Ubuntu 8.10 Released

After six alphas, a beta and a release candidate, Ubuntu 8.10 is here, today (October 30th), available on mirrors worldwide (see below for download links), and it's my greatest pleasure to introduce you guys to the highlights of this new release dubbed Intrepid Ibex. It all began on February 20th, when Mark Shuttleworth announced the Intrepid Ibex, also known as Ubuntu 8.10, the next major release of the popular Ubuntu Linux operating system. Ubuntu 8.10 is also the ninth release of Ubuntu OS, and the fourth anniversary of the first release, Ubuntu 4.10.

"We want you to be able to move from the office, to the train, and home, staying connected all the way." - said Mark Shuttleworth.

Highlights of Ubuntu 8.10:

· GNOME 2.24
· Linux kernel 2.6.27
· Guest session
· DKMS
· X.org 7.4
· Network Manager 0.7
· PAM authentication framework
· Totem BBC plugin

The new desktop environment in Ubuntu 8.10, GNOME 2.24.1, brings many new and helpful features. Here are a few of them:

· Smarter terminal! How? For example, if you open a terminal window on the desktop (by using the nautilus-open-terminal extension), the path will be the one for the Desktop, not for Home!
· You can now mount archives and ISO files! What is that? Let's say, for example, that you don't want to extract an archive, you just want to take a peek inside it, or to copy just two files from there... with a simple right click on the archive, you can select the “Open with ‘Archive Mounter’” option and voila;
· Private (encrypted) Directory really works, but you have to work some "magic" in the terminal to set it up first;
· Better screenshot utility! The default GNOME Screenshot tool can now remember the second you set for screenshot delay every time you open it, it is faster, and can include the mouse pointer in screenshots;
· Smart logout/shutdown button! Fast User Switch Applet is its name, and it now replaces the regular button for system shutdown. Along the usual restart, logout, lock screen, suspend and hibernate functions offered by this new applet, it will also emulate away, online, busy and offline functions from the Pidgin application (if it's open, of course);
· The “Create Archive” window has some new features, such as "Password protection," "Encryption" and "File Splitting";
· The “Extracting files from archive” window has been improved, and will show you in real time what it does;
· The system will automatically shut down in 60 seconds if you just hit the shutdown button. I've tested it and the system shuts down in 60 seconds... However, I don't see any reason for this function, except that it's somehow cool;
· There are also a lot of new, cool and amazing desktop effects for you to play with!

Included applications: Accessories: · Calculator 5.24.1 (an arithmetic, scientific or financial calculator) · Character Map 2.24.1 (permits to insert special characters into documents) · Baobab 2.24.1 (disk usage analyzer) · Seahorse 2.24.1 (passwords and encryption keys manager) · Gnome Screenshot 2.24.1 (saves images of your desktop or individual windows) · Gnome Terminal 2.24.1 (allows you to use the command-line) · Gedit 2.24.0 (a small and lightweight text editor with intuitive spell-checker) · Tomboy 0.12.0 (desktop note-taking application)

Graphics: · F-Spot 0.5.0.3 (photo manager) · The GIMP 2.6.1 (image editor) · XSane 0.995 (scan, copy and fax images) Internet tools: · Ekiga 2.0.12 (SIP and H.323 compatible VoIP telephony and video conferencing software) · Evolution 2.24.1 (powerful e-mail client) · Firefox 3.0.3 (the ever-popular web browser) · Pidgin 2.5.2 (multi-protocol instant messenger) · Vinagre 2.24.1 (remote desktop viewer)

· Terminal Server Client 0.150 (rdesktop, vncviewer, wfica, xnest frontend) · Transmission 1.34 (lightweight BitTorrent client) Office tools: · OpenOffice.org Suite 2.4.1 (spreadsheet, presentation, drawing and word processor) · Dictionary 2.24.1 (a tool to search word definitions and spellings in an online dictionary) Sound and Video: · Brasero 0.8.2 (CD/DVD burning application) · Totem 2.24.2 (DVD-Video, DivX, XviD, WMV, MOV player) · Rhythmbox 0.11.6 (Last.fm, radio and music player/organizer)

New System Administration utilities:

· Make USB Startup Disk (a tool that helps you create a bootable USB stick)
· Synaptic 0.62.1 (with a smarter and faster search function)

...and, of course, a lot of wonderful games for all ages!

If you haven't ordered CDs with Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) yet, you can do it right now from Ubuntu's ShipIt Service, or you can ...

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

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