With the recent release of Ubuntu 9.04 “Jaunty” alpha 6 this last week I thought I’d outline some of the upcoming new features awaiting us this April. I’d love to hear from those of you that have already been using the alpha releases and tell us your experience with some of the features listed here. Whether you’ve had good or bad experiences with the alpha releases please share what you’ve found with the community.
For more information on these upcoming features see the Ubuntu 9.04 alpha 6 notes.
- Xorg Server 1.6
- Font Size Optimization
- New Notifications and Preferences
- Linux Kernel 2.6.28
- Ext4 Filesystem Support
Xorg Server 1.6
The latest X.Org server, version 1.6, is available in Jaunty. For a little while, this will again cause increased instability for some users while the proprietary video drivers catch up.
Font Size Optimization
Font dot-per-inch settings are now optimized based on your monitor’s capabilities, rather than defaulting to 96 dpi. You can further customize your dpi settings via System → Preferences → Appearance → Fonts → Details…
New Style for Notifications and Notification Preferences
Included in Jaunty is a simple menu which can be used to set preferences for notification icons, such as where they pop up on the taskbar. There is a possibility that Ubuntu 9.04 will get a whole new notification system, as shown in the Flash movie here:
Linux Kernel 2.6.28
Alpha 6 includes the 2.6.28-8.26 kernel based on 2.6.28.7.
I still can’t get the liveCD to work. The desktop appears, no problem there, the mouse moves, but when I click on an item the whole PC locks up, no keyboard input at all, even though the mouse still moves. The last (at least) 4 alpha releases have been like this. It’s an intel 865GV chipset with intergrated graphics. So I can’t try it out. 🙁
WTF Flash!
The notifications crap looks crap, I’m switching to Fedora or Debian.
Just tried the netbook image on my AspireOne – wonderful!! The new interface cries out for a touch screen though. Obviously a lot of work has gone into the interface and it shows.
The first thing I did was revert the font size to 96 dpi, and usability wise I’m not sure if removing the Logout/Restart/Shut down/… options from System was a good idea.
Beside of this, I’m happy with Jaunty, and I absolutely love the new notification system (although it still has some outstanding bugs, like not handling screen resolution changes).
I’m not digging the new notifications. They don’t blend well with the rest of the GNOME desktop. Too much bling for an otherwise bland environment. It’s almost as if we’re trying to bring KDE 4 to GNOME. Hopefully, you can revert them back.
@zac
try upgrading your bios.
Jaunty is becoming stable slowly and the development team is just doing a great work. I’m not sure I understand the issue about the notification system. Personally I like it and I’m sure once it’s stable it will make a great addition to the rest. What I still miss is a good tool to set resolutions on not supported monitors.
@Nyarnon: Aesthetically, the gloss of the notifications don’t line up with the packaged Gnome theme. It’s one of those things that people will either like, like you do, or hate.
I’m no fan of the default look of the notifications, and they don’t appear to be very skinnable. Hopefully, tools to fully customize them will pop up before Jaunty launches.
New Notifications = good.
New Theme = where?
I say they need to use the Dust theme with a Shiki-colors border and iconset – it looks really professional, yet keeps the color palette constant. I keep reverting back to it on my Thinkpad and Custom desktop.
****Correction: I meant NewWave, not Dust.
I don’t mind them spending time on deciding a new theme, as long as it’s good. I am not really hopeful for a major new theme for 9.04, but it will be major for 9.10, which will be refined for the 10.04 LTS release. The new notification may look out of place now but this is only a stepping stone for a more integrated look.
Running 8.04, and just updated to Openoffice 3.01 from the PPA in Launchpad. So easy, and works like a charm. These PPA’s are excellent. Thanks to everyone.