Alpha 5 of the upcoming release of Ubuntu Linux, nicnamed Hardy Heron, has just been released, and there are a few nice improvements and additions to look forward to..
Here's an overview of some of the new additions:
Xorg 7.3
The latest Xorg is available in Hardy, Xorg 7.3, with an emphasis on better autoconfiguration with a minimal configuration file.
Linux kernel 2.6.24
Alpha 5 includes the 2.6.24-8.14 (2.6.24.2-based) kernel. This brings in significant enhancements and fixes that have been merged in the last few months into the mainline kernel. Among these is the introduction of dynticks support for amd64, bringing the same power savings already available on 32-bit systems to 64-bit laptops and desktops.
PulseAudio
Alpha 5 includes Pulseadio enabled by default. Some non-GNOME applications still need to be changed to output to pulse/esd by default and the volume control tools are still not integrated.
PolicyKit
With Alpha 5, PolicyKit integration is visible in the administrative user interfaces. PolicyKit makes it possible to run administrative applications as a normal user, and have them get a particular set of extra privileges for certain operations, which allows fine-grained control over user permissions and enhances usability, as well as eliminating the security implications of running the whole application as root.
Firefox 3 Beta 3
Firefox 3 Beta 3 replaces Firefox 2 as the default browser in Alpha 5, bringing much better system integration including icon and colour theming that matches the system, as well as GTK2 form buttons and open dialog.
Transmission
The GTK version of the popular Transmission BitTorrent client comes with Alpha 5. It's set to replace the Gnome BitTorrent downloader.
Vinagre
The new Vinagre VNC client is installed by default in Alpha 5, replacing xvnc4viewer.
Brasero
The Brasero CD/DVD burning application, which will complement the CD/DVD burning functions of Nautilus and replace the Serpentine audio CD burning utility, is installed by default in Alpha 5.
World Clock Applet
Integrating the features of the intlclock applet, the GNOME panel clock in Alpha 5 can display the time and weather in multiple locations.
GVFS
Nautilus 2.21.6 in Alpha 5 uses GVFS, the virtual filesystem abstraction layer that's set to replace the aging GnomeVFS in GNOME 2.22, as its backend. In the near future, GVFS will make it possible to fix shortcomings of Nautilus such as the inability to restore files from trash, pause and undo file operations, and make it possible to escalate user privileges for certain operations using PolicyKit for authentication. It also brings a significant performance boost to many operations.
GNOME System Monitor
The GNOME System Monitor has a revamped "Resources" tab, with Cairo graphs that scroll and scale smoothly, and brand new widgets.
Firewall
ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) is a new firewall application designed to make administering a firewall easier for end-users while not getting in the way of network administrators. Currently, ufw is a command-line interface for administering host-based firewalls.
umenu
WinFOSS and the Windows open source software have been replaced by umenu, a simple launcher that lets the user install Ubuntu from Windows using Wubi (see below), install Ubuntu to a partition without having to make their CD-ROM the first boot device, and find out more about Ubuntu at the
www.ubuntu.com website.
Read all about it here:
http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/hardy/alpha5
