5.10 AMD64 First impressions

[sacha at ssl.co.uk]

Some first impressions on Ubuntu AMD64 (Linux nebula
2.6.12-9-amd64-generic #1 Mon Oct 10 13:27:39 BST 2005 x86_64 GNU/Linux):

1. Version

Can't find out which version I'm running... it was on the login or boot
screens but neither uname -a nor System > About Ubuntu tell me. I think
it's 5.10 judging by some text in the "Core Components" bit of About
Ubuntu.

2. Sound

The startup sound blasts at full volume regardless of the volume you have
set via the little volume control widget in the menu bar. (I have USB
audio via Harmon Kardon Soundsticks.)

3. Network

My wifi settings aren't remembered across boots, so I have to reset them
every time. (An MSI combined wifi/bluetooth card.) There was no wifi
option in the installer, although it did detect both ethernet ports on the
motherboard and offer me a choice.

4. Screen resolution

System > Preferences > Screen resolution doesn't offer me the full range
of resolutions my monitor is capable of. (GFX card is an NV 6800 Ultra,
monitor is a Sun/Sony GDM-5010PT.) That's fine, maybe it couldn't
determine what monitor I have and is playing it safe. But there's no
option from the screen resolution dialog to correct it (like the "enable
all resolutions" checkbox in OS X), nor can I find the monitor in System >
Administration > Device manager. (Probably just need to hack the
xorg.conf.)



Still, it did better than SUSE 9.3 in that it detected my sound and wifi
out of the box.

Anyway, just some feedback, nothing I can't fix (but my mother couldn't!)