Ubuntu 9.04 Beta released

Fri Mar 27 00:09:14 GMT 2009

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the beta release of Ubuntu 9.04
Desktop and Server editions.  Codenamed "Jaunty Jackalope", 9.04 continues
Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source
technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.

Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition brings faster boot speeds and a new
notification system to your everyday computing experience.

Ubuntu 9.04 Server Edition makes it easy to experiment with cloud computing
using Eucalyptus on your own servers, and sports an improved mail server
integration stack based on postfix and dovecot.

The Ubuntu 9.04 family of variants, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, and
Mythbuntu, also reach beta status today.

Desktop features
----------------

Faster boot times:  improvements to Ubuntu's start-up process mean you can
spend less time waiting and more time being productive with your Ubuntu
desktop.

Notification system:  notifications, those alerts that signify a change of
status on your system or whether someone is contacting you, have been been
made consistent across applications to provide a pleasing, intuitive
experience for users.

Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/jaunty/beta for details.

Server features
---------------

Cloud computing:  Eucalyptus puts you in control of your own cloud
computing infrastructure, compatible with Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud
(EC2) but running on your own servers behind your firewall.  Ubuntu Server
Edition 9.04 will also see Ubuntu available on Amazon EC2 -- making it the
most complete cloud environment available today.

Turn-key mail servers:  the dovecot-postfix package in Ubuntu 9.04 provides
an all-in-one solution for deploying SMTP, POP3, and IMAP services with
integrated server-side filtering support.

Kubuntu features
----------------

Kubuntu, built on the amazing KDE 4.2, brings users a complete,
full-featured KDE4 desktop with many new applications and innovations.

Please see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/JauntyJackalope/Beta/Kubuntu for all
the details.

Xubuntu features
----------------

Xubuntu comes with the light-weight Xfce 4.6 desktop environment for those
who want a desktop that is easy to use, but places particular emphasis on
conserving system resources.

Please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/JauntyJackalope/BetaAnnouncement
for further details.

Ubuntu Studio features
---------------------

Ubuntu Studio includes updates to input hardware and sound device
management from Ubuntu Desktop and a complete suite of tools for generation
of audio, video, and graphic content.

The realtime kernel flavor (linux-rt) has returned and is again used by
default in Ubuntu Studio.  The rtirq script (http://alsa.opensrc.org/Rtirq)
is also now included in the ubuntustudio-audio package.  It is recommended
that users not use the new EXT4 filesystem with the linux-rt kernel on
production systems due to some reports of instability.

Jack-audio-connection-kit now includes support for the Free Firewire Audio
Drivers (FFADO, www.ffado.org).

Mythbuntu features
------------------

As of 9.04, Mythbuntu fits better into the Ubuntu ecosystem by using the
same build methods as all other remixes and derivatives.  Because of this,
9.04 has been a focus around stability and preparing for an easy
transition to the next version of MythTV (0.22) later this year.

See http://mythbuntu.org/9.04/beta for information about the Mythbuntu
beta release.

Other
-----

* On the Desktop: KDE 4.2.1, GNOME 2.26, OpenOffice.org 3.0.1, X.Org
  server 1.6

* On the Server: Apache 2.2, PostgreSQL 8.3, PHP 5.2.6, LTSP 5.1

* "Under the hood": GCC 4.3.3, glibc 2.9, Linux 2.6.28.8, Python 2.6.1

The full release notes can be found at
http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/jaunty/beta

About Ubuntu
------------

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, and
servers, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases.  A
tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and
an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and
hundreds of other companies around the world.  For more information about
support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support

To Get Ubuntu 9.04 Beta
-----------------------

To upgrade to Ubuntu 9.04 Beta from Ubuntu 8.10,
follow these instructions:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/JauntyUpgrades

Or, download Ubuntu 9.04 Beta here (choose the mirror closest to you):

  Asia:

    * http://mirror.unej.ac.id/ubuntu-cd/9.04 (Indonesia)

  Europe:

    * http://hr.releases.ubuntu.com/9.04 (Croatia)
    * http://ucho.ignum.cz/ubuntu-releases/9.04 (Czech Republic)
    * ftp://ftp.klid.dk/ubuntu-cd/9.04 (Denmark)
    * http://de.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-releases/9.04 (Germany)
    * http://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/ubuntu.iso/9.04 (Germany)
    * http://ie.releases.ubuntu.com/9.04 (Ireland)
    * http://nl.releases.ubuntu.com/releases/9.04 (Netherlands)
    * http://no.releases.ubuntu.com/9.04 (Norway)
    * ftp://ftp.corbina.net/pub/Linux/ubuntu-cd/9.04 (Russian Federation)
    * http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/9.04 (Sweden)

  North America:

    * http://mirrors.cat.pdx.edu/ubuntu-releases/9.04 (United States)
    * http://mirrors.gigenet.com/ubuntu/9.04 (United States)

  Oceania/Australia:

    * http://ftp.citylink.co.nz/ubuntu-releases/9.04 (New Zealand)
    * http://ubuntu-releases.optus.net/9.04 (Australia)

  South America:

    * http://ubuntu.c3sl.ufpr.br/releases/9.04 (Brazil)

  Rest of the world:

    http://releases.ubuntu.com/9.04 (Great Britain)

Please download using Bittorrent if possible.

The final version of Ubuntu 9.04 is expected to be released in April 2009.

Feedback and Participation
--------------------------

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you
can participate at

  http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help turn this
Beta into the best release of Ubuntu ever.  Please note that, where
possible,
we prefer that bugs be reported using the tools provided, rather than by
visiting Launchpad directly.  Instructions can be found at

  https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs

If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but are
not sure, first try asking on the #ubuntu IRC channel on FreeNode, on the
Ubuntu Users mailing list, or on the Ubuntu forums:

  http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
  http://www.ubuntuforums.org/

More Information
----------------

You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this preview release on our
website, IRC channel and wiki. If you are new to Ubuntu, please visit:  

  http://www.ubuntu.com/

To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's
very low volume announcement list at:

  http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce