What's new in Ubuntu 9.10, Karmic Koala

Ubuntu has grown up to be the most popular linux distribution for desktops. No doubt it is one of the best Linux distributions available today. Its developers have worked really hard to make it as an alternative to proprietary Operating Systems. And with every new release they have made it better both in looks and features for the users.

Ubuntu 9.10, Karmic's stable version will be released on 29th Oct 09. Its Beta version has been released and  following are the new features that are availble in it. 

 Booting

The overall look and feel of booting Ubuntu has improved a lot. Have a look at the new splash screen:

They have even inlcuded some slide show during the installation to make it interesting for the user.

Ubuntu Software Center

The Add/Remove utility in the Applications Menu has been replaced by Ubuntu Software Center. I think it is actually better than Add/Remove utility which used to take a lot of time loading. This one opens quickly, has a simple interface and does the job.

The old Add/Remove utitlity is still available at System => Administration.

Empathy, new IM client

Pidgin is going to be replaced by Empathy IM client. A lot of discussion is going on about this change. But the comparison is a bit tough. There both provide XMPP voice and video support, file sharing and many more common features. They have some exclusive features too like remote desktop utility in Empathy and languages and plugins support in Pidgin.

Here are some of the screenshots of Empathy.

Gnome 2.28

Ubuntu 9.10 Beta includes the new Gnome 2.28 desktop environment with a number of great new features. The gdm (gnome desktop manager) is completely different from the one in the earlier releases of Ubuntu, which provides a more integrated login experience.

Ubuntu One File sharing

This new release of Ubuntu comes with Ubuntu one file sharing. It is a file synchronisation service and also a network storage service. This provides tightly integrated file synchronisation of your computer with any other computer.

Ext4 by default

Ubuntu 9.10, comes with “ext4” as the default filesystem, the old versions are available too in the manual partitioner. Shifting to ext4 might not be a noticable change for Desktop users but this filesystem is far better in handling large file systems than ext3 and hence is good for servers.

It increases the overall performance of the disk by enabling better drive space management, faster disk performance. It provides faster file system checking and more reliable than ext3. So, even if you are a home Desktop user you will be benefited from ext4 file system in the form of a well performing system.

Grub 2 by default

The previous GRUB “Legacy” bootloader has been replaced by Grub 2 in Ubuntu 9.10 beta as the default boot loader. It is a complete rewrite of GRUB “legacy” bootloader and claims to be more robust, more cleaner, more portable and more powerful.

Linux Kernel 2.6.31

The latest linux kernel 2.6.31 is included in the Beta release. This version supports USB 3.0, it ships with Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) support for Intel Graphics and has a lot of other features.

Ubuntu Firewall

The Ubuntu firewall is a front-end for iptables. It now supports filtering by interface and egress filtering when using the ufw command. Documentation for ufw has also improved.