from a functionality point of view yes - you have always been able to connect to a Linux/BSD box using NFS, SMB(1) ( if samba is installed on them ) or AFP ( if netatalk is installed on them ).
What this thing is saying SMB2 support has been added ( since Mountain Lion does not support SMB2 ) and seems to have been simultaneously made the default for connecting to servers that support it ( hopefully only if you don't explicitly specify what to use and presumably the SMB server on OS X Mavericks does )
Comments
from a functionality point of view yes - you have always been able to connect to a Linux/BSD box using NFS, SMB(1) ( if samba is installed on them ) or AFP ( if netatalk is installed on them ).
What this thing is saying SMB2 support has been added ( since Mountain Lion does not support SMB2 ) and seems to have been simultaneously made the default for connecting to servers that support it ( hopefully only if you don't explicitly specify what to use and presumably the SMB server on OS X Mavericks does )