Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) (Linux, Open Source, 699MB) [alt DL] is a Linux distribution that starts with the breadth of Debian and adds regular releases (every six months), a clear focus on the user and usability (it should "Just Work", TM) and a commitment to security updates with 18 months of support for every release.
Ubuntu ships with the latest Gnome release as well as a selection of server and desktop software that makes for a comfortable desktop experience off a single installation CD.
At first, I did an upgrade of my Ubuntu 8.04 installation using the 8.10 alternate CD. The upgrade process went through without any problems.
I also wanted to see how Ubuntu 8.10 was like out of the box, so I did a clean re-install. Here are my first impressions:
1. My wireless card (a USB device based on the Realtek rtl8187 chipset) worked “out of the box”, but only had a signal strength of around 16%. While the wireless connection was usable, I opted to use Windows drivers via ndiswrapper. Using ndiswrapper, I get about 76% signal.
2. Launchy for Linux wasn’t working properly under Ubuntu 8.10. Trying to launch Firefox or Flock resulted in the opening of a file using gedit.
3. Graphics seem to be quite buggy: the topbar of windows become blank from time to time. I’m not sure if it’s due to the Nvidia drivers included in Ubuntu 8.10.
If you use Ubuntu in your main PC and as your main OS, my suggestion would be to hold on to Ubuntu 8.04 LTS for a while. If you are itching for an upgrade, maybe it’s a good idea to wait for a possible 8.10.1, or just wait for Ubuntu 9.04.
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