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First Look at Ubuntu 8.10 'Intrepid Ibex' Beta
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 4:20 AM on October 4, 2008
The next version of Ubuntu's free Linux operating system, dubbed "Intrepid Ibex," is due out Oct. 30, but the beta release is up for grabs. Although the desktop hasn't been reshaped, the features tweaked just a little bit, and most of the work focused on compatibility and usability (not that those are bad things, by any means), there are still some neat new tools and tweaks that are worth checking out. Read on for our picture-filled take on the new Ubuntu.
Installation and boot-up
The basics of putting a live CD in your drive, trying the desktop or installing the system are basically the same as with Hardy Heron, with a few welcome differences. The most confusing/imposing part of the process, the partition editor, shows you a graphical view of what you're doing, thereby explaining what each option does a lot better.
Ibex also supports importing browser data, backgrounds, music and pictures from Windows XP and, new to this version, Vista. Once you've installed the system and booted up, you might notice a new setting in the multi-boot menu: "Last successful boot." That's an indication that Ubuntu keeps track of which Linux kernels actually work for your system, and lets it delete old ones and prevent them from cluttering up the boot menu.
Desktop changes
There's a chance, however small, that Ubuntu 8.10 might just get the graphical overhaul that was promised for 8.04. Ibex uses a slightly updated version of the brown/orange-centered "Human" theme—status bars glow, a few icons were changed, and buttons have a warm glow. Other than that, the desktop is a pretty familiar affair:
What you will notice around your desktop are the improvements to Nautilus, the baked-in file browser and desktop manager. Tabbed browsing is the biggie, but there's also easy-eject icons placed in the sidebar for hot-plugged drives and partitions, and the built-in encrypted private directory.
A lot of tweaks have been made to Ubuntu's network manager, which was more than a little finicky with certain wireless cards and non-standard set-ups. It now handles 3G and cellular connections better, doesn't freak out at having multiple connections (e.g. wireless and wired), and contains many other fixes. I particularly like the "Auto Linksys" mode, which is great for travelling or setting up at less-tech-inclined spots.
External monitors and graphics in general have gotten a good bit of attention, and, at least in the case of my ThinkPad/LCD combo, I got a kind-of-working setup right from boot-up. In general, Ubuntu has worked at killing off the need to ever have to manually hack around in the archaic xorg.conf file—the entirety of my Ibex file is thumbnailed at right (Edit: Taken from the VirtualBox install I did for boot-up screenshots, but the copy on my hard-installed Ibex is nearly identical). Having said that, I still had to manually tweak the resolution on my LCD monitor, and a logout/reboot messed my taskbars some, but I could easily drag and drop windows between screens. Unfortunately, that's only just below par for a modern OS, so let's hope a great settings tool gets written or revamped soon.
Finally, the administration window for enabling proprietary devices—NVidia graphics cards, wireless chips without open-source drivers and the like—has gotten a bit more explanatory as to what it's doing, and offers a choice of drivers for those experiencing bugs. Not sure if I enjoy seeing this much imposing text to just get 3D desktop effects working.
Other good things
Here's a few of Ubuntu 8.10's other highlights:
- "Guest" log-in: If a friend/significant other/shoulder-peeker wants to check their Facebook page, and you're afraid of what curious hands can do to your system, you can log out, boot into "Guest," and the user can't change any settings or alter/access files. (So, why wasn't this here before?)
- Better SAMBA: With support for IPv6, clustered server support, and other wonky improvements.
- Persistent permissions: If you get asked for your password by, say, Synaptic file manager, you can have your system remember that you're the head honcho by checking a box. That way, it doesn't ask again when you need to
sudosomething or make another change. - Built-in BBC player: This is really cool but, unfortunately, busted in my beta build. Totem, the built-in media player that can already access YouTube videos natively, will get access to the BBC's free content.
Your take
If you've been using the 8.10 alphas all along, or were hoping for more, we'd like to hear your take. Tell us what's good and still not quite gravy in Intrepid Ibex in the comments.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
PhilT
Posted October 9, 2008 5:55 AM
I've been using it for a few weeks (since alpha 6). For me it's the only option for my laptop as the kernel updates is where it's at. Wi-fi, dual monitor support and finally power management that works (e.g. I can always resume from suspend instead of 8.04 which would sometimes work although there are still issues). I have to say other than the odd lock up when playing around with certain aspects of my dual screen setup and Compiz on a blacklisted X3100 Intel graphics card it's been pretty stable. I've used Linux before mainly at work but I'm no expert. This has finally pushed me to use it in earnest and I'm now fiddling around customizing it!
Bob Boik
Posted October 10, 2008 9:25 PM
No impressed with 8.10 beta. It can't even find my wireless adapter
rhoghaa
Posted October 24, 2008 12:33 AM
I enjoyed it accepting my wifi card in my Toshiba laptop with no problems and allowing me to connect to home and work wireless networks without the constant ifdown/ifup nonsense. That said, I have one small problem. I ended up here today because I'm trying to convince an online game I play that Java is enabled & running. for what its worth, the same game doesn't like when I use 64bit IE7 in the 64bit Windows Vista that came on my laptop. The 32bit IE7 works fine in Vista with the online game, though.
brian
Posted November 1, 2008 9:55 AM
I've never used Ubuntu, until yesterday...just installed 8.04 from a coworker's install Cd, and installed it on my dEll d620... all hardware worked from the installation (except minor tweaks for nvidia and broadcom wireless cards). Upgraded over the internet to 8.10 (october 30, 2008) and afterwards, 99% of all of my equipment worked with 0 (ZERO) tweaking. Even my AT&T Option 3G Max card worked. I am also running the latest version of VMWare 2 server, and emulating XP--no issues...I can even use my cisco vpns that are bound to all 3 of my Network interfaces. I've been running linux for well over a decade, and I will have to say that this version of linux was the least pain to install and configure. Now, if I can just get my built-in microphone to work...
big thumbs up, all. no more jacking with cygwin. muahahaha
blackmage439
Posted 4:53 AM 4/10/08
Wow, I am definitely going to give this a try. All of the things that I was waiting for in Ubuntu 8.04 are now here: less orange, more brown, graphical face lift, and WIRELESS SUPPORT! I'll be eagerly awaiting this on bitTorrent.
blackmage439
qpease
Posted 4:45 AM 4/10/08
I am looking forward to it since I have recently left PCLinuxOS 2007 due to hardware recognition problems and it's lack of updates on a timely basis. I thin Ubuntu rocks! Especially 8.04, and this new version is a killer to other distros. Once it is out in official release I am thinking of ditching Windows altogether or maybe running WinXP on a virtual machine. I have to say that this distro even recognized that my Logitech wireless mouse battery was running low...Windows never did that! Lots of other great features and not enough time to mention them in this post. Great work Ubuntu! Keep it up.
qpease
mattlehrer
Posted 4:41 AM 4/10/08
Good stuff, just don't let it melt your Intel GB NIC card.
mattlehrer
gapo
Posted 4:38 AM 4/10/08
Ubuntu's really nice ... but I do wish they have an option of allowing the user to select the wm in Live edition ... that way my frnds will love Compiz .. while I'll strive by with Xfce ... Either way Linuxmint is hard to part from ;)
gapo
rdn98
Posted 4:34 AM 4/10/08
Sexy!
rdn98
Floobtronics
Posted 5:23 AM 4/10/08
@edmicman: Provided you didn't do things like add tons of third-part repositories, like stuff from the PPA (if you don't know what that is, you shouldn't have to worry), you should be able to do just do an "update-manager -d" to upgrade, once Intrepid ships later this month.
If you've added third-party repos like winehq or medibuntu, you'll need to update the files in your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ directory to grab stuff for Intrepid. After that, it should be pretty smooth sailing.
Customized kernels might be problematic as well.. At the least, you'll want to rebuild the kernel to suit your new release.
Floobtronics
xxdesmus
Posted 5:19 AM 4/10/08
really looking forward to giving this a try when I get home ...it looks VERY promising.
xxdesmus
Oranges w/ Cheese
Posted 5:16 AM 4/10/08
My only problem with switching to Ubuntu completely is Adobe and WoW. Once we get some open source goodness that is as powerful as Photoshop and Dreamweaver, and I can get wine to work with my graphic without bogging down to 2fps, I'll be good.
