Intel this week announced the alpha release of Moblin v2, its new Linux distro optimized for Atom processors.

"Moblin is based largely on Fedora, and it's still a work in progress, but its main goal is to optimise performance for Atom and Core 2 processors running on smaller machines," writes Gizmodo's John Mahoney. "The alpha Intel just released already has an innovative network connection manager and fast optimised boot times, and it's confirmed to work well with Dell's Mini 9, the Acer Aspire One, and the Eee PC 901 (although right now Wi-Fi on the Eee is iffy)..."

"The Moblin 2 alpha source code is available from the project's version control repository," writes Ars Technica's Ryan Paul. "Users can generate custom images from the source with the Moblin Image Creator tool. You can also download prebuilt installable ISO images that can be booted from CD or flash storage media. I tested it myself on my Mini 9, and I was impressed by how quickly it booted."

More here from ZDNet ... more here from CrunchGear ... more here from Wired ... more here from InformationWeek ... more here from DesktopLinux.com ... more here from The Register ... and the announcement is here.