Quick Look: Ubuntu 11.04 Beta

Canonical will release tomorrow, March 3rd, the third and last Alpha version of the upcoming Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) operating system, due for release at the end of April, 2011.

We thought it will be a very good idea to inform you guys about a few nice changes that will be packed in the Beta release, a version that anyone is allowed to test. A version that will be made available at the end of this month, on March 31st, 2011.

Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) Beta will be powered by the latest release of Linux kernel 2.6.38, and it will include LibreOffice 3.3 and the latest version of Mozilla Firefox 4.0.

One of the big news is that users will be able to directly upgrade their existing Ubuntu installation to the new version, via the Live CD installer...

Ubuntu 11.04 Daily Build installer

Another interesting feature is that the Banshee Media Player is now the default audio playback and organizer software for Ubuntu 11.04 Beta, replacing Rhythmbox...

Banshee Media Player on Ubuntu 11.04

Another interesting feature is that LibreOffice 3.3 will be the default office suite for Ubuntu 11.04 Beta. OpenOffice.org is still available in the default software repositories.

LibreOffice 3.3

The Unity icon theme looks quite nice...

Ubuntu 11.04 Unity icon theme

And, a new and beautiful interface for the Ubuntu One online storage service...

Ubuntu One Control Panel on Ubuntu 11.04

Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) will be the 14th release of the Ubuntu operating system. Don't forget to visit our website tomorrow, March 3rd, for an in-depth article about the upcoming Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) Alpha 3 release, when we will unveil more features!

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages installed by default, every other package you can imagine available from the network, and professional technical support from Canonical Ltd and hundreds of other companies around the world.