Oranges w/ Cheese
edmicman
Posted 5:12 AM 4/10/08
So I've been fulltime converted to 8.04 since it came out; will I be able to upgrade using the regular downloaded updates without too many problems, and get these new features, too? How easy are the distro upgrades usually?
edmicman
Phoshi
Posted 5:09 AM 4/10/08
@Phoshi: Also, who doesn't change the theme of GNOME?
Phoshi
Phoshi
Posted 5:08 AM 4/10/08
Damnit.
This looks good, I'm gonna have to try it. I know I almost certainly won't stay... but... gosh damnit, I'm too in love.
If this thing supports all my hardware out of the box, I might just be smitten :S
Phoshi
11hawkinst
Posted 5:03 AM 4/10/08
So, do you think that the Ubuntu team will update the interface in the release candidate or final release if it's not already in the beta version? One of the features I was most looking forward to would be the updated themes. So, do you think they'll release it in the final version of Intrepid Ibex or will that be the next release (as in 9.04 or something like that)?
11hawkinst
KhaiJB
Posted 5:01 AM 4/10/08
just as I was about to give up on ubuntu and linux in general..
I can't get the ATI drivers to work properly - no 3D support, making it useless to me... Sound support? well if you have a Soundblaster X-Fi your outta luck.... and for some reason under ubuntu I've started getting more and more disk errors!
KhaiJB
jsmorley
Posted 5:48 AM 4/10/08
@KhaiJB:
Yeah, the lack of support for my Soundblaster X-Fi is a showstopper for me. Not Ubuntu's fault as such, since Creative doesn't seem to have put much effort into fixing the situation, but I'm not running a PC with no sound.
jsmorley
zelrik
Posted 5:42 AM 4/10/08
@Oranges w/ Cheese: Photoshop CS2 can be installed on ubuntu via wine, as for WoW, if your graphic card dont suck, you can play it fairly easily with wine too.
zelrik
My IT Guy
Posted 5:40 AM 4/10/08
I really, really wanted to like Ubuntu. It worked really well for me - my dual-boot Ubuntu/Windows system didn't load Vista for months. I had compiz going and everything was really slick. Then the upgrade from 7.10 to 8.04 came and crippled it. Video driver was completely toast, and after weeks of trying on and off to find a solution, investing countless hours, I finally gave up and booted back into Windows. Now I'm afraid to try this new version for fear of all my invested time being thrown out the window by the next update...
My IT Guy
gregbzh
Posted 5:39 AM 4/10/08
Burning now.
gregbzh
DukeXC
Posted 5:38 AM 4/10/08
@undefined:
For Adobe: Wine.
For WoW: wine.
I'm pretty sure both are at above-gold compatibility.
DukeXC
Tekagirl
Posted 5:28 AM 4/10/08
@Tekagirl: Oops - the GUI on the ubuntu page is for an upgrade from 7.10 to 8.04, but the same principles apply. =)
Tekagirl
Tekagirl
Posted 5:27 AM 4/10/08
@edmicman: I've been using Ubuntu since Feisty, so I guess that was 7.04 (?). I'm far from a computing geek, and I've never had any problem with upgrading to the latest & greatest. Somewhere along the line here, they'll post the easy command line way to update (I can't remember offhand what that is) - or it may already be on the Ubuntu home page (www.ubuntu.com) - actually, there's a link on the front page to the GUI way to do it already, I just checked! So, when you are ready, it's easy as pie! Of course, you might want to check the release notes first to see about any known bugs that could impact you. Good luck!
Tekagirl
SamburgerHandwich
Posted 6:13 AM 4/10/08
@kc2idf: try xubuntu, or just install xfce from ubuntu. gnome is kind of overkill.
SamburgerHandwich
jackster
Posted 6:13 AM 4/10/08
I've switch my Dell Inspiron 6400 to Ubuntu Hardy Heron since April and I love it. If I need XP, I run it in VMWare. OR, if I need to run XP natively, I pull out the hard drive (slides right out of the right side) and plug in the XP hard drive. I only need the XP hard drive in very rare cases at work.
