The open source desktop GUI GNOME has just got itself another incarnation.

GNOME is one of the more popular Linux GUIs so when a new one is released it ends up on a lot of computers, and as you would expect there are new features that aim to make it easier to connect to social notworking sites such as Facebook.

Other improvements to the Empathy instant messaging application to enable users to more easily connect with contacts. The Empathy update also includes support for Facebook chat as well as new IRC support for commonly used commands. GNOME 2.30 also includes updates for the Tomboy notebook application with support for synchronization over multiple systems.

The new release also includes preview technology of the GNOME Shell, which will become a standard component in GNOME 3 which is expected to be out in six months.

GNOME Executive Director Stormy Peters noted that end users will continue to get support for GNOME 2.x through their Linux distributions, most of which will support releases for longer than six months.