Canonical Releases Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal

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The new Ubuntu has arrived, just one week before Windows 8 hits the streets.

Just one week prior to Microsoft's launch of Windows 8, Canonical announced on Thursday the release of the desktop version of Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal, the latest full build of the popular Linux-based open-source OS. It reportedly "breaks down the barrier between the PC and the web" by integrating the desktop with the Internet. Thus, end-users can now seamlessly move between local and online applications and content with ease.

"When searching for documents in the Ubuntu 12.10 Dash, for example, users can see results from online services like Google Drive, as well as files saved on their hard drives," the company said. "The Online Accounts feature allows authentication to online sites so that content like photos from Flickr accounts and contacts from Facebook can all be searched instantly by the Dash."

Canonical said that the Dash can also search both paid and free content from Amazon and the Ubuntu One Music Store such as music, videos or any other digital or physical product. Search results are displayed in a separate "More Suggestions" section.

In addition to the Dash, Ubuntu 12.10 includes Previews which give large, clear previews of content as it appears in the Dash search results. There's also the new Web Apps feature which offers integration between the desktop and online environment by making frequently-used web applications (Facebook, Twitter, Last.FM, eBay and Gmail) available directly from the desktop without the need to launch the browser.

Ubuntu One, the personal cloud service, is integrated and now available as a native app on Mac OS-X as beta, as well as Windows, iOS and Android. "With 5 GB storage free, it’s one more way to access documents, music, photos and videos, wherever you are," the company said. "Ubuntu One’s new referrals programme, means that it’s possible to get even more storage in return for recommending new users."

The new Ubuntu now also provides a new remote log-in option so that users can log into a Citrix, VMWare or Microsoft desktop running on a desktop visualization server. Thus, Ubuntu 12.10 can be used as a thin client by businesses that want to visualize their desktop applications and deliver them to users over the network.

Ubuntu 12.10, the "perfect [free] alternative to Windows 8" according to Canonical, is available to download now right here.

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Kevin Parrish
7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • I have seen that they already desgined 30 webapps integrated into Ubuntu (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/07/list-of-that-websites-support-unitys-new-web-apps-feature). My favorites are Reddit and Google+. This only is already a killer feature worth the install of Ubuntu 12.10.
    Reply
  • mmstick
    The best OS on the planet right now, Microsoft and Apple could learn a thing or two from them. Those two companies practically need to dump their current OS and reconstruct them from scratch to even begin to compete with Linux distros.
    Reply
  • sayantan
    All I want is good driver support from hardware manufacturers. For instance installing proprietary AMD display drivers could be a real pain in a**. Also there is absolutely no driver for linux from ASUS and Realtek whatsoever. The open source drivers that comes with 12.04 isn't that good either. Whenever I switch from windows to ubuntu 12.04 ,I really miss the awesome DTS audio that comes inbuilt in my asus p67 mobo. With windows 8 going nowhere I think it is time for the device manufacturers to get their drivers ready for linux.
    Reply
  • mmstick
    sayantanAll I want is good driver support from hardware manufacturers. For instance installing proprietary AMD display drivers could be a real pain in a**. Also there is absolutely no driver for linux from ASUS and Realtek whatsoever. The open source drivers that comes with 12.04 isn't that good either. Whenever I switch from windows to ubuntu 12.04 ,I really miss the awesome DTS audio that comes inbuilt in my asus p67 mobo. With windows 8 going nowhere I think it is time for the device manufacturers to get their drivers ready for linux.
    This is 12.10, not 12.04. One of the features of 12.10 is the ease at which you can install proprietary drivers. Did you know that ASUS, Realtek, and other manufacturers upload their drivers straight to the mainline Linux kernel, therefore there is no need to search for drivers (manual driver installs are for Windows noobs)? Sounds like you don't know much about Linux. Realtek isn't a great sound card, no, it isn't even a sound card, just a low end pseudo sound chipset. I think you should buy a real sound card, the Linux 3.5 kernel Ubuntu 12.10 is using just added support for the Creative Recon3D THX PCIE sound cards Creative released last year, so my surround sound awesomeness is working perfectly fine. All other sound cards from other manufacturers work fine out of the box too.
    Reply
  • sayantan
    mmstickThis is 12.10, not 12.04. One of the features of 12.10 is the ease at which you can install proprietary drivers. Did you know that ASUS, Realtek, and other manufacturers upload their drivers straight to the mainline Linux kernel, therefore there is no need to search for drivers (manual driver installs are for Windows noobs)? Sounds like you don't know much about Linux. Realtek isn't a great sound card, no, it isn't even a sound card, just a low end pseudo sound chipset. I think you should buy a real sound card, the Linux 3.5 kernel Ubuntu 12.10 is using just added support for the Creative Recon3D THX PCIE sound cards Creative released last year, so my surround sound awesomeness is working perfectly fine. All other sound cards from other manufacturers work fine out of the box too.
    I never said my sound doesn't work, its just not as good as windows.
    I will definitely upgrade my kernel to 12.10. Let's see if that improves my sound quality. In general I like 12.04 except the sound and driver installation part.
    Integrating the driver in the kernel is good but manual driver installation should be as easy as windows because you don't upgrade your kernel every time a new driver is released.



    Reply
  • mmstick
    sayantanI never said my sound doesn't work, its just not as good as windows. I will definitely upgrade my kernel to 12.10. Let's see if that improves my sound quality. In general I like 12.04 except the sound and driver installation part. Integrating the driver in the kernel is good but manual driver installation should be as easy as windows because you don't upgrade your kernel every time a new driver is released.
    You upgrade your kernel every time a new driver that you 'need' is released. Upgrading kernel is easy in Linux, so what's the problem?
    Reply
  • mynith
    I've been using Kubuntu 12.10, which uses the same underpinnings but a more traditional and customizeable desktop environment for almost half a year now, and I must say it's pretty much faultless. Shame only that the wireless drivers don't support 802.11n for some reason (Intel Centrino Wireless-n 1000, might I add, hardly uncommon hardware) and Optimus doesn't work out of the box. But other than that, very good indeed.
    Reply