14 DAY TRIAL // OpenELEC, an embedded operating system built specifically to run XBMC, the open source entertainment media hub, has just reached version 4.0 Beta 1.
The first build in the OpenELEC 4.0 branch has arrived and, even if this is just a development release, it's still one of the most exciting versions we had in a long time.
As you are well aware, OpenELEC is based on XBMC 13.0 Beta 1 “Gotham,” which received a sizable update just a few days ago. We covered that particular release in much greater detail, but OpenELEC is an OS and a different kind of beast.
The OpenELEC 4.0 Beta 2 distribution is based on Linux kernel 3.13, which is the latest stable kernel branch at this time, Mesa 10.1 (AMD UVD/VDPAU support), NVIDIA 334.21 proprietary drivers, and Systemd 210.
As you can clearly see, the developers of OpenELEC didn't shy away from taking some bold steps and they added some bleeding edge packages. Most of them will be updated before the final version is released, but this is looking great so far.
Check the official announcement for a complete list of changes and improvements. Download OpenELEC 4.0 Beta 1 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a development version and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.