Canonical Releases Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot
Canonical has released Ubuntu 11.10, code-named Oneiric Ocelot, for download.
The latest version is designed to deliver a consistent look and feel across laptops, desktops and netbooks thanks to an upgrade of the desktop shell Unity. 11.10 also includes improvements to the Ubuntu Software Center as well as Ubuntu One, that now supports music streaming to Android and iPhones via the personal Ubuntu One cloud.
Unity comes with a much needed refresh and begins to live up to previous expectations. Among the enhancements is 2D fall-back as well as the addition of lenses in Dash. Dash, which is the search interface in Ubuntu, now features four different lenses as subdivisions for search and target home, applications, files, and music. The music lens is tied to the Banshee music player and can play music files without actually opening Banshee separately. There is also instant access to Last.fm and the Amazon MP3 store.
Additionally, Ubuntu 11.10 includes the Deja Dup backup utility, which allows users to back up their local data to the Ubuntu One cloud free of charge. Mozilla's Thunderbird has become the default email client in Ubuntu, while Evolution is now an optional download.
Of course, the new lease is based on the Linux 3.0 kernel and employs an update to GNOME 3.2 as legacy desktop environment.
I installed it yesterday hours after it came out, after a rough alpha and beta cycle, it actually turned out OK. It has good usability for power users, it's stable, and it doesn't get in the way.
I second this.
2. the boot time has also increased.
3. there is no "ubuntu classic" by default.
4. unity is basically crap for people who have switched to ubuntu from windows.
I can make a Ubuntu test-VM of a new server on any old piece-o-crap desktop laying around my work, and it will run respectably on any machine with atleast 512mb or RAM, if it doesn't have virt-acceleration. If I decide to move the test VM into production, I can export it, and then import it onto a real VM server, and Ubuntu is smart enough to detect the hardware changes.
If I need a GUI for anything I'm working on, I can just install GUI tools on my regular PC like PGAdmin, Eclipse, etc... and then use Samba shares or the network to connect to the VM.