Canonical and the Ubuntu team yesterday released the latest version
of its Linux distribution, formerly codenamed Maverick Meerkat, to
beta, with a release candidate expected in October.
Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition and Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition
deliver faster boot speeds, improved start-up times, and a
smoother, more streamlined boot experience, according to Ubuntu and
Canonical.
Ubuntu 10.10 Server Edition features enhanced integration of the
Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud through its install-time cloud setup,
Ubuntu said. In addition, the latest server version brings "the
power and stability of the Ubuntu Server Edition to cloud
computing, whether you're using Amazon EC2 or your own Ubuntu
Enterprise Cloud," said Robbie Williamson, engineering manager at
Canonical, in a statement.
The server beta's new features include pluggable hooks, ebsmount,
et4 support, and new stanzas in the cloud-configuration format,
Ubuntu said. By using Amazon's pv-grub, cloud image instances now
can manage their own kernel and also upgrade kernels, the company
said.
Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop's GNOME base platform has been updated to the
current 2.31 versions, including the new dconf and gsettings API.
Also, developers upgraded Evolution to the 2.30.2 version, which
operates much faster than the version included in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS,
Williamson said. Instead of F-Spot, Shotwell now is the default
photo manager.
Also, the team updated Gwibber to support Twitter's recent
authentication system changes, and altered the backend storage to
improve performance, he said. Ubuntu Desktop 10.10 includes an
enhanced Sound Indicator that now has music player controls. The
technology even looks different, due to its new themes, icons, and
wallpaper. Likewise, the Ubuntu Software Center has a different
appearance, and now offers "Featured" and "What's New" views for
showcasing applications, as well as an improved package description
view, Williamson said.
"The new Unity interface is now the default in Ubuntu Netbook
Edition. It includes the global menu bar. The date/time indicator
now has a real calendar widget," he said.
Developers also released Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio,
and Mythbuntu to beta.
In Kubuntu, the desktop and netbook images have been merged into
one, and the standard web browser is now Rekonq, a Qt Webkit-based
KDE browser. The default Bluetooth stack is Bluedevil and
Pulseaudio is the default sound server. The Xubuntu beta includes
Xfce4 4.6.2, and new default applications such as Parole for the
Xfce4 Media Player, Xfburn as the CD/DVD burning tool, and
Xfce4-taskmanager for process-managing.
Edubuntu now includes Gnome Nanny for parental controls, as well as
a new wallpaper and OEM install mode. For its part, Ubuntu Studio
-- which provides improved integration between Pulse Audio and JACK
-- also allows administrators to configure network connections with
gnome-network-admin. Finally, Mythbuntu's latest iteration has been
updated to MythTV 0.23.1 and includes a new backup and restore
tool.