It’s been a month since my last post. For all my regular readers, I’m very sorry for the absense.

There’s a lot of intersting stuff going on right now. Fortunately, with so much going on, I shouldn’t have a lack of topics to talk about.

To get the old post ball rolling again, how could I not start back up with Ubuntu 9.04?

Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty Jackalope, is scheduled to be released on April 23rd. Even though it has been a mere six months since Intrepid Ibex went to release, the Jackalope promises some good stuff:

  • GNOME 2.26 –  This latest release of GNOME includes a number of features, such as: better multi-monitor support (I look forward to testing this out), a new tool to handle burning disks (Brasero), a plugin promising easier file sharing (even on Bluetooth connections), UPnP media playback support in the GNOME Media Player, new volume control that supports per-application volume control when using PulseAudio (I love this feature in Vista and am excited to get it in Ubuntu). This is just a few of the features that picqued my interest. For more details, see GNOME 2.26’s release notes.
  • X.Org Server 1.6 – This new version of the X server promises great improvements to the free drivers available for a large variety of cards, primarily for Intel and AMD graphics. The AMD deal is very exciting. It’s a big topic though, so I’m going to talk about it in more detail later.
  • Linux Kernel 2.6.28 – As with most kernel releases, a lot of things have changed. Some of the changes that I found interesting (and that I could understand the value of) are: stable implementation of the Ext4 file system and improved memory management for GPU memory via GEM (the foundation for improving Linux graphics in the future). For a full list of features, check out the breakdown at Kernel Newbies.
  • Eucalyptus – Adds cloud computing capabilities to Ubuntu’s server offering. I’m excited to try this out.
  • Check out the release notes overview for more information about the new features.

As with most new software, there are some caveats to be alert of. I recommend reading the release notes if you are upgrading. Pay specific attention to the removal of Ctrl+Alt+Backspace support by default and the change to update notifications.

I hope that you are looking forward to the release as much as I am. When the Jackalope goes golden and I have a chance to test it out, I’ll definitely post about my experiences here.

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