Ubuntu 10.04 Beta One Released - My First Impressions

I took the plunge to update my main home server to Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) LTS Beta 1.

Even if upgrade failed big time, which it went very well to be honest, I have disk images backed up so I can easily restore. The thing is, I only really only use this computer for my server needs (MySQL, PHP, etc) and when I need another computer nearby.

I've used Ubuntu betas in the past, and I have to say, they are actually very stable. I was one of the lucky ones to never have an Ubuntu beta crash on you.

I've read about all of the changes online (which are below), and from what I've read, it's faster, more reliable, cleaner bootup screen (which is very simplified), and a brand new theme. It always seems to be that Ubuntu always has a different theme when they release a new version!

Below this post are thirty-four images before and after I installed the update. Please feel free to click on any of the images and read my little comments below the images. And if you would like to, comment on the images to talk about that specific thing I took a picture of!

From the e-mail Steve Langasek sent out to all of the people who are subscribed to the Ubuntu Announcements Newsletter, he really did mention lots of changes.

He stated the following (which is a lot of the changes and is quite long):

Desktop features----------------

Social from the start: We now feature built-in integration with Twitter,

identi.ca, Facebook, and other social networks with the MeMenu in the panel.

New Design: Cleaner and faster boot, new notification area, new themes, new

icons, and new wallpaper bring a dramatically updated look and feel to

Ubuntu.

Ubuntu One: Choose any folder in your home directory to sync, choose from

millions of songs for purchase in the Ubuntu One Music store.

Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/lucid/beta1 for details.

Server features---------------

Cloud computing: The Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud installer has been vastly

improved in order to support alternative installation topologies. UEC

components are now automatically discovered and registered, even with

complex topologies. Finally, UEC is now powered by Eucalyptus 1.6.2

codebase.

UEC and EC2: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS continues the tradition of official Ubuntu

Server image releases for UEC and for Amazon's EC2, giving you everything

you need for rapid deployment of Ubuntu instances in a cloud computing

environment. UEC images, and information on running Ubuntu 10.04 on EC2, are

available at:

http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/10.04/beta1

Stability and security: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS brings many improvements over

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS to keep your servers safe and secure for the next five

years, including AppArmor profiles for many key services, kernel hardening,

and an easy-to-configure firewall.

Ubuntu Netbook features-----------------------

Ubuntu Netbook Edition is optimised to run on Intel atom based netbooks. It

includes a new consumer-friendly interface that allows users to quickly and

easily get on-line and use their favourite applications. This interface is

optimised for a retail sales environment.

It includes the same faster boot times and improved boot experience as

Ubuntu desktop.

Kubuntu features----------------

Kubuntu 10.04 LTS will be the first LTS to feature KDE 4 Platform and

Applications. KDE 4 has come a long way since its early releases and is now

suitable for the high demands of LTS users. Being an LTS we have focused on

bug fixing and stability for this release, but we did find time to add

features such as touchpad configuration, Firefox KDE integration, Kubuntu

notification improvements, and cross-desktop systray menu standardisation.

Kubuntu features the Plasma Desktop while Kubuntu Netbook Remix comes out of

preview status with the Plasma Netbook workspace.

See https://wiki.kubuntu.org/LucidLynx/Beta1/Kubuntu for more details.

Edubuntu features-----------------

Edubuntu in Lucid features a more complete live environment containing more

software from universe and all existing language packs as well as our usual

educational software in their current version. For Lucid the text installer

has been removed and so is LTSP for the time being. We expect to have LTSP

back on the DVD for the next beta. The DVD is then much smaller than it used

to be but will still provide a complete education environment based on

Ubuntu Lucid.

Also included on the Edubuntu DVD is a small repository containing the

required packages to transform the regular Edubuntu desktop into a LTSP

server or install the Netbook edition interface.

Mythbuntu features------------------

Mythbuntu 10.04 introduces MythTV 0.23. This new version is significantly

faster and should feel more responsive and stable than older versions. It

also integrates better into the OS with better support for things like

ConsoleKit and Upstart.

Please see http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Release_Notes_-_0.23 for more details

about changes introduced in 0.23.

See http://mythbuntu.org/10.04/beta for information about the Mythbuntu

beta release.

Other-----

* On the Desktop: GNOME 2.30, KDE SC 4.4, XFCE 4.6.1, OpenOffice.org 3.2.0,

X.Org server 1.7.5

* On the Server: Apache 2.2, PostgreSQL 8.4, PHP 5.3.1, LTSP 5.2

* "Under the hood": GCC 4.4.3, eglibc 2.11, Linux 2.6.32.9, Python 2.6.5

The full release notes can be found at

http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/karmic/beta1

The thing you've been waiting for! All of those photos! They are in order from left-right in the order that I took them in. And if you click on one, you'll be able to comment on that specific photo and view my little footnote.

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