At the end of the month the new version of Ubuntu, 8.10, called Intrepid Ibex, will be released. We have reached the last phases in the Release Schedule. The Feature Freeze is active, this means that there will be no new packages added, instead everyone is concentrating on fixing existing bugs. The beta is out already, anyone interested can test it right now. The more will test it, the more bugs are reported and the better the release will be. Therefore get it while it’s hot. The system boots directly from the CD, you don’t have to install it. The available versions can be found here.
The new release has quite some new features:
I’m awaiting the Private folder the most, it’s a good compromise between encrypting the whole harddisk and leaving sensitive data unencrypted, especially for notebook users. You can just symlink certain files from the Private folder to their old location.
The switch to KDE4 is in my eyes a little to early. KDE4 is pretty stable in the current state, though it doesn’t seem to be completely ready for a complete switch. Not everything is working perfectly together. And there are quite some programs that aren’t ported to the new version of KDE yet. Tough if KDE4 improves a little it will be quite tempting. I am thinking of moving to KDE in the near future.
Currently I’m a little annoyed of GNOME and the support of two screens, when using 2 differen xscreens and no Xinerama. Windows are often opened on the wrong screen. Even things that worked back than in 2.22.
Nevertheless I’m looking forward to the release of Intrepid, as many bugs have been fixed and some interesting features will be added. Now go and test it and report bugs and wishes to the Launchpad.
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