Written by “A whole new world? A whole new computer?” Those are the words at ThisIsTheCountdown.com that adds dose of excitement to the upcoming launch of Ubuntu 11.10 or “Oneiric Ocelot”.
We are just days away from the upcoming widely anticipated Ubuntu distribution. “Oneiric Ocelot” is the code name for Ubuntu 11.10, scheduled for release on Oct 13. Two Beta released recently, offers a good feel for what Oneiric Ocelot will be like. Oneiric is more faster than its predecessor and many issues have been solved. Though some legacy hardware users may still find compatibility issues with the new Graphic User Interface (GUI). Check out whats new features do we get.
Interface Changes
11.10 includes a new release of Compiz and Unity. Users will find a new Alt+Tab switcher and better launcher and panel performance. “Places” are renamed to “Lenses”, which integrates multiple sources and advanced filtering like ratings, range, categories. By default, a new music lens linking Banshee is there. It now has full support for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other script languages.
Unfortunately, the classic menu has been removed. Users can login with Unity 2D or 3D desktop. Unity 2D reduced the delta with Unity, shares more code with it and has almost complete accessibility support. Additionally Gnome 3 (Gnome Shell) can be installed from Ubuntu repositories.
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell
New Softwares and Defaults
The Ubuntu 11.10 Software Center has been ported to GTK 3 and therefore, has a revitalized interface with a stylish new icon. Ubuntu Software Center adds new “top rated” views to the main category page and all subcategory pages. It now allows you to edit or delete your own reviews, and its standalone .deb file installations (gdebi functionality) reported to speedup significantly.
Mozilla Thunderbird 7 has replaced the age old Evolution mail client. With recent Mozilla upgrades, Firefox 7 now is the default browser in Ocelot. It also includes Déjà Dup for backup and Gwibber for micro-blogging. Oneric uses Nautilus 3 and provides a tabbed interface with the option to use multiple tabs for opening multiple directories within the same window.
ARM Support
ARM architecture is growing very popular in the past few years. Manufacturers are creating more low-powered tablets powered with ARM chips. Microsoft also announced that its upcoming Windows 8, will run on ARM Architecture. Ubuntu 11.10, the next version to be released will be the first to run on the ARM processor architectures. Ubuntu targets the ARMv7 and above Application Processor family (Cortex A8, A9 and above). Currently the archive supports ARM EABI, with an expectation of minimum compliance with the ARMv7+VFP ISA.
Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical admitted, “Canonical’s Arm version of Ubuntu is not completely polished yet”
Cloud Feature Juju
Ubuntu 11.10 will offer a new cloud service orchestration engine, called JuJu. It also come with the latest OpenStack cloud software, called Diablo, along with a new cloud services orchestration engine. JuJu provides the ability for administrators to package all the routine actions that needed to be taken to spin up a job on the machine.
Here’s juju in action.
Underlying Infrastructure
Oneiric Ocelot has improved 32-bit compatibility. It provides “multi-arch” support for installing 32-bit library and application packages on 64-bit systems. Users on AMD64 machines can now install select 32-bit software, including skype and flash, which will be installable directly using the same 32-bit packages that are used on i386 installations, without the need to install the ia32-libs compatibility package.
Ubuntu 11.10 include the 3.0.0-12.20 Ubuntu kernel which is based on the linux v3.0.4 upstream stable kernel.
Honestly, we’re really excited for the upcoming release. Join us at the countdown site and get your own flyer with QR Code and tear-off strips.