The latest version of popular Linux distro Ubuntu has been released today - and expect all the usual techie pages to be flooded with info about it. It is version 8.04 code named “Hardy Heron”. It has a lot of functional updates and Ars Technica covers a bunch of the more significant changes.
Probably the biggest new feature for people who are interested in trying out Ubuntu is the inclusion of Wubi. Wubi allows you to install Ubuntu on a hard drive (or partition) that already has Windows installed without affecting your Windows installation. This means you can install Ubuntu, dual boot (at computer start up you’ll choose Windows or Ubuntu), and remove Ubuntu without affecting your Windows installation. This makes it very easy for new users to try out Ubuntu.
The direct download sites will be pretty busy for the next few days so using the torrent download would probably be the quickest choice.
UPDATE: Lifehacker has posted some very useful tips for new users trying the new Ubuntu release.
April 28, 2008 at 1:50 am
But have they finally addressed the networking and especially the wireless networking issues that have plagued Ubuntu (and Linux in general for non-experts) for as long as I can remember?
April 28, 2008 at 1:53 am
Actually, it’s gotten much better. The wireless especially has become very simple. It’s still easier for particular wireless cards to work over others but in general it works pretty seamlessly.
Networking itself is pretty easy too and has been for awhile now.
I remember messing with the wireless for days to get my linksys card to work and it worked “out of the box” on the previous Ubuntu release so I would guess it will work even better under this one (it was one of the bigger projects they worked on). I don’t have a laptop to test it right now though.