14 DAY TRIAL // Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) will be launched soon and the developers are very close to finishing the work for it, but users have to be prepared for what the media will probably call "a boring release."
Canonical made a very good release back in April. Ubuntu 14.04 LTS was very well received and it integrated many features. It was very different from Ubuntu 13.10, so it was spared the "boring" rhetoric. On the other hand, Ubuntu 14.10 will not bring any important visible changes to the operating system and it will be very difficult to set it apart from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.
Many users will be tempted to think that nothing has changed, but an operating system is complex and it has many components that are not visible to the regular users and that can contribute a great deal to the overall performance of the OS.
Boring is good
The founder of Canonical said a very interesting thing a while back, when he was asked the same question about Ubuntu 13.10 – was that release a boring one? He said that boring was a good thing and that it meant the team had done a good job. A new release is not about the bling, but more about stability. That should be a premium feature of any Linux distribution, so if Ubuntu is boring, it also means that it's a lot more stable.
Ubuntu 14.10 has also arrived in a crowded window for Canonical. The teams are preoccupied with the launch of Ubuntu Touch, which is scheduled to happen in just a couple of months, they have just made a very good release with 14.04, and they have a lot on their plate already with the Mir display manager and the upcoming Unity 8 desktop.
As you can see, making a revolutionary, or at least very different Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) build is not very high on the developer's list of priorities. You will have to keep this in mind because they will be done with Ubuntu Touch, and they will finish Mir and Unity 8. One of the future versions of Ubuntu will have those technologies implemented and a part of the community will say that they miss the old system, with all its boring releases.
New Ubuntu releases are important
Each Ubuntu build is important, even if it doesn't bring any major visual improvements. The developers will push the boundary a little bit further by implementing new versions for most of the packages, small technical changes will be made, and the ground work for the next release will be set.
Ubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) will land on October 23, so users have less than a month to get used to the idea that the new system won't be all that different. On the other hand, it will be more stable and users will grow to love it, just as they have done with previous versions.