Also, I can run Windows XP on my Ubuntu desktop without WINE! I use Seamless, VMWare and RDP (Google: 'ubuntu seamless rdp')
The one problem I have is getting an external widescreen LCD to display with the laptop LCD (not mirrored). I hope 8.10 will solve this problem.
jackster
rapid.fish
Posted 6:10 AM 4/10/08
I hope they took take of the overheating problem in IBEX for intel based laptops. After lot of research & other trails, I had to abandon the 8.04 Hardy Heron on my Lenovo Z60t, since it was getting overheated & was shutting down, even for basic processes, like browsing & video..
rapid.fish
kg4dni
Posted 6:08 AM 4/10/08
@MuglyTheWorm: checkout:
LinuxMCE and a HowTo.
kg4dni
thrashnbash1
Posted 5:58 AM 4/10/08
Can't wait for this!! I made the full time switch over to Hardy a few months back. Now I am planning on reloading my system without my Windows partition (which still exists, I just don't boot into it). This might be a nice time to do it once Ibex is officially released.
For those struggling with ATI & NVidia drivers and dual monitor support I used the envyng package through Synaptic which was a godsend. Here is the documentation I followed and it worked perfectly. You can't get as finite as Ultramon, but it still rocks.
[www.thinkingserious.com]
Hope it helps others.
thrashnbash1
MuglyTheWorm
Posted 5:57 AM 4/10/08
i built a computer specifically to run linux. i'm totaly addicted to it. as soon as i find something as good as windows media center i'll probably never go back. i'm impressed by ubuntu's performance. just got to do something about that brown and orange...
MuglyTheWorm
gregbzh
Posted 5:51 AM 4/10/08
@My IT Guy: I had/have a similar problem on my second (thankfully) machine dual booting XP Pro and Ubuntu. Bizarre, because on my main machine Ubuntu is leaps and bounds ahead of Vista (which I dual boot).
I'm about to try out 8.10...fingers crossed.
gregbzh
kc2idf
Posted 5:51 AM 4/10/08
But did they fix the performance? On my only-slightly-dated hardware, 8.04 couldn't get out of its own way to play an MP3 without stuttering.
kc2idf
sauronringlord12
Posted 6:40 AM 4/10/08
I agree change the default color theme. Its just awful. I understand that you can change the theme or install different theme's but for heavens sake change that god awful orange and brown crap. Its the first thing I change on a new install.
sauronringlord12
jkersh
Posted 6:38 AM 4/10/08
I recently left Ubuntu for Opnesuse 11 and then Mepis. Mepis is the first Linux that I have used where I havent had any driver problems. It just works. I am using a Dell D620 laptop and I love it. I have a small review on my blog. [jasonkersh.blogspot.com]
jkersh
Confuzius
Posted 6:22 AM 4/10/08
@Oranges w/ Cheese:
Aye, I've been playing WoW in Ubuntu for over a year on a 256mb Nvidia7600 at an average of 40-50fps (sometimes down to 25 in laggy Shattrah)
Confuzius
hyperhead
Posted 6:21 AM 4/10/08
Loose the brown and orange, please loose the brown. Some diffent palletes at install time would be nice. A small thing I know, but Im sick of the brown and orange as default
hyperhead
eeefresh
Posted 6:20 AM 4/10/08
Wow, Ubuntu just keeps getting better and better with each release. Hopefully more hardware manufacturers will take notice and start writing more drivers for Linux. That, and better games, could one day make this a Windows killer.
eeefresh
Kuroyume
Posted 6:18 AM 4/10/08
@gapo:
basic Compiz effects will be enabled by default on the liveCD if if your video card's open source driver supports direct rendering (for example, the intel 950 on my laptop has compiz on liveCD)
Kuroyume
jackster
Posted 6:17 AM 4/10/08
@Oranges w/ Cheese: I run PhotoShop in a VMWare session. It's perfect, no dual booting, performance is fine AND I can create a share directory in Ubunto with Samba and access the files from in my VMWare session in Windows XP.
