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## 1. Welcome to Fedora 17

### 1.1. Welcome to Fedora

You can help the Fedora Project community continue to improve Fedora if you file bug reports and enhancement requests. Refer to Bugs And Feature Requests, on the Fedora wiki, for more information about bug and feature reporting. Thank you for your participation.
To find out more general information about Fedora, refer to the following pages, on the Fedora wiki (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/):

- Fedora Overview
- Fedora FAQ
- Help and Discussions
- Participate in the Fedora Project

#### 1.1.1. Need Help?

There are a number of places you can get assistance should you run into problems.
If you run into a problem and would like some assistance, go to http://ask.fedoraproject.org. Many answers are already there, but if you don't find yours, you can simply post a new question. This has the advantage that anyone else with the same problem can find the answer, too.
You may also find assistance on the `#fedora` channel on the IRC net `irc.freenode.net`. Keep in mind that the channel is populated by volunteers wanting to help, but folks knowledgable about a specific topic might not always be available.

### 1.2. Overview

As always, Fedora continues to develop (RedHat contributions) and integrate the latest free and open source software (Fedora 17 Features). The following sections provide a brief overview of major changes from the last release of Fedora.
The following are major features for Fedora 17:

- GNOME 3.4 and KDE 4.8
- OpenStack, Eucalyptus, CloudStack and Open Nebula
- ICC profiles for color printing and an improved gimp
- Still more virtualization improvements

For more details about other features that are included in Fedora 17 refer to their individual wiki pages that detail feature goals and progress: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/17/FeatureList.

### 1.3. Hardware Overview

#### 1.3.1. Processor and memory requirements for x86 Architectures

Fedora 17 may be installed on most "modern" x86 processors. (There are some "secondary architectures" supported by special interest groups for processors like Power PC, System/390 and ARM).
The minimum processor speed depends on the end use, the method of installation, and the specific hardware. Although some configurations might work on a Pentium 3, most users should consider a Pentium 4 or more modern processor, or the equivalent processor from other manufacturers. Fedora 17 is able to take full advantage of modern, multi-core architectures.

- Minimum RAM for text-mode: 768 MiB
- Minimum RAM for graphical: 768 MiB
- Recommended RAM for graphical: 1152 MiB

#### 1.3.2. Processor and memory requirements for x86_64 architectures

- Minimum RAM for text-mode: 768 MiB
- Minimum RAM for graphical: 768 MiB
- Recommended RAM for graphical: 1152 MiB

#### 1.3.3. Hard disk space requirements for all architectures

The complete packages can occupy over 9 GB of disk space. Final size is entirely determined by the installing spin and the packages selected during installation. Additional disk space is required during installation to support the installation environment. This additional disk space corresponds to the size of `/Fedora/base/stage2.img` (on Installation Disc 1) plus the size of the files in `/var/lib/rpm` on the installed system.
In practical terms, additional space requirements may range from as little as 90 MiB for a minimal installation to as much as an additional 175 MiB for a larger installation.
Additional space is also required for any user data, and at least 5% free space should be maintained for proper system operation.

### 1.4. Feedback

Thank you for taking the time to provide your comments, suggestions, and bug reports to the Fedora community; this helps improve the state of Fedora, Linux, and free software worldwide.

#### 1.4.1. Providing Feedback on Fedora Software

To provide feedback on Fedora software or other system elements, please refer to Bugs And Feature Requests. A list of commonly reported bugs and known issues for this release is available from Common F17 bugs, on the wiki.

#### 1.4.2. Providing Feedback on Release Notes

If you feel these release notes could be improved in any way, you can provide your feedback directly to the beat writers. There are several ways to provide feedback, in order of preference:

- If you have a Fedora account, edit content directly at Docs-Beats page on the wiki.
- Fill out a bug request using this template - This link is ONLY for feedback on the release notes themselves. Refer to the admonition above for details.
- E-mail the Release-Note mailing list at `relnotes@fedoraproject.org`

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