14 DAY TRIAL // Kubuntu 14.10 Beta 2 (Utopic Unicorn) has been released by its developers and features the final build of KDE 4.14 and a preview version of the Plasma 5 desktop.
The Kubuntu devs are a little late to the party, but they have finally published the details for the latest and final release in this development cycle. The 14.10 Beta 2 release is not very different from the previous one, with the exception of the implementation of KDE 4.14, which reached a stable stage in the meantime.
Users will also be able to take advantage of a new Kubuntu release to get familiar with the latest Plasma 5 desktop that can be tested right now. It's still far from a stable version, but the overall design won't change much more than this.
KDE 4.14 and Plasma 5 preview
The last Beta in the series is not all that exciting, as the devs have made very few modifications. It's still interesting to test the new release, especially because it incorporates the last version in the 4.14 development cycle for KDE. This particular branch will only get a few more point releases and the support for it will end very soon after the official Kubuntu 14.10 release on October 23.
"Plasma 4 is our recommended stable offering and what you get from the default download, but is now in maintenance mode. It runs the software you are familiar with and will be getting updates and bugfixes but not new features from now on. Plasma 5 a work in progress. The next generation of KDE Software is still a work in progress. You can test it and install it from the Kubuntu Plasma 5 image but beware it will remove your stable software," say the developers.
They have also explained that a number of problems still remain, but are confident that the issues will be sorted out by the time of the official release. For example, the installation of the system still crashes when selecting any other language than English, syslinux doesn't provide an OEM mode, and the operating system does not boot after a successful installation in VirtualBox. The Kubuntu Plasma 5 has even more problems.
Kubuntu 14.10 will only benefit from nine months of support, so this is more like a playground than anything else. You can find more details about Kubuntu 14.10 Beta 2 (Utopic Unicorn) in the official announcement and you can download the latest Beta from Softpedia, along with the Plasma 5 version.
If you do decide to install this particular version, do not use a production machine.