It's the best of both worlds.
jackster
Phoshi
Posted 6:15 AM 4/10/08
can I just point out I love wubi?
mount the disk onto a virtual drive and you don't even need to leave your chair :3
Phoshi
qrius
Posted 6:58 AM 4/10/08
I'm sick of the senseless, hard to remember version names. what the heck is a hardy heron anyways?
and now intrepid ibex? Is the alliteration that important to your OS?
qrius
GrayBird
Posted 6:58 AM 4/10/08
After using the alpha since tribe 4, I have to say i'm really impressed with this release. So much so, that I'm switching from debian. It is so much more stable than 7.10 or even 8.04. The improvements are noticeable and useful, and the dark "newhuman" theme is installed by default (though not enabled, but one step at a time). Drivers have been vastly improved.
I really think ubuntu brainstorm has a lot to do with what is going to make this a really good release, since this is the first release with brainstorm in full swing. Working with the users has really paid off for the Ubuntu devs.
GrayBird
ViperBorg
Posted 6:44 AM 4/10/08
@eeefresh: Agreed. It's well on it's way for sure, but it still has quite a bit of road ahead of it.
ViperBorg
jblackhall
Posted 7:31 AM 4/10/08
@KhaiJB: You should definitely give the ATI drivers a try in 8.10. ATI and linux devs have been doing a lot of great work in the past 6 months to make ATI's drivers much better, including offering same-day support for new cards on Linux: [www.phoronix.com]
jblackhall
jblackhall
Posted 7:24 AM 4/10/08
@mattlehrer: I believe they've blacklisted that card's drivers in the beta, but the fix will be released by the RC.
jblackhall
helixed
Posted 7:23 AM 4/10/08
@MuglyTheWorm: Check out XBMC. They've done several articles about it here on LifeHacker. It's years ahead of Windows Media Center.
helixed
okolnost
Posted 7:20 AM 4/10/08
@qrius: Is it that difficult to remember if your OS version is HH or II? ;-)
okolnost
jonworld
Posted 7:12 AM 4/10/08
Ooooooo...Updated network manager! Yay! Sounds like I can jump aboard the Ubuntu bandwagon if this finally works with my wireless card.
jonworld
MuglyTheWorm
Posted 7:54 AM 4/10/08
@MuglyTheWorm: there goes my weekend plans, thanks for the information
MuglyTheWorm
TseMoana
Posted 7:52 AM 4/10/08
I recently installed Ubuntu 8.04 to try out. I havent't experimented with it that much (schoolwork interfered and demanded I pay attention to them first), but I have noticed my screen resolution being way too low. I looked around a bit but couldn't find any way to deal with that.
Now I see here mentioning of "administration window for enabling proprietary devices" that has apparently gotten more explanatory. This indicates this window exists already in Heron, could someone point out to me where I might find it?
Thanks :)
As to installing Ibis, maybe after I've gotten used to Ubuntu and have found my way around it.
TseMoana
Elijah86
Posted 7:51 AM 4/10/08
That background picture makes my eyes hurt. :(
Elijah86
KhaiJB
Posted 7:47 AM 4/10/08
@jblackhall: erm those are the drivers I'm running.
with them I can't run anything like Blender or anything in Wine that requires OpenGL.
trying to fix it, like I did today results in a white screen of death. (an issue that ATI or the Ubuntu dev's have yet to address...)
KhaiJB
jblackhall
Posted 7:42 AM 4/10/08
@edmicman: You won't need to use any command-line stuff like those above me mentioned. Once the new version is officially released, when you go to the "Update Manager" a new box will appear at the top where you can click if you want to upgrade. It will ask you a couple of questions and then upgrade for you. Also, they've worked on "cleaning up the cruft" from upgrades in this release, so you shouldn't have too much (if any) extra junk left over after upgrading.
As someone mentioned though, if you added extra repositories, you'll need to update the info for those. If not, then you won't.
jblackhall
Amarus
Posted 7:41 AM 4/10/08
IMHO, The "persistent permissions" can be considered as a security flaw.
