14 DAY TRIAL // The development of the upcoming Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) operating system continues at a fast pace, and Ubuntu Kernel team is hard at work these days testing the latest Release Candidates of Linux 4.10 kernel.
That's right, they are still tracking the development of Linux kernel 4.10 for Ubuntu 17.04, and it looks like the recently released RC6 build has hit the unstable repositories, and you can take it for a test drive right now if you manually install the binary packages from the link posted by the Ubuntu developers below.
Meanwhile, they've rebased the kernel packages of Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) on the upstream Linux 4.9.6 kernel release, tagging the new kernel version as 4.9.0-16.17, which currently lies in the proposed (pre-release updates) channel if you want to take it for an early test drive as well.
"We uploaded a newer v4.9 [4.9.0-16.17] based Zesty kernel to the archive. It's based on the 4.9.6 upstream stable kernel," reads the newsletter. "Please test and let us know your results. We also have a preliminary rebase to v4.10 available in our unstable repo: https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-kernel/ubuntu/+source/linux/+git/unstable."
Ubuntu 17.04 to launch on April 13 with Linux kernel 4.10
From the looks of it, we have all the reasons to believe that Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) will be shipping with the Linux 4.10 kernel, which appears to hit the streets sometime in mid-February, either on the 12th or 19th, depending on whether Linus Torvalds decides to stick with the standard release cycle of seven RCs or push an eighth Release Candidate, too.
Ubuntu 17.04 already received its second Alpha release, only for opt-in flavors, and the first Beta build is scheduled for later this month on February 23, but Ubuntu itself won't participate. The Final Beta is currently scheduled for March 23, and only then will we be able to test drive the Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) operating system, possibly with Linux kernel 4.10.
The final release of Ubuntu 17.04 will be unveiled on April 13, 2017, and it very much looks like it will use the Linux 4.10 kernel. Until then, we invite you to download the daily build ISO images, install the operating system on a spare computer, and test drive the Linux kernel 4.10 packages. Don't forget to send your feedback to the Ubuntu Kernel team.