GNOME 3.6 Released

“The GNOME Foundation is proud to present this latest GNOME release, and I would like to congratulate the GNOME community on its achievement”, said Andreas Nilsson, President of the GNOME Foundation. “I am especially happy about our advancements in accessibility and internationalization with this release. GNOME 3.6 is an important milestone in our mission to bring a free and open computing environment to everyone.”

The new version of GNOME 3 will be included in the upcoming releases of partner distributions. “We are excited by the new features in this latest GNOME release, as well as the overall improvement in quality that has been achieved”, said Robyn Bergeron, Fedora Project Leader. “I am confident that Fedora users will enjoy an enhanced experience as a result of the work done by the GNOME community. This new GNOME release includes important new features, like improved accessibility support, the new Boxes application and extended Online Accounts integration. The GNOME community has done a great job for 3.6, and I encourage them to maintain the rapid pace of development that we have witnessed in recent releases.”

The latest version of GNOME 3 was made possible by the ongoing investment in the GNOME project by its partners. Robert McQueen, CTO & Co-Founder of Open Source consultancy Collabora, said: "Collabora is pleased to see the continuing evolution of GNOME with each release raising the bar on usability and quality. GNOME's focus on tight integration moves it closer to the vision of a modern, powerful, and easy-to-use desktop. We remain committed to the GNOME project and its community."

GNOME 3.6 has also been receiving praise from well-known figures in the Free Software world. "GNOME 3.6 provides a stronger, easier to use foundation for the enterprise desktop", said Michael Meeks, Distinguished Engineer, SUSE, "I love the intense polish, bug fixing, attention to detail, and particularly LibreOffice's improved look with the new gtk+ theme".

The new features presented in GNOME 3.6 include a revamped notification system, updated Activities Overview, improved Accessibility support, integrated input sources for using different languages, and enhanced Files and Web applications. It also includes general improvements to the GNOME 3 user experience as well as many smaller enhancements and bug fixes. With 3.6, the GNOME Project continues its focus on improving the GNOME 3 user experience with each release.

Ensuring that all users can take advantage of GNOME 3 is a major focus for the latest GNOME release. New advancements in accessibility support and an integrated input methods system mean that everyone will be able to use GNOME, regardless of their physical abilities or languages.

You can find out more about the changes that are included in GNOME 3.6 in the release notes, which were made available today.

GNOME was started in 1997 by two then-university students, Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena Quintero. Their aim: to produce a free (as in freedom) desktop environment. Since then, GNOME has grown into a hugely successful enterprise. Used by millions of people around the world, it is the most popular environment for GNU/Linux and UNIX-type operating systems. GNOME's software has been utilised in successful, large-scale enterprise and public deployments, and the project’s developer technologies are utilised in a large number of popular mobile devices.

The GNOME community is made up of hundreds of contributors from all over the world, many of whom are volunteers. This community is supported by the GNOME Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that provides financial, organizational and legal assistance. The Foundation is a democratic institution that is directed by its members, who are all active GNOME contributors. GNOME and its Foundation works to promote software freedom through the creation of innovative, accessible, and beautiful user experiences.