And I agree with "rapid.fish" about the overheating issue. It's annoying the hell out of me and it doesn't help that my laptop is a P4. You could BBQ on that thing...
Amarus
Abby_Normal
Posted 8:14 AM 4/10/08
@kc2idf: I have no idea what you're talking about. Ubuntu 8.04 (default installation with latest GNOME) runs quite nicely on this Dell Latitude X1 which has an 1100MHz Pentium M and 512mb DDR. I dunno what you're running, but I guess your mileage may vary.
Abby_Normal
nilber
Posted 8:09 AM 4/10/08
@MuglyTheWorm: What ever happened with MythTV??
nilber
jyxavier
Posted 8:03 AM 4/10/08
@jblackhall: I was a little surprised the article didn't mention the hardware frying problem as I read here . Good to see that they took steps to temporarily prevent this nasty side effect.
jyxavier
vishr
Posted 8:58 AM 4/10/08
I just downloaded the ISO. Will install in sometime. A little disappointed that the new theme isn't implemented. Oh well, I got to settle for my other favs.
vishr
Phoshi
Posted 9:48 AM 4/10/08
damnit, LH, I'm smitten :3
looks like my networking will work if I activate the drivers... which needs a reboot, so I'm installing now :3
Phoshi
carleeto
Posted 10:11 AM 4/10/08
I'd like to know what the state of dual head support is for ATI hardware. I'm also a little hesitant with this because I have a Logitech G5 mouse and I'm not sure if hidpoint supports the Intrepid Ibex kernel. Since the G5 itself is a big mouse, I have it configured so that the thumb button doubles up as a middle click - my wife, who has small hands, finds that really useful. I also have it re-configure itself when I launch games. So hidpoint support is a big deal for me.
carleeto
dekay46
Posted 10:10 AM 4/10/08
Never been able to get my wireless card to work under linux even after following countless guides written specifically for my card. that kind of kills it's appeal for me.
dekay46
Exilm
Posted 9:58 AM 4/10/08
Sweet! I'll probably wait until Oct. 30th until i upgrade though.
Exilm
qrius
Posted 10:26 AM 4/10/08
@okolnost: no, but the names still are dumb. I like ubuntu, don't get me wrong. I'm not any fanboy of any one OS.
but c'mon, hardy heron and intrepid ibex?
qrius
firesnow
Posted 12:52 PM 4/10/08
Wait.... "Persistent permissions: If you get asked for your password by, say, Synaptic file manager, you can have your system remember that you're the head honcho by checking a box. That way, it doesn't ask again when you need to sudo something or make another change."
So you're giving your user account admin rights for a long long time .... whats the point of linux then if you're letting things have access to root things for prolonged time. Its window's all over again.
firesnow
Rumel
Posted 1:48 PM 4/10/08
@KhaiJB: Yeah all of my problems have came from ATI too. Otherwise I could very well be a linux convert.ATI is making fast progress though.
Rumel
nemihara
Posted 2:16 PM 4/10/08
Dangit. I finally got around to reinstalling Hardy Heron onto my computer after reformating it - twice - and reconfiguring all my settings. Now I hear they released the Beta?
Argh.
Oh well. Half the fun about Linux is finding ways to overcome its problems.
nemihara
zyodei
Posted 2:21 PM 4/10/08
I love Ubuntu and Linux. I've had generally great experiences and use it more than XP.
But they seriously need to fix their problems with Skype, and with Pulseaudio in general. The whole audio system is crap, I have spent hours hassling with it, without success. Very frustrating. If the sound doesn't work, then the system doesn't "just work". Simple. I mean, youtube is something everyone expects to be able to use.
