Mandriva Linux 2009 comes a step closer to reality today with the unveiling of the release schedule and the technical specifications. All this information can be found on the Mandriva Linux 2009 Development page on the Mandriva Wiki. The schedule includes two alphas, two betas, and two release candidates, prior to the final release in early October 2008. The first alpha release is scheduled for June 25th - just a week away. The technical specifications are based on input from both the community and Mandriva staff, with each item assigned to a specific maintainer and given a priority level. Some of the more significant items include:

Improved boot time
Optional automatic removal of 'orphans' (no longer required packages) in the package management tools
The use of the increasingly popular and fast-maturing PackageKit and PolicyKit technologies
Improvements to the Mandriva Windows migration and parental control tools
A live distribution upgrade mode for MandrivaUpdate
A new design for the installer
Migration to KDE 4, OpenOffice.org 3, and Firefox 3