The Karmic Koala Chronicles

Oct 22, 2009 16:41 GMT  ·  By

With only one week left until the final release, Canonical unleashed a few minutes ago the Release Candidate version of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system. As usual, we've downloaded a copy of it in order to keep you up-to-date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 9.10 development. Oh, and once again, we would like to say Happy 5th Birthday, Ubuntu!

What's new in Ubuntu 9.10 RC? Well, this is the last development version of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system and much of the new features that will be part of it were presented here on our website. Nothing really changed from the Beta release, except many bugfixes and lots of updated packages. But, there is a better login screen now, and some nice fade-in/fade-out animation to the boot splash.

As a little reminder, HAL has been replaced by DeviceKit-power, DeviceKit-disks and udev, in order to provide a better power management, better handling of the hotkeys on laptops and better handling of storage devices.

The kernel packages have been updated a lot in the last two weeks, and they are now based on Linux kernel 2.6.31.1. The old linux-restricted-modules package has been replaced by DKMS, and KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) is enabled by default for the owners of Intel's graphic cards.

Ubuntu 9.10 will also bring Quickly, a new piece of software that helps developers easily build and share applications for Ubuntu.

Last but not least, don't forget to spread the world about Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) by placing one of the countdown timers below, by accessing this website:

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What's new in Kubuntu and Xubuntu 9.10 RC? Kubuntu 9.10 Release Candidate is built on top of the KDE 4.3.2 desktop environment and it includes the following applications and features:

· Konqueror Web Browser; · Amarok 2.2; · KPackageKit 0.4.2; · K3b 2 (Alpha 3); · Userconfig 0.9; · QtCurve 0.68.0; · kcm-gtk 0.5.2; · NetworkManager applet improvements; · KDE microblogging Plasma widget; · OpenOffice KDE integration; · Firefox installer; · Message Indicator.

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Kubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) Release Candidate
On the other hand, Xubuntu 9.10 RC is built on top of the lightweight XFCE 4.6.1 desktop environment and has some updated applications, new artwork and various bugfixes. The boot splash animation has also been replaced with an Xfce mouse logo, fading in and out.
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Xubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) Release Candidate
On October 29th, Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) will become the eleventh release of the Ubuntu operating system. See you again in exactly one week to celebrate the final release of Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)!

The Karmic Koala Release Schedule:

May 14th, 2009 - Alpha 1 release June 11th, 2009 - Alpha 2 release July 23rd, 2009 - Alpha 3 release August 13th, 2009 - Alpha 4 release September 3rd, 2009 - Alpha 5 release September 17th, 2009 - Alpha 6 release October 1st, 2009 - Beta release October 22nd, 2009 - Release Candidate October 29th, 2009 - Final release of Ubuntu 9.10

Download Ubuntu 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Server 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Xubuntu 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Edubuntu 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Studio 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Mythbuntu 9.10 RC (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Remember that this is still a development release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only. Please report bugs to the Ubuntu Bug Tracker.