[ec2-beta] Ubuntu Amazon EC2 RC1 is released.

[Chuck Short]

The Ubuntu EC2 team is happy to bring you the first release candidate 
based on Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.0.4.2 and Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex 8.10. The 
first  release candidate brings many improvements to the Ubuntu Amazon 
EC2 image. We would like to thank the many users that have offered 
suggestions to make the Ubuntu Amazon EC2 experience better.

New features since beta2
------------------------------------------

Highlights of the new features include the following:

1. Release of Ubuntu Hardy Heron:

For those users who want to use the LTS version of Ubuntu for their 
servers they now can do so! This is the first time an offical Ubuntu 
Hardy Heron EC2 image has been available for EC2.  The release candidate 
contains the latest software updates from Hardy. It also contains the 
ec2-ami-tools from jaunty to allow users to re-bundle the image.

2. Landscape support:

Now you can run Ubuntu Amazon EC2 image from landscape. For more 
information about landscape please see:

http://www.canonical.com/projects/landscape

3. RightScale support:

Now you can run Ubuntu Amazon EC2 images from the RightScale web 
interface to take advantage of the RightScale templating system. To find 
more about  RightScale:

http://www.rightscale.com/

3. Ubuntu-on-ec2 PPA

Users can now find extra software available in the Ubuntu EC2 team PPA. 
Software found include the ec2-api-tools packaged for both Hardy and 
Intrepid. To see a full list of software availbel please see:

https://www.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-on-ec2/+archive/ppa

4. Updated software:

Both Hardy and Intrepid Ubuntu EC2 images contain the latest software 
updates.

To see a full list of bugs that were fixed in this release please see:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-on-ec2/+milestone/rc1

To get Amazon Ubuntu EC2
----------------------------------------------

The Ubuntu EC2 release candidate images are available to the public. The 
AMI ids for the new images are the following:

US:

canonical-cloud-us/ubuntu-intrepid-rc1-20090417-i386      ami-064aad6f
canonical-cloud-us/ubuntu-intrepid-rc1-20090417-amd64      ami-f04aad99
canonical-cloud-us/ubuntu-hardy-rc1-20090417-amd64      ami-3e49ae57
canonical-cloud-us/ubuntu-hardy-rc1-20090417-i386              ami-bd4aadd4

Europe:

canonical-cloud-eu/ubuntu-intrepid-rc1-20090417-i386      ami-d0cae2a4
canonical-cloud-eu/ubuntu-intrepid-rc1-20090417-amd64      ami-dccae2a8
canonical-cloud-eu/ubuntu-hardy-rc1-20090417-amd64      ami-b4cae2c0
canonical-cloud-eu/ubuntu-hardy-rc1-20090417-i386              ami-b6cae2c2

Feedback and Helping
--------------------------------------

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu EC2, please sign up for the 
Ubuntu EC2 mailing list at:

  https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ec2-beta

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help turn this 
release candidate into the best release of Amazon Ubuntu EC2 ever.  
Please report bugs through the Launchpad bug tracker:

  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-on-ec2

If you have a question, or if you think you may have found a bug but are 
not sure, please join us on the #ubuntu-ec2 IRC channel on FreeNode or 
on the Ubuntu EC2 beta mailing list.

Helping Shape Ubuntu
--------------------------------------

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/

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

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, and 
servers, with a fast and easy install 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.