The Intrepid Ibex Chronicles!

Jul 12, 2008 06:04 GMT  ·  By

The second alpha version of the upcoming Ubuntu 8.10 (codename Intrepid Ibex), which is scheduled for release in late October this year, was made available a few hours ago. Even if it doesn?t come with any significant modifications, compared with the first alpha, which brought a brand new theme (completely redesigned), we wanted to keep you up-to-date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 8.10 development. Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 2 comes with the brand new Xorg 7.4, Linux kernel 2.6.26-3.9 (based on 2.6.26 RC8), GNOME 2.23.4 and the following applications:

? Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Final ? OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 ? The GIMP 2.4.6 ? F-Spot 0.4.2 ? Pidgin 2.4.3 ? Brasero 0.7.91 ? Transmission 1.22

For the Intrepid Ibex, the development team will prepare an unbelievable desktop, with amazing performance, that will work on mostly any computer (be it a high-end workstation or an old and dusty Pentium III machine). Another major feature planned for Ubuntu 8.10 is the ability to stay connected to the Internet (wireless connections) wherever you go: "We want you to be able to move from the office, to the train, and home, staying connected all the way." - said Mark Shuttleworth.

As the Ubuntu developers failed to deliver a Live CD with this alpha version (it will be available in Alpha 3), we've tested one of the current daily Live builds. Here is the screenshot tour of this second alpha version of Ubuntu 8.10:

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As you see from the above screenshots, the wallpaper is still from the Hardy Heron edition, and the dark-brown theme, entitled NewHuman, persists. Moreover, there's no "Encrypt system" option in the Live Installer yet (let's hope it will be available on later releases). Let's have a look now at the release schedule for Intrepid Ibex:

June 27th, 2008 - Alpha 1 release July 11th, 2008 - Alpha 2 release July 24th, 2008 - Alpha 3 release August 14th, 2008 - Alpha 4 release September 4th, 2008 - Alpha 5 release September 18th, 2008 - Alpha 6 release October 2nd, 2008 - Beta release October 23rd, 2008 - Release Candidate October 30th, 2008 - Final release of Ubuntu 8.10.

About Ubuntu:

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

Remember that this is an alpha 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.

Download Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Alpha 2 right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Alpha 2 right now from Softpedia.

Download Xubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Alpha 2 right now from Softpedia.

Download Edubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) Alpha 2 right now from Softpedia.