Latest Ubuntu 9.10: Karmic Koala Released

A.G.Udaya Shamendra is currently a second year undergraduate(Bachelor of Computer Science) at University of Colombo School of Computing(UCSC), Sri Lanka. He has interests in Java, 2D graphic designing (do out sourcing projects), Web designing, Web development (PHP, HTML...etc), Web Security, FOSS, C# (and some Microsoft technologies), Google Technologies (GWave, android...etc), Adobe Technologies and Networking. He likes blogging (Technology via Technology), movies, painting and poem writing. Udaya is a Manager of Adobe- Sri Lanka User Group (A-SLUG) and is involved with Mozilla Firefox Campus Rep programs and GTUG (Google Technology User Group), Sri Lanka.

Latest Ubuntu 9.10: Karmic Koala Released

11/26/2009 4:45 am By Udaya Shamendra | Articles: 21

Karmic Koala is the latest Ubuntu Released on 2009.10(October) and it has good features than previous releases.

Before talking about 9.10 , I think we should talk about Ubuntu naming theory of versions.

Ubuntu releases are also given code names, using an adjective and an animal with the same first letter. With the exception of the first two releases, code names are in alphabetical order, allowing a quick determination of which release is newer. Commonly, Ubuntu releases are often referred to using only the adjective portion of the code name (eg: Karmic of Karmic Koala).

Ubuntu Version from 2004 October to 2009 October

Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty Warthog)
Ubuntu 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog)
Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger)
Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake)
Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft)
Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)
Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)
Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron)
Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)
Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)

Ubuntu 9.10, was released on 29 October 2009 . It is Canonical's eleventh Ubuntu OS release.

Special features for Netbooks:

New BootScreen

In an announcement to the community on 20 February 2009, Mark Shuttleworth explained that 9.10 would focus on improvements in cloud computing on the server using Eucalyptus, further improvements in boot speed as well as development on the Netbook Remix.

Boot screen

New Theme!

New Ubuntu theme

The initial announcement of version 9.10 indicated that this release might include a new theme. Other graphical improvements include a new set of boot up and shutdown splash screens, a new login screen that transitions seamlessly into the desktop and greatly improved performance on Intel graphics chipsets.

Latest Softwares

The desktop installation of Ubuntu 9.10 includes, GIMP 2.6, GNOME 2.28, Mozilla Firefox 3.5, OpenOffice.org 3.1,Linux 2.6.31, X.Org 7.5 and Empathy Instant Messenger instead of Pidgin.

New ext4 File system & Ubuntu one

The default filesystem is ext4, and the Ubuntu One client, which interfaces with Canonical's new online storage system, is installed by default. It will be a new trend with netbooks due to the small storage which they have. But compare with other sync systems Ubuntu One Client is too slow than them.

The Ubuntu team appears to have also attempted to integrate their new cloud storage service aptly entitled Ubuntu One .

Clicking the link which is located under the Internet menu simply launches a small running app in the system tray with absolutely no information window or wizard or anything of the like:

This is Ubuntu one , cloud computing storage feature icon.

Updating files at online storage by using Ubuntu One.

Windows 7 has Sky Drive behalf of Ubuntu ONE

Ubuntu Software Center

Ubuntu Software Center

A new application called the Ubuntu Software Center that unifies package management. Canonical intends for this application to replace Add/Remove Programs (gnome-app-install) in 9.10 and possibly Synaptic, Software Sources, Gdebi and Update Manager in Ubuntu 10.04.

Slideshow when installing

Karmic Koala also includes a slideshow during the installation process (through ubiquity-slideshow) that highlights applications and features in Ubuntu.

Awesome Pros:

Faster boot times.

Faster Installation (My friend posted on his blog that Ubuntu 9.10 can be install within 10 minutes by using Flash/Pen drive. Is it awesome?!)

Improved visual appeal and cleaner/crisper artwork.
Integration of Empathy
Drop down messaging addition.
New "Computer Janitor" option in the administration panel that allows for cleaning up of old leftover files.
Improved Add/Remove programs look and feel.
On really low-end hardware you can substitute Ubuntu for Xubuntu.
There are a couple of really welcome additions to Ubuntu 9.10 For one, the battery meter, at least for netbook, is more accurate than ever!
Another thing, when I go to the update manager on netbook, and if it running on battery power, it will warn me that I'm running on battery life, and asks me if I want to continue.

Cons

Integration of Ubuntu One which, in comparison to Dropbox (a similar cloud storage service) is quite poor and not well integrated or very user friendly.

If you want to play DVDs then you need to resort to “Restricted” codecs.

New ext4 file system is coming with Ubuntu 9.10 as default and it is still on experimental stage.

Sometimes it may have some more errors and bugs. Because it is just released for world.

This month’s video :Ubuntu 9.10 review by User