Topic Change: Does everyone like the Koala

[Christopher Lees]

I love the little points of Karmic.

The Dust Sand theme - apparently it was available in Jaunty too, but
this is the first time I've noticed it. It does look a little like OS X
which I usually hate, but it's a very nice theme that integrates with
everything well.

I also like the fade-in, fade-out of the usplash, and the way the
Xsplash fades into the desktop. I don't like the completely different
looks of the Usplash and the Xsplash; IMHO the Xsplash should start by
looking just like the Usplash, and then morph into something more
visually fascinating.

Of course, I like the new versions of programs... but I'm very
disappointed that Rhythmbox's DNLA and DAAP plugins are broken, and that
the Tangerine DAAP server won't run on 9.10. This has taught me to only
use LTS releases on my server in the future!

Ubuntu Karmic is fast. I formatted / into Ext4 before installing and
everything feels a lot snappier. I'm very pleased with this. My
netbook's slow SSD is noticably faster with Karmic/Ext4 than with
Jaunty/Ext2. Oh, and the wifi LED works now, and I should theoretically
get better battery life with the better Powertop result.

I also love the little warning you get when you run the update manager
on battery power. That's cool. And although I thankfully haven't seen it
myself, I'm also very impressed by the ability for Gnome Power Manager
to know if your laptop battery has been recalled, and give you a
warning.

Unfortunately, Karmic is not a dream release for netbooks, due to the
problems with mobile broadband. My broadband stick sometimes takes a
couple of tries to connect properly, and from what I hear I'm one of the
lucky ones. Mobile broadband, broken - this is something that needs to
be prevented before too many more people get their hands on Ubuntu.

I'm also a fan of the notifications system, especially the way it fades
out more the closer your mouse gets to the notification. Did you know
you can get Firefox to use the new notifications, by installing the
"firefox-notify" extension from Synaptic?

I also like the Software Center, it does make it easier to discover new
programs. Don't worry - all my programs will remain free of charge under
the GPL, I haven't been tempted to sell my wares :-)  I'm hoping that
the Software Center convinces more developers to look at Ubuntu, and
that we get some first-tier game ports and some Blu-ray playback
software in there soon!

In conclusion, I love Karmic on my desktop. I like Karmic on my netbook,
although I still think netbook users should stick with Intrepid. And
unfortunately I don't like Karmic on my server due to the problems with
DNLA and DAAP - all server software seems to have one problem or
another.