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HandBrake 1.11 Open-Source Video Transcoder Adds AMD VCN AV1 10-Bit Encoder

Coming six months after HandBrake 1.10.2, the HandBrake 1.11 release introduces an AMD VCN AV1 10-bit encoder, a ProRes encoder, a DNxHR encoder, an AV1 VCN 2160p 4K preset for AMD 9000 series GPUs and newer, Production DNxHR presets, Production ProRes presets, and Preservation FFV1 FLAC and PCM presets.

CachyOS ISO Release for March 2026 Is Out with KDE Plasma 6.6, Winboat, and More

Powered by the long-term supported Linux 6.18 LTS kernel series, the CachyOS ISO snapshot for March 2026 ships with the latest and greatest KDE Plasma 6.6.2 desktop environment by default, which is accompanied by the KDE Frameworks 6.23 and KDE Gear 25.12.3 software suites.

digiKam 9.0 Open-Source Photo Manager Released as a Massive Update

Highlights of digiKam 9.0 include a dedicated Qt 6 port for a more modern UI/UX experience across all supported platforms, along with a redesigned Welcome page in a more modern style, as well as completely revamped GUIs of the File Copy and File Transfer dialogs for better usability.

LinuxGizmos.com

MSI MS-C936 Ultra-Thin Fanless Box PC Combines Intel Raptor Lake-P U-Series CPUs with Quad Displays and Dual 2.5GbE

The system supports processors including the Intel Core 5 120U, a 15 W chip that can reach boost frequencies up to 5.0 GHz.

Tiny CM0IQ Board Runs Raspberry Pi CM0 Module with HDMI and CSI

The CM0IQ is a compact carrier board designed for the Raspberry Pi CM0 compute module and measures 42 × 36 mm, placing it among the smallest boards built around the platform. The design exposes several interfaces typically associated with larger Raspberry Pi boards while maintaining a minimal footprint.

F&S FSSM8MP SMARC Module Features NXP i.MX 8M Plus with Dual GbE and Edge AI

The FSSM8MP from F&S Elektronik Systeme is a SMARC 2.2 computer-on-module built around the NXP i.MX 8M Plus processor. The module is designed for embedded and industrial systems requiring multimedia processing, machine vision capability, and edge inference support.

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Our Top Five Most Underrated Linux Distros for 2025

posted by Rianne Schestowitz on Jan 01, 2026

Quoting: Our Top Five Most Underrated Linux Distros for 2025 - FOSS Force —

Last week, we mentioned that FOSS Force was not going to hamper the holiday season with reviews of distros, although truth be told they are cued up and ready to go for the New Year starting next Thursday.

Today, we’re going to bring out five underrated distros that I tested in this year’s Distro of the Week columns.

To be honest, this was a very hard list to make. As I mentioned last week, I never met a distro I didn’t like, and every one of the distros I reviewed this year has, to some degree, been nothing short of phenomenal.

Before I start, I apologize for picking only five. There are many others that deserve mention. However, these are five that stood out as underrated, and as such deserve special acknowledgment. Like last week, we’re going to do them in reverse order...

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