BleepingComputer.com: Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 4

Well I've been running Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 4 for a few days now, and it is a great OS, especially for an Alpha release. The only problem is that it doesn't detect video cards in laptops very well. I ran the update through update manager by typing: sudo update-manager -d

It went smooth and took a few hours, and requires very little user input. And I ran into no problems at all with the update. The Live CD works great too.

For a new OS, it runs quite smoothly on older hardware. On my main Ubuntu box the specs are: 250GiB HDD, nVidia GeForce MX/MX 400, Soundblaster 16, D-link WDA-2320, 368MB of RAM. Everything was detected on boot up, and it even gave me the option to install the restricted nVidia drivers for the video card.

The bootup time is about the same as 7.10, and login doesn't take that long. Everything starts up lovely, and I like the default background. Almost all of my programmes ran after the upgrade, so far I've only ran into trouble with VirtualBox, I'm going to uninstall it and reinstall, just to see if it was a problem in the upgrade.

So far I haven't noticed much of a performance difference in Ubuntu, which is great, seeing as I can keep an up-to-date OS, on a not so up-to-date computer.

I think that 8.04 will be a great release for the Ubuntu series, and it is the next LTS (Long Term Support) edition.


Hopefully I'll have a more detailed update soon,
Steve

Super knarly, dude! I may get the Alpha myself. Let us know how VirtualBox works after reinstalling (I use VB a lot)

It is working fine now, but I'd recomend waiting until the 21st to download the Alpha, because Alpha 5 will be out, with the new artwork and a bunch more updates. I'll be testing it out ASAP, so if you want to wait for me to post about that I will, within a few days of testing.

-needTOS

I have been running Ubuntu since Breezy and now run 8.04 and loving it, Has to be the best distro out there by far.

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Why do you think that? What does it do better than other distros do?

groovicus, on Feb 21 2008, 09:28 AM, said:

I have found that clients that I switched to Linux from you know who find it easier to use, and much more stable

I have noticed for the 1st time Dell are making a bundled Linux system, excuse my ignorance but will all software etc browsers, accounts programs etc all run on Linux.

I am running Windows XP and have no probs at all. I would be afraid it would not be user friends across desktops ie file transfer and formats.


Horse Box

Horse Box, on Feb 21 2008, 01:13 PM, said:

That's quite a question, and we could easily spend many pages going over it all! But, for the sake of brevity, here's the short, short version:

1. Most "Windows Only" programs won't work on Linux (but see #4).
2. There are thousands of programs available for free that do run on Linux (and run well!)
3. Many of the aforementioned programs can do eerything (if not more) than their Windows equivalents. For example, MS Word Documents can be used by OpenOffice.org Writer.
4. Using Wine (stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator"), many Windows only programs can be made to run on Linux.
5. Transferring a file from Linux to Windows and back again won't affect the file or the format.
6. As for browsers, let's just say you won't miss Internet Explorer.

This post has been edited by Amazing Andrew: 21 February 2008 - 07:21 PM

Amazing Andrew, on Feb 21 2008, 07:20 PM, said:

This info is mostly correct, except that most windows only programmes will not run in linux even with WINE installed onto the system, seeing as many parts of the programme rely on specific windows settings and files that are illegal to copy and use for that purpose, or run on a system that it is not designed to.

-needTOS

I'm using 7.10 and it's very stable and likeable to me.
When 8.0 comes out officially, will that be a "prompted"
upgrade?

That is a good question for the Ubuntu Devs. The standard as of late has been to make synaptics update manager have an upgrade button for it. As this will be 8.0, which should indicate major changes, to include the kernel, it may not be that easy. Ubuntu forums should have the answer, if not ask the devs. Then come back here and tell us what they said :D

Joedude, on Feb 24 2008, 03:06 AM, said:

Hardy Heron will have major changes under the hood; however, Canonical's version numbering system might be new to you.

The "8" doesn't necessarily refer to the eighth major release, even though this is the eighth major release. It refers to the year and month of the release — in Hardy's case, it's Ubuntu Linux 8.04. If it gets delayed to May, then it's 8.05, and so on. Gutsy was released last October (7.10), replacing Feisty Fawn (7.04). The first version of Ubuntu was designated Warty Warthog and was release October 2004, thus making it Ubuntu Linux 4.10.

The next major release (Intrepid Ibex) is scheduled for an October release (8.10). Canonical tries to stick to a 6-month release schedule — one month after new GNOME versions, which themselves are timed for one month after new X.org releases.

(It's a lot better than Windows' version system: 1.0, 2.0, Windows 286, Windows 386, Windows 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, Windows For Workgroups, Windows 3.2 (yes, there was one), Windows NT 3.1 (of course, no NT 1 or 2), NT 3.51, 95, 98, NT 4, 2000, Me, XP, Vista, 2008 server, ... the next one is codenamed Windows 7. Uh, 7?!? )

Hardy has been designated a Long-Term Support release (Canonical's second); the desktop version will be supplied with updates for 3 years (or twice the time that normal desktop releases are supported), while server versions will be supported for five years.