The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced new releases of its OS Raspbian and the installer software that helps users to get started, NOOBS.

The major changes to the Raspbian image include:

• Java updated to JDK 8
  
  
• Mathematica updated to version 10
  
  
• Sonic Pi updated to version 2
  
  
• Minecraft Pi pre-installed

Another change is that the Raspberry Pi port of the Epiphany (aka GNOME Web) browser has replaced Midori as the default browser. Epiphany is a WebKit based browser.

Announcing its release last week Eben Upton claims that "Epiphany on Pi is now a plausible alternative to a desktop browser for all but the most JavaScript-heavy sites" as demonstrated in this video:

Epiphany on Pi's features include:

• Much-improved HTML5 support
  
  
• A JavaScript JIT
  
  
• Hardware-accelerated video decoding
  
  
• ARMv6-optimized blitting functions
  
  
• Better interactivity during page loading
  
  
• Faster scrolling

It illustrates the simple fact that the task of building a modern compliant browser is no easy matter even with the help of WebKit.

The new Raspbian image also includes driver support for the BCM43143 802.11n WiFi chip. This should ensure that the USB hub and WiFi adapter combo from Broadcom based on this chip should now work with the Pi out of the box.

To free up SD card space, the offline NOOBS package now only contains the Raspbian archive. This means that to install Arch, Pidora, OpenELEC, RaspBMC or RISC OS you will require a network connection as for NOOBSLite which now doesn't really seem to have a reason to exist. 

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