The PC-BSD team is pleased to announce the availability of the first beta release in the new9.x series. 9.0-BETA1 is now available for download from the website or ftp server. Caution This is a BETA release, for early adopters and testers. Please use caution deploying in production environments. Additionally only a small number of apps are currently packaged and available in the new AppCafe. We will be releasing more in the upcoming weeks, but users who rely on a particular application may wish to wait until 9.0-Release before upgrading. Major Changes * Now supports multiple Window Managers, such as: — KDE 4 — GNOME 2 — XFCE 4 — LXDE — And many more! * Support for “meta-pkgs”, allowing the user to customize their installed system with a variety of software. * Improved PBI system, allows sharing of files / libraries between applications for reduced disk / runtime space. * New AppCafe, allow easy browsing, installing and managing Applications * Updated to the installer, allowing easy setup of ZFS, GELI encryption and more! * Many improvements to networking setup GUIs * New system-update utility, support for “freebsd-update” and upgrading from point-release to point-release. (I.E. 9.0 -> 9.1) * Revamped “Life-Preserver” backup utility, makes it easier than ever to backup to FreeNAS or any remote ssh+rsync server. * New PC-BSD Control Panel, provides one-stop access to a variety of system-configuration options. Reporting Bugs Since this is a beta release, please feel assist us by reporting and fixing bugs. Users are encouraged to discuss their findings on the testers mailing list, or via the PC-BSD Forums. Notes There are a greater variety of ways to install PC-BSD in the 9.x series. Please take a moment and refer to the snapshot documentation to pick the right one for you. When providing feedback please indicate which snapshot you are using and in which window manager the error occurs.