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Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

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Deozaan:
I'm officially starting the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx thread. I know it's about a month early, but I just found out that the Beta 1 is available for trial:

The Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the latest and greatest software the Open Source community has to offer. This is the first Ubuntu 10.04 beta release, which brings a host of exciting new features.

Note: This is a beta release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released on April 29, 2010.-http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/lucid/beta1
--- End quote ---

And here are a few changes in Lucid Lynx that I find interesting:


* Mozilla Firefox's default search engine has been changed to Yahoo! The default Home Page will use either Google or Yahoo! depending on user setting.
* Ubuntu One Music Store. Millions of songs are available for purchase from your Ubuntu desktop, integrated with the Rhythmbox Music Player and using Ubuntu One cloud storage for backup and easy sync. Watch http://one.ubuntu.com/blog for the public beta launch.
* Ubuntu One File Synching. Select any folder in your home directory for sync, pick from your existing contacts when sharing folders. An updated preferences application has been added, with more features.
* We now feature built-in integration with Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook, and other social networks with the MeMenu in the panel, which is built upon the Gwibber project, which has a completely new, more reliable backend built on top of desktopcouch. Gwibber now also supports a multi-column view for monitoring multiple feeds simultaneously.
* New default open source driver for nVidia hardware
For more information and download links: http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/lucid/beta1

Deozaan:
I guess I should mention that I'm currently downloading the ISO. It will take a while (I'm tethering my cell phone to my PC for internet connection) and then I'll need to figure out which machine to install it on, since there doesn't seem to be a way to do it my usual way with Wubi.

I'll likely reply with my experiences in a few days, but it may not work well without an internet connection in case I need special drivers or apps. Hopefully 10.04 will be able to handle my 3G tethering.

If anyone else is trying it out, I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences.

EDIT:

I just noticed this in the Known Issues:

Wubi as included on the ISO images is unable to enter its second stage of installation, so you will not be able to install inside Windows using just an ISO image in this beta release. As a workaround, users who are installing the Ubuntu Desktop Edition can download the stand-alone version of wubi from http://releases.ubuntu.com/10.04/wubi.exe which includes the fix for this bug. This bug will be fully addressed for 10.04 LTS Beta 2. (541607)
--- End quote ---

I didn't know that Wubi was included on the ISO, not that it helps in this case, but it's good to know that there's a link to a working version. The download is going to complete in just a couple of minutes now, so I guess I'll be able to give it a try using Wubi soon after all. :Thmbsup:

Armando:
Hi Deozaan,
So, what are your impressions so far ? Did you install the full RC Shipping version ?  :)
I installed Linus Mint Gloria edition (or was it Helena ?? Would have to check) a while ago on my child's computer. It works great.

Deozaan:
I just tried the final release (64-bit Desktop Edition) a couple days ago on my PC. Unfortunately it made a bad first impression:

Wubi had a big problem with my removable media drive and caused some installation difficulties. Apparently Wubi has had this issue for over a year (since the 9.04 version). I just never experienced it before because it was only about two weeks ago that I plugged in a USB 1.44MB floppy drive to this PC. Basically it popped up an error message that seemed to be stuck in an infinite loop, but after clicking "Continue" about 10-15 times it went on with the installation. I later went into my device manager and removed the floppy drive and now Wubi runs without issue.

One thing I forgot to try after it finished installing was watching a DVD from the vanilla Ubuntu software. During the installation, it advertised that you could do that and I know I've had trouble playing DVDs with previous Ubuntu versions, so I'll be glad if that works out of the box.

Ubuntu doesn't automatically find my wireless drivers (I could have sworn it did in the beta!) so I have no internet. No internet means I can't download the applications I want, nor can I try out the new "social from the start" stuff, which means I'm not using Ubuntu right now.

I guess I'll have to tether my phone's internet connection to it long enough for it to find the wifi drivers. I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier!

What I can say is that I'm not very fond of the new placement of the minimize, maximize, close buttons. They're on the left of all windows now. In the beta I thought they did that so that people would know it was beta and not to do anything important on a beta build. You know, change things up to remind people it was unstable. But I guess that's how Macs do it. [sarcasm]And you know how much everybody wants to have a Mac.[/sarcasm]

The new theme is kind of a nice change from the dirty, earthy brown to something more colorful.

But other than those few superficial changes I can't yet speak about the experience of the new release. I suppose with an OS that has a new release every 6 months you shouldn't expect an amazing new experience like you would for Windows. Ubuntu uses more of an iterative improvement process than the typical Windows model of "patch major bugs until the new version."

So I guess that's all I have to say about Ubuntu 10.04 for now.


I'll also try out the Netbook Remix edition on my netbook in the next few days and see how that goes. It should have an easier time finding proper drivers and things, so I'm expecting a better initial experience.

Armando:
Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer my question. Your experience seems to somewhat mirror many reviews I've read. Keep us posted !

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