14 DAY TRIAL // Canonical's dream of PC and mobile convergence didn’t die with Ubuntu Edge, and it's now stronger than ever with Ubuntu 13.10. At least this is what the company says.
Canonical announced yesterday the release of Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander), but this launch stole the spotlight. The company also released, the same day, the new Ubuntu Touch 13.10, which is an operating system for phones and tablets that is based on Saucy Salamander.
“This is a milestone in computing history. The exact same Ubuntu OS runs on ARM phones and modern HP Moonshot ARM servers, and provides exactly the same capability as x86 platforms. Ubuntu 13.10 is a full server-grade OS that offers a mobile experience and is lean enough to support mobile devices, kicking off a new era in mobile security and computing convergence,” said Rick Spencer, the leader of Ubuntu’s consumer-facing engineering.
What's even more interesting is the fact that Ubuntu Touch 13.10, or Ubuntu for Phones, is now actually more advanced than its desktop counterpart. It features a newer Unity, a new display server called Mir, and a ton of applications that haven't made it to the PC.
“Canonical is working with partners to bring Ubuntu smartphone devices to market in 2014. The desktop version of Ubuntu 13.10 reflects much of that progress, with scopes that organise home, apps, music, video content, lower device memory and graphics requirements and substantial improvements in battery and memory efficiency,” reads the official announcement from Canonical.
Moreover, the company managed to get the community involved in the development of Ubuntu Touch, and third-party developers launched quite a few major apps for the new operating system.
As is stand right now, both the PC and the mobile version are based on the same Ubuntu 13.10 core and share a lot of features. Canonical might achieve this PC/mobile convergence starting with the upcoming Ubuntu 14.04, which will also be an LTS release.