The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop and Server editions, Ubuntu 9.10 Server for UEC and EC2, and the Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Codenamed “Karmic Koala”, 9.10 continues Ubuntu’s proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.
We consider this release candidate to be complete, stable, and suitable for
testing by any user.
Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop Edition improves on the work of 9.04 to get you going
faster, with improved startup times and a streamlined boot experience.
Ubuntu 9.10 Server Edition integrates Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud setup in theinstaller and provides improvements to system security with AppArmor,
including an AppArmor profile for libvirtd to further isolate virtual machines from the host system.
Ubuntu 9.10 Server for UEC and EC2 brings the power and stability of the Ubuntu Server Edition to cloud computing, whether you’re using Amazon EC2 or
your own Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud.
The Ubuntu 9.10 family of variants, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, and Mythbuntu, also reach RC status today. This release sees the
first technology preview of Kubuntu Netbook.
The final release of Ubuntu 9.10 is scheduled for 29 October 2009 and will be supported for 18 months on both desktops and servers. Users requiring a
longer support lifetime on the server may choose to continue using Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, with security support until 2013, rather than upgrade to 9.10.
Before installing or upgrading to Ubuntu 9.10 please review the instructions and caveats in the release notes:
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/910
In addition, there are a small number of known bugs in the release candidate that will be fixed before the Ubuntu 9.10 release, but warrant highlighting
for your attention:
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/910overview#Known%20issues
About The Release Candidate
——————
The purpose of the Release Candidate is to solicit one last round of testing
before the final release. Here are ways that you can help:
* Upgrade from Ubuntu 9.04 to the Release Candidate by following the instructions in the release notes referenced above.
* Participate in installation testing using the Release Candidate CD images, by following the testing and reporting instructions at
http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/ISO
Desktop features
———–
GNOME 2.28 featuring Empathy: with this latest release, Ubuntu now uses the Empathy instant messaging service by default, introducing the Telepathy
framework.
Ubuntu Software Center: the first step in a replacement for Add/Remove Software has landed.
New boot experience: multiple changes to look, feel and speed of the boot experience have been included in the Ubuntu 9.10 release candidate.
Server features
———-
Cloud computing: Ubuntu 9.10 builds on the tantalizing cloud support in Ubuntu 9.04, with support for Eucalyptus configuration at install time and
publishing of standard VM images for UEC.
AppArmor: Ubuntu 9.10 continues to raise the bar for server security, with AppArmor profiles enabled by default for ntpd and libvirt providing another
layer of protection from attacks on the network or via guest virtual machines.
UEC and EC2: Ubuntu 9.10 includes the first official release of Ubuntu Server images for UEC and for Amazon’s EC2, giving you everything you need
for rapid deployment of Ubuntu instances in a cloud computing environment. UEC images, and information on running Ubuntu 9.10 on EC2, are available at:
http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/9.10/rc