A few minutes ago, the Ubuntu developers unleashed the third alpha version of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system, which is scheduled for release in late October this year. As usual, we've downloaded a copy of it in order to keep you up to date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 9.10 development.

What's new in Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3? It has been about six weeks since the last alpha release, therefore the developers had some time to introduce new technologies and features to this version. Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 has a new development version of the GNOME desktop environment, 2.27.4, which brings cool new features. Here are the most important features of Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3:

1. Sad news for Pidgin fans, as the development team decided to replace it with the Empathy instant messenger client.


2. Brasero received a few weeks ago a new interesting feature that shows how much data was written on the CD/DVD media and how much free space is available. This is very, very useful for people who have DVD-RW or CD-RW discs and are used to write in the multi-session mode.

Brasero now shows how much free space is available on the disk

3. Another useful and highly anticipated feature is the completely rewritten login manager (GDM), which works like any other modern login manager (e.g. KDM, the KDE login manager). In short, it means that you don't have to write both your name and password anymore, in order to log in. Just click on your name and you will be immediately prompted for the password (see the picture below for details). However, what you see below is not the final version of the login manager, it will be skinned by the new Ubuntu designers, until the Beta release (hopefully)!

The revamped login manager

4. Ubuntu One is now part of the Ubuntu operating system! The main features of Ubuntu One, as described on the official website, are: seamless integration and synchronization between multiple machines and a convenient web interface. You will also see a folder named "Ubuntu One" in your home directory.

Ubutnu One, available from the Internet menu entry

5. The already popular Notify-OSD notification system introduced in Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) has been revamped. It is now a little longer, narrower and has smaller fonts... which makes it slicker than before!

The new notifications

6. The default web browser in Ubuntu, Mozilla Firefox, received a new add-on called Multisearch. The extension is developed by Canonical and it shows a default Ubuntu start page with a search field powered by Google. This appears every time a new tab is opened.

The Ubuntu start page in Firefox 3

7. The User Switch applet has been modified drastically. It will now offer only information about the account, access to system preferences and lock screen/quit functions. The Log Out, Shut Down, Restart, Suspend and Hibernate functions have been moved to the System menu.




Last but not least, the kernel packages are at version 2.6.31-3.19, based on Linux kernel 2.6.31 RC3, and the Kernel Mode Setting is now enabled by default for Intel graphics!

What's new in Kubuntu and Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3? The good news is that Kubuntu now has its own "Netbook Remix" Edition (see below for download links). This version contains the KDE 4.3 RC2 desktop environment and the following applications:

· Arora Web Browser (replaces Konqueror)
· Amarok 2.1.1
· KPackageKit 0.4.1.1
· K3b 1.66.0 (alpha 2)
· QtCurve 0.65.1
· kcm-gtk 0.5
· KDE microblogging Plasma widget

Kubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) Alpha 3 with KDE 4.3 RC2

On the other hand, Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 is build on top of the lightweight XFCE 4.6.1 desktop environment and includes updated applications.

Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3

On October 29th, Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) will become the eleventh release of the Ubuntu operating system. However, until then, we have another version that should catch our attention and invade our computers, Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope). See you again on August 13th, for the fourth Alpha release of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala).

The Karmic Koala Release Schedule:

May 14th, 2009 - Alpha 1 release
June 11th, 2009 - Alpha 2 release
July 23rd, 2009 - Alpha 3 release
August 13th, 2009 - Alpha 4 release
September 3rd, 2009 - Alpha 5 release
September 17th, 2009 - Alpha 6 release
October 1st, 2009 - Beta release
October 22nd, 2009 - Release Candidate
October 29th, 2009 - Final release of Ubuntu 9.10

Download Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Server 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Studio 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

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.