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Friday, April 24, 2009

Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" now available for your enjoyment

The world's most popular desktop Linux distribution has just gotten better.

Canonical Ltd., the United Kingdom based commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, announced this week the release of Ubuntu 9.04, code named "Jaunty Jackalope".

There's nothing earth shattering in the new version, but there are certainly a number of welcome improvements that collectively reinforce an important truism about Ubuntu: It's getting better all the time.

Among them:
Shorter boot speeds, some as short as 25 seconds, ensure faster access to a full computing environment on most desktop, laptop and netbook models. Enhanced suspend-and-resume features also give users more time between charges along with immediate access after hibernation. Intelligent switching between Wi-Fi and 3G environments has been broadened to support more wireless devices and 3G cards, resulting in a smoother experience for most users.
Plus:
Ubuntu 9.04 features OpenOffice.org 3.0. This gives users a complete office suite that is entirely compatible with Microsoft Office. This free office software provides an immediate saving of at least $200 for users who need to create presentations, write documents or manage spreadsheets at work or at home.
I've found OpenOffice to actually be superior to Microsoft Office Word in a number of ways. Having OpenOffice included with Ubuntu is great because it means there's nothing more to set up once you've installed the operating system.

But wait, there's more...
A new integrated notification system appears in Ubuntu 9.04 for the first time. This system combines the notification methods of various applications and presents that information in a simple, unobtrusive manner. New icons and artwork also appear in this release, part of the continual improvement of the Ubuntu user experience.
For those not familiar with free software, Linux is a "Unix-like" operating system, based on the Linux kernel written by Linus Torvalds (who currently resides in the heart of the Pacific Northwest - Portland, Oregon).

A Linux distribution, or distro, is basically a collection of software that runs on top of the Linux kernel. Typically most or all of that software is free and open source, much of it licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

Ubuntu, which is based on the community-driven Debian, is the most common desktop Linux distribution, as well as my favorite. Ubuntu is blazing fast, contains no bloatware, and has built in support for a wide array of hardware, including printers, scanners, and cameras. With Ubuntu, plug and play isn't a misnomer.

Not to mention many of my favorite applications come with Ubuntu - OpenOffice, as previously mentioned, but also Mozilla Firefox and Pidgin. Additionally, Ubuntu has native support for open source file formats, such as Vorbis.

All of these things, in my view, make Ubuntu superior to both Windows and Mac OS, which are both proprietary.

But by far the thing I like best about Ubuntu is the ease of installing new applications. If I want something - let's say accounting software, like GnuCash - I simply grab it out of the repository (repo for short) and I've got it.

All it takes is a simple one line command. I give the okay for the installation to proceed, with my password - and it's done.

I don't have to search the Internet, figure out where to download the installer, then spend several minutes in a wizard saying yes to a clickwrap agreement and hitting "Next" repeatedly with my mouse, as I would on Windows.

If you've never tried Ubuntu or even Linux before, I urge you to take Jaunty Jackalope for a spin. You can actually try out Ubuntu without making any changes to your Windows based computer by using a Live CD (a disc with Ubuntu on it).

Ubuntu may also be installed to a flash drive for easy, portable use, although you won't be able to boot from the flash drive unless you have a recently manufactured motherboard with USB boot support.

You can even install Ubuntu as an application in Windows and try it out without rebooting your computer thanks to the magic of Wubi. The choice is yours.

To get started with Jaunty Jackalope, head on over to the Ubuntu site. You can download directly from one of the mirrors or use BitTorrent (which can be faster). After downloading, be sure to verify the integrity of the ISO disc image if you are making a Live CD.

Once you've done that, you're ready to burn to disc.

The Live CD will let you try out Ubuntu without any change to your computer as well as allow you to install Ubuntu to a hard drive.

Have fun!

Comments:

Blogger Chad Lupkes said...

My wife bought a new computer about 5 months ago, and decided to get Ubuntu 8.04 instead of Vista or XP. It was an option right from the beginning. It does everything she wants to do, and while Word and Excel has some fancy options that are not in the OpenOffice Suite, it does the job. My only complaint with OpenOffice is the database software. I know Access, so I'm a bit spoiled.

April 25, 2009 6:39 AM  

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