On the software side, you can expect the usual goodies like OpenOffice (still version 2.x though), FireFox 3, The Gimp and many others. Another big improvement is better support for wireless networks, a thing that has been pushing Linux back in the past.

Actually, CRN is reporting that this new Ubuntu is outdoing Windows Vista. With faster installation time, better functionality and ease of use, and the improved wireless, this version if bound to be the best alternative for Windows so far. They also did a benchmark of both Operating Systems on the same hardware, and it seems Ubuntu is faster on almost every point.

For existing Ubuntu users, there is now an improved upgrade process. Actually, you don’t have to do much, just change your upgrade path in System >> Administration >> Software Sources to Normal releases. Next you run Update Manager, and the software automatically notifies you that there is a new release available.

The only downside for me is that this upgrade process is terribly slow. On my system it needs to get about 1300 new packages, and it seems the host serving them is having a hard time. This of course might be only a temporary problem. I’m also expecting this upgrade to break some of my customizations I did, but this is normal as I use quite the exotic setup here . For someone working with an out-of-the-box 8.04 install, this shouldn’t be an issue. This makes the upgrade-process very newbie-friendly.

All in all, I’m having high expectations of this new release, and I can’t wait for this damned upgrade to finish . Hopefully not too many hickups will happen, but if they do, stay tuned to this blog, and you’ll surely will read about it!