Red Hat launches Enterprise Linux 5.5

Red Hat has unveiled Enterprise Linux 5.5 (RHEL 5.5), promising that the fifth iteration of the platform adds features designed to work across physical, virtual and cloud deployments, and provides better virtualisation and interoperability.

The release provides bug fixes, and is interoperable with new platforms from Red Hat partners including AMD, Dell, HP, IBM and Intel.

These include Intel Nehalem EX, AMD Opteron TM 6000 Series and IBM Power 7, meaning that Red Hat users can deploy their solutions over the industry's best next-generation servers, the firm said.

RHEL 5.5 also offers improved support for Windows 7 and extends Active Directory integration. This incorporates improved user and group mapping, while simplifying file system management across platforms, said Red Hat.

"We believe that RHEL continues to drive the evolution of the operating platform forward with new technology that delivers performance, reliability, scalability and affordability results for our customers," said Tim Burke, vice president of platform engineering at Red Hat.

"RHEL provides a powerful foundation for physical, virtual and cloud deployments, and for many, continues to be the platform of choice for their most demanding mission-critical workloads."

RHEL 5.5 is available to subscribing customers via Red Hat Network from today.