A equipe de desenvolvimento do GeoServer disponibilizou para download a released da versão 1.7.0.
Esta nova versão com com algumas novidades, que estão listadas abaixo:

* Security and authentication on a per layer / dataset basis
* ECW, MrSID, and JPEG 2K raster formats via GDAL integration
* Rendering performance improvements
* Data access (Shapefile, PostGIS) performance improvements
* Improved coverage portrayal with support for SLD raster symbolizers
* More options added to the OpenLayers map preview
* Improved ArcSDE support
* Dutch and Russian translations
* WCS 1.1 implementation
* WFS 1.1 xlink support

Fonte: Blog do GeoServer