Intrepid Ibex
The new version of Ubuntu is coming in a couple of weeks, and since it has now entered beta phase i decided i would upgrade my installation of Hardy Heron. The installation is very easy just requiring the command:
sudo update-manager -d
The installation is remarkably quick, installing all the updated packages. The only problem i had with the installation was my GRUB config file was overwritten meaning i had to re-write some entries. As with previous upgrades config file diffs can be displayed and merged as required.
After a quick restart and reconfiguring my display drivers (very easy - just a matter of picking the correct driver) i was in 8.10. Changing my theme and background to the new artwork i was very pleased to see the removal of that awful orange that has been used in previous versions, its now quite a nice dark and moody brown which reminds me somewhat of Ubuntu Studio.
On the whole it has been remarkably stable, since the feature freeze is coming in now then future updates are going to be entirely focused on fixing bugs. I am currently running the update commands about twice a day and getting at least 15 packages updated each time.
I can’t wait until it is fully stable and released at the end of this month, Ubuntu is getting stronger and stronger as a desktop OS and with the current 6 monthly release cycle its also moving very quickly. I think a huge amount of credit should go to the community for working so hard on bug fixing and packaging. Making this OS the easiest linux distro to get started with.