From Fedora Project Wiki

Hot dog! The Fedora 17 "Beefy Miracle" Alpha Release is available! This release offers a preview of some of the best and meatiest free and open source technology currently under development. Relish in a glimpse of the future:

http://fedoraproject.org/get-prerelease

What is the Alpha release?

The Alpha release contains all the bunderful features of Fedora 17 in a form that anyone can help test. This testing, guided by the Fedora QA team, helps us target and identify bugs. When these bugs are fixed, we make a Beta release available. A Beta release is code-complete, and bears a very strong resemblance to the third and final release. The final release of Fedora 17 is due in early May.

Frankly, we think Fedora 17 will be the best release ever, but we know we can't do it without your help. Please take a moment of your time to download and try out the Alpha and make sure the things that are important to you are working. If you find a bug, please report it -- every bug you uncover is a chance to improve the experience for millions of Fedora users worldwide. Together, we can make Fedora a rock-solid distribution. (Read down to the end of the announcement for more information on how to help.)

Condiments

When we said Beefy, we weren't kidding: An a-bun-dance of condiments, err, features, awaits you in this Alpha release. Dress up your hot dog in style with ............blah blah

This release of Fedora includes a variety of features both over and under the hood that show off the power and flexibility of the advancing state of free software. Examples include:

SEE FEATURE LIST, PICK FEATURES AND STICK HERE THAT ARE AWESOME AND LOOK LIKE THEY ARE LIKELY TO HAPPEN

Cloud. Everywhere!

Flesh this out in to words

OH GOD ITS EVERYWHERE.

GIMP 2.8

Firewalld

Java 7

GCC 4.7

These and many other improvements provide a wide and solid base for future Fedora releases. This release increases the range of possibilities for developers and helps Fedora to maintain its position at the leading edge of free and open source technology.

Ketchup with the full list of features for Fedora 17 here:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/17/FeatureList

We also have nightly composes of alternate spins available here:

http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/

Issues and Details

For more information including common and known bugs, tips on how to report bugs, and the official release schedule, please refer to the release notes:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_17_Alpha_release_notes

A shorter list of common bugs can be found here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F17_bugs

Contributing

Ever wonder how sausage is made? Yeah, we didn't want to know either. Hot dogs, on the other hand, are glorious creations, and the Alpha release of Beefy Miracle is yet another fine example of a long line of solid Alpha releases. We can't do it without you, though. Bug reports are especially helpful as we move from the hot dog factory to the finished Beefy Miracle. If you encounter any issues, please report them!

Mustard up the confidence to contribute? Don't worry -- we don't bite! (Except... tasty, delicious hot dogs. Mmmmmm. Hot dogs.) Fedora is a fantastic, friendly community, and we have many ways in which you can contribute, including Documentation, Marketing, Design, QA, Development, and more.

To learn how to help us cook a better hot dog, visit: http://join.fedoraproject.org/

Thank you, and we hope to see you in the Fedora project!