I've told friend how great Linux is and offered to install it on their computers, and then got egg on my face when I just couldn't get Skype to properly work. Living abroad, that's a big deal.
zyodei
graceoverall
Posted 2:45 PM 4/10/08
You all are crazy. The orange is what makes it so awesome. In all honesty it should be BLACK and ORANGE though... Those are my university colors, haha. But seriously, I love the aesthetics of how well those colors look together. I love Orange, so vibrant! Keep it comin' Ubuntu!! You ROCK!!
graceoverall
krank23
Posted 5:42 PM 4/10/08
Been using Intrepid more or less since it was available in repos (yeah, I'm that kind of Linux user). At first it was, as expected, extremely unstable, what with the kernel upgrade and all... But now it runs very smoothly. It's not as smooth/quick as I'd like, but that's more to do with me using kind of outdated hardware (in particular, slow harddrive) than with actual OS issues... What I still miss: Less bloated rows in Nautilus (Windows Explorer crams a whole lot more files into the same screen real estate in detailed mode than Nautilus does even in when "zoomed out" to the max...) and a few really smallish things like that. And on my machine, embedded flash videos like Youtube are really buggy.
And I'd really like InDesign. I mean, Gimp 2.6 brings enough improvement to actually be a Photoshop alternative I can use, but for InDesign there's just Scribus, and Scribus has absolute CRAP table support.
krank23
Joshiii-Kun
Posted 5:59 PM 4/10/08
Nice!
There's just one thing... Will Ubuntu ever get 802.1X secured _wireless_ internet support? Someone told me I had to use wpa supplicant. I looked into it, and I just don't understand it..
Joshiii-Kun
Maldivian
Posted 7:21 PM 4/10/08
@Phoshi: I love wubi too!
Maldivian
eskiz
Posted 8:16 PM 4/10/08
does anyone know how to make a bigger screen resolution on a laptop? the MAX i get is 1028x768... but i want it slightly higher. I have Sony Vaio PCG-GRT250
eskiz
Donalb
Posted 9:30 PM 4/10/08
I went fulltime Ubuntu in Feb on 7.04, quickly upped to Hardy (8.04). My system is 4 yo dell laptop and with Ubuntu it's still working great.I did notice that with 8.04 I started running into wireless probs on my home Linksys wrt54g v2 until I had to give and run wired connected. Not a big issue at home but I hope 8.10 will fix it.
Otherwise the problem i notice (and it's a pain, lucky I'm not using it to do any work) is Java seems to consume the system CPU resources, it can happen quickly or after a few hours. I'm using FF3 & Azureus (replacing a lot of the contents of a crashed Raided 1 TB HDD so it's dling constantly for the last week) and it's usually Azureus that ends up hogging the CPU. (Had insoluble permission problems with Transmission so switched back to Azureus).
Anyway, still, loving it (Ubuntu). Also had a look at LiveCds of PCLinuxOS (looks good) and Mint (looks great). Staying on Ubuntu though as the Ubuntuforums support is great, and the regular updates also.
Donalb
mihael.sanko
Posted 9:48 PM 4/10/08
Ubuntu is great, I'm using 8.04 at the moment and I can't wait for Interpid Ibex final version. Better wireless support is great, and guest acc. and private directory and tabs in Nautilus, and everything...Ubuntu is one of the best OS in the World...
mihael.sanko
massysett
Posted 10:50 PM 4/10/08
They are really calling that "linksys mode"? Chuckles.
I had a bunch of problems with NetworkManager and with power management on an earlier version of Ubuntu, which pushed me into using Debian instead. These weren't huge problems, but they were things I could fix with Debian but had a harder time fixing with Ubuntu. Now I like Debian stable, so I stick with it. But I recommend Ubuntu to Linux newcomers as it is the easiest distribution to get started with.
I'm glad NetworkManger is getting improvements. My current Debian setup has me manipulating /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf and /etc/network/interfaces and the wpa_action script in order to control my wireless. Like many things, it's easy when you know how, but boy did it take awhile to learn...
massysett
rikostan
Posted 11:45 PM 4/10/08
Installed it yesterday on my main machine and so far no "major"complaints. I have been upgrading since Breezy Badger, and I have checked out a ton of different apps along the way, so this time I wiped it clean and started from scratch.
The only small issue I ran into was with the network manager. I use static IPs here at home and I had to enter the data 3 or 4 times before it seemed to stick.
rikostan
JustSomeGeek
Posted 11:44 PM 4/10/08
@eeefresh: Amen to that! I think Ubuntu is going to be the OS of choice as MS gets increasingly lost in the "cloud"...
JustSomeGeek
24fc
Posted 1:05 AM 5/10/08
One last thing:
iTunes. I cannot believe Linux doesn't have a working version of iTunes with coverflow. There are 20 media players - all of them great back in 1997.
24fc
24fc
Posted 1:03 AM 5/10/08
Ubuntu is what I run. It works great on my desktop for web browsing and web site building - since I tend to build websites by hand anyway. Mostly my computer is a web browser.
It is very secure, I like not running spyware finders and virus scanners.
Now the cons from two solid years of pure Ubuntu:
For Office applications - there is still nothing that compares to Office 2007. Office 2007 is simply the God King of office software, and Open Office is like Office 95 in comparison - a total, buggy, crash-ridden, bad interface, hugely horrible office graphics joke. You cannot prepare an executive presentation in OOO that competes with one made in 2007 by M$.
* I need Office 2007 in Ubuntu.
The Gimp is cool, but its algorithms for jpg manipulation and compression are far below the quality of those in photoshop. It doesn't allow multiple file updates the same way or with the same ease. And, it has a very clumsy interface by comparison.
* I need photoshop in Ubuntu
Ubuntu has a GnuCash program - it's cute - but my finances were all stored in MS Money. We need that, Quicken, and Quickbooks working 100% in Ubuntu.
* Graphics support
I still cannot play most only flash video fullscreen without it being downgraded to 2 frames per second. It's awful.
* Games
The selection is considerably bad.
I note that none of this is likely to get any better. I run multiple large web sites, and my stats show linux user counts going down over time across the board. The recent boom of Mac interest seems to have stolen the market from linux for "I am fed up with Windows" users.
I am considering switching to a Mac myself, and I've always hated that idea. Ubuntu just isn't slick enough for me. It feels like driving an old rusty pickup truck.
24fc
kaiyao
Posted 1:53 AM 5/10/08
@kc2idf:
I'm not sure, but maybe there are some compatibility issues with your sound card?
kaiyao
zoomZAP
Posted 3:39 AM 5/10/08
@kc2idf: That's not a performance issue, in the sense that it's not your CPU being overloaded that causes mp3s to stutter. In 8.0.4 Ubuntu made the switch to PulseAudio, and a number of folks had audio stuttering problems as a result (myself included). When this happened I found a fix on the Ubuntu forums, but I think that later updates resolved it as well.
zoomZAP
domEuro
Posted 3:58 AM 5/10/08
looks the same! I thought there was going to be a big change in how it looks!
domEuro
Boba.Fett
Posted 3:57 AM 5/10/08
Looks good, and it's coming out on my birthday.
I may have to give this one a go.
Boba.Fett
whiskey
Posted 5:31 AM 5/10/08
@Oranges w/ Cheese: Dreamweaver CS3 just works if you PrObably Really TAke the time to Bet on the LatEst wine... (wink wink). If you can settle for Dreamweaver 8 it just works too, Photoshop CS2 does too. (AFAIK even Office 2007 and i have been able to run MSN Messenger 7.5 and tons of other apps not even on the AppDB).
Getting back to the point at hand, this is great, i wish though (as i have stated in the past) that we should lure some of the very talented people working with Windowblinds and Iconpackager to design some nifty stuff for Ubuntu...
whiskey
TheLouis
Posted 6:56 AM 5/10/08
I feel like I'm going to get lynched for saying this, but that visual overhaul is oh-so-needed if Ubuntu is trying to make its way into the mainstream OS market.
Average people (not you crazy programmers)don't like looking at an ugly screen for hours each day, and right now, the brown and orange theme evokes shit. Really. That's what it looks like.
Ubuntu: Please make this a priority. The KDE guys seem to have figured this out... why can't you?
TheLouis
Amarus
Posted 7:41 AM 5/10/08
The main visual style does look terrible, it's true.
But what's the big deal!
It's extremely easy to change the whole look and customize the smallest details to your liking.
I'm yet to meet an Ubuntu user with the default theme installed.
Amarus
Amarus
Posted 7:38 AM 5/10/08
@24fc:
I agree