPS when checking for automatic updates. There are also a few specific updates for each platform, check the release notes for full list.
BleachBit is pretty popular on the Interwebz, and it was about time that they updated the software a bit. I think this will be well received by the users. Let's just hope it doesn't take another 19 months for the next update.
X.Org Server 1.20 just around the corner
X.Org Server 1.20 is just around the corner. They missed the January goal, but release candidates are starting to come out.
There are some new nice features expected in the 1.20 version of X.Org Server. They have improved the 16:9 and 16:10 display support, more improvements for XWayland and more. Click here for a full list.
The most exciting news in the 1.20 release, for me, is the improved Steam VR / HTC Vive VR VMD support. The Steam VR compositor is now allowed direct access to hardware without X.Org Server getting in the way. This is pretty cool stuff, and will certainly improve VR on Linux.
Virtualbox 5.2.8 released with support for Linux kernel 4.15
Oracle released a new stable Virtualbox version recently. They've added support for the Linux 4.15 kernel for Linux guest operating systems. This also means you can compile the various Virtualbox modules against the 4.15 kernel.
The 5.2.8 version also fixes the black screen issue when 3D was enabled in some Linux guests, plus a few more improvements to things like audio, network and storage.
Sources:
http://www.wine-reviews.net/2018/03/the-winehq-wine-development-release-33.html
https://itsfoss.com/bleachbit-2-release/
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=X.Org-Server-1.20-Features
http://news.softpedia.com/news/oracle-adds-support-for-linux-kernel-4-15-to-its-latest-virtualbox-release-519997.shtml