Ubuntu 9.04 Review
link: original article - section: common
Ubuntu is a community-developed operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. Whether you use it at home, at school or at work, Ubuntu contains all the applications you'll ever need, from word processing and email apps, to web server software and programming tools.
Ubuntu is and always will be free of charge. You do not pay any licensing fees. You can download, use and share Ubuntu with your friends, family, school or business for absolutely nothing.
In only a few years of existence, Ubuntu reached a very high level of popularity. With the slogan "Linux for human beings," Canonical clearly aimed to provide a smoother transition for the regular desktop users who wanted a change in their everyday computing experience. Though some may question Ubuntu's true contribution to open-source innovation, one cannot deny its important part in popularizing GNU/Linux and freeing a lot of users from proprietary software restrictions and high costs.
Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) respects the established six-month release schedule and provides enough reasons to make you update from older versions. If you want to find out how Ubuntu evolved, below we offer you an in-depth review of the most popular Linux operating system to date.
Installation
Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope comes in a standard CD ISO for both 32- and 64-bit architectures. There is either the option of downloading and burning the images manually or, by request, Canonical can ship users a CD for free. We decided to first try the Live version on our test machines, before messing around with existing partitions, and install from there.
After enjoying the redesigned bootsplash, the Live environment loaded and everything went perfectly fine on 5 of our computers. Even the resolution was set to the maximum value for our monitors. However, on the first machine in the above list, things went haywire with Nautilus entering into a continuous crash/restart loop, forcing us to reboot and choose the direct installation option (and yes, the CD was checked for defects beforehand).
First impressions
With the installation out of the way, it's time to enjoy Ubuntu 9.04. After a quick boot process (about 37 seconds – from grub to a working desktop – on our slowest machine), we were delighted to see a completely redesigned black and dark red login screen. Probably expecting a brand new desktop too, some of you might be quite disappointed with yet another brownish wallpaper and the same weathered Human theme set as default. Fortunately, a quick look in the appearance window will revive that smile on your face, as Ubuntu comes with three brand-new themes (New Wave, Dust, Dust Sand) and an extra wallpaper. The best part however is the fact that the fonts are not automatically adjusted and they look quite nice. Of course, as for any modern Linux desktop, we had to enable the 3D effects, a process that gave us no headache.
Conclusions
Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jacakalope) is no doubt worthy of the hype that surrounds it. Though far from being a massive overhaul (Karmic Koala will most likely take care of that), there are a lot of under-the-hood improvements and tweaks that allow Ubuntu to keep its Linux distro "crown." It's definitely not the perfect operating system but it appears that Ubuntu is on a clear ascending path. Hopefully, Canonical will be quick to fix some of the more obvious issues that could keep some from hopping on the Jaunty bandwagon. But for most, upgrading to Ubuntu 9.04 is a no-brainer. You'll get more speed, more stability, a better look, modern notifications and up-to-date software. Our final conclusion is that Ubuntu 9.04 is the perfect solution for daily office tasks and for most home users, except hardcore gamers (of course).
