The latest Fedora has been released - Fedora 15 Lovelock. Usually I'm not one of the firsts to try out a new release because I don't want to go through all the bugs. But when I saw Gnome3 and how my desktop would really look cool with it, I decided to give it a try. This post will show you a step-by-step guide (and mostly screenshots, because it is that simple to follow) on doing a fresh install of Fedora 15.



I also did try a preugrade first from Fedora 12 to 14 but it failed horribly. That's the other reason aside from Gnome3 why I jumped to Fedora 15.



Pre-requisites:
  1. Fedora 15 image on CD or USB. If you don't have it yet download the image from here. Choose the image carefully! If you want a 64bit version you must select more download options because otherwise by default it will give you the 32bit image.
  2. Follow the instructions here if you prefer to create a live USB. I recommend this because it is easier and faster to create than a CD.
  3. Backup your files. Backup, backup, backup.



Step 1. Boot using your live USB (or CD)
  • When your PC is booting press Setup (key is DEL, F2 or other key depending on your machine) to go to BIOS and change the boot sequence and give priority to USB (or CD). Better yet, if your PC supports it, there's a shortcut key for this (in my case F12) during boot up that gives you option to choose quickly from which device to boot without going to the BIOS screen.
  • Using a live USB also gives you a feel of Fedora 15 and Gnome3 without changing anything from your existing system. Play around with it first and see if you like it, most likely you would.
  • If you are happy with it, no errors encountered, most devices are detected like sound, video, wifi, etc and really excited to make it permanent on your computer then click Install to hard drive.

Step 2. Install to hard drive

  • Choose the default settings for next two screenshots and just click Next.




Step 3. Choose a name for your computer

  • Pick a nice name for your computer. It will be its hostname and you will see it often in your desktop from the login screen, to the shell terminal, and all over thus having a name of your choice rather than the default 'localhost.localdomain' is preferred.

Step 4. Select time zone



Step 5. Enter root password

  • Choose a strong password and remember it!