I was not going to upgrade to "Shrike," especially since I just upgraded from 7.3 to 8 two weeks ago. However, I tried it on a test machine and was very impressed with the improvements. Probably one of the best improvements is how it interoperates with a Window$ network out of the box.

If you opt to install Samba client and server, an interesting shortcut called Network Servers appears in the Gnome application menu. Curious I clicked on the shortcut and there was my Window$ network. After authenticating I was able to access my domain. I know there are third party pieces of software that also enable this, but I thought this was pretty impressive, especially right out of the box.

Overall I am very impressed with RH 9. Even though I am usually the last on my block to upgrade, I am glad that this time I am one of the first.