The Karmic Koala Chronicles

Sep 17, 2009 19:21 GMT  ·  By

A few minutes ago, the Ubuntu development team unleashed the sixth and last alpha version of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system, due 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 6? Well... first of all, there is no more Usplash (the boot splash screen). So it appears the the team has successfully managed to fulfill their initial plans for making a faster startup where a boot screen is no longer necessary. Therefore, when Ubuntu will start, you will see a black screen, after the BIOS POST, followed by the X-based splash screen (xsplash) that we've presented a few weeks ago. If the login manager is enabled, after login... xsplash will appear again (this time, loading the desktop in the background). Here is the new X-based splash screen everyone was waiting for...

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The new X-based splash screen

Secondly, the Ubuntu Software Store application is now present and it is available under the System menu. Its appearance has been greatly improved for an easy usage, but the basic software installation, search and removal functions remain. Take a look at the next screenshots to get a better idea...

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Ubuntu Software Store under the System menu
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Ubuntu Software Store's main window
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Ubuntu Software Store - Application overview
Moreover, the Indicator Applet received two new functions when it is clicked: to open the Empathy Instant Messenger and/or the Evolution Mail client. See the next screenshot for details...
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Indicator applet's new functions
Other than that, the GNOME desktop environment has been updated to version 2.28 RC1 (2.27.92), the Linux kernel packages are now at version 2.6.31-10.34 and they are based on the final version of Linux kernel 2.6.31. AppArmor has also been greatly improved and new profiles are available. UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) has received egress filtering and support for filtering by interface. And last but not least, Libvirt contains now AppArmor integration when the QEMU or KVM virtualization tools are used.

What's new in Kubuntu and Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6? Kubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 contains the newly released KDE 4.3.1 desktop environment and the following applications and features:

· Konqueror Web Browser; · Amarok 2.1.80; · KPackageKit 0.4.2; · K3b 1.66.0 (Alpha 2); · Userconfig 0.9 · QtCurve 0.68.0; · kcm-gtk 0.5.2; · KDE microblogging Plasma widget; · OpenOffice KDE integration; · Firefox installer; · Message Indicator.

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Kubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6
On the other hand, Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 is built on top of the lightweight XFCE 4.6.1 desktop environment and has now new artwork for the panels and menu, with black and blue colors.
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Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6
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 in another two weeks (October 1st), for the Beta 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 6 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Server 9.10 Alpha 6 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud 9.10 Alpha 6 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 Alpha 6 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 Alpha 6 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Edubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Studio 9.10 Alpha 6 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Mythbuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 (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.