14 DAY TRIAL // The Beta version of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.04 (codename Jaunty Jackalope) was uploaded a few minutes ago on the official mirrors. As usual, we've downloaded a copy of it in order to keep you up to date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 9.04 development.
What's new in Ubuntu 9.04 Beta? Well, a lot! First of all, the developers improved the boot process even further and now Ubuntu 9.04 Beta (with the EXT4 filesystem) will boot in under 20 seconds on a high-end machine! On our tests, here at the Softpedia labs, a brand new installation of Ubuntu 9.04 Beta with EXT3, installed on an old AMD Sempron 2800+ machine with 512 MB of RAM and an 80 GB IDE hard drive, boots in 21-22 seconds (from GRUB to the login screen). That means a 6-7-second drop from our last tests!
Second of all, as you probably already know from our last week's reports, the boot splash was changed, the login screen was redesigned, there are two new wallpapers, three new desktop themes... and you can see them all again in the screenshots below! The brand new GNOME 2.26.0 desktop environment is also present in Ubuntu 9.04 Beta.
Moreover, the developers included a technology preview of Eucalyptus in the Server Edition of Ubuntu 9.04 Beta. Eucalyptus will allow users to deploy Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)-compatible clouds. The new "dovecot-postfix" package offers an easy-to-deploy Mail Server Stack that supports POP3, SMTP and IMAP with SASL and TLS.
Last but not least, the following applications were updated in Ubuntu 9.04 Beta: OpenOffice.org 3.0.1, Compiz 0.8.2, Pidgin 2.5.5, The GIMP 2.6.6, Transmission 1.51, Mozilla Firefox 3.0.7, F-Spot 0.5.0.3, Rhythmbox 0.12.0. The kernel packages have also been updated to version 2.6.28-11.37, based on Linux kernel 2.6.28.8. Ubuntu Needs Your Help! To test:
- The resume/suspend functions, especially on laptops! For more details please click here.
- The "kerneloops" package, which can collect information about kernel crashes and submit it to kerneloops.org. With this information, the Linux kernel developers are able to analyze the "bugs." Also, when a kernel crash will occur, a complete bug report will be uploaded to Launchpad.
- The hotkeys. Post feedback here.
What's new in Kubuntu 9.04 Beta? Well, it is built on top of the KDE 4.2.1 desktop environment and includes the following updated applications:
· Dolphin 1.2.1 · KPackageKit 0.4 · Amarok 2.0.2 · Qt 4.5 · Quassel 0.4.1 · KTorrent 3.2.0 · Kdebluetooth 0.3
What's new in Xubuntu 9.04 Beta? Well, it is built on top of the XFCE 4.6.0 desktop environment and includes the following updated applications:
· XChat 2.8.6 · Listen 0.5 · Thunar 1.0.0 · Gnumeric 1.8.4 · AbiWord 2.6.6
Once again, a Live CD is available for everyone who wants to see for themselves what's new in Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu 9.04 Beta (see below for download links), without installing anything on the hard drive. See you again on April 16th for the Release Candidate version of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope). We'll leave you now to enjoy the screenshot tour for the Beta version of Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu!
Ubuntu 9.04, or, should I say, "The Jackalope," will be the tenth release of the Ubuntu operating system. Here's the release schedule for Jaunty Jackalope:
November 22, 2008 - Alpha 1 release
December 19, 2008 - Alpha 2 release
January 16, 2009 - Alpha 3 release
February 5, 2009 - Alpha 4 release
February 26, 2009 - Alpha 5 release
March 12, 2009 - Alpha 6 release
March 26, 2009 - Beta release
April 16, 2009 - Release Candidate
April 23, 2009 - Final release of Ubuntu 9.04
What is Ubuntu? Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages installed by default, every other package you can imagine available from the network, and professional technical support from Canonical Ltd. and hundreds of other companies around the world.
Download Ubuntu 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope) right now from Softpedia.
Download Ubuntu Server 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope) right now from Softpedia.
Download Kubuntu 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope) right now from Softpedia.
Download Xubuntu 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope) right now from Softpedia.
Download Edubuntu 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope) right now from Softpedia.
Download Ubuntu Studio 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope) right now from Softpedia.
Download Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope) right now from Softpedia.
Download Mythbuntu 9.04 Beta (Jaunty Jackalope) right now from Softpedia.
Remember that this is a beta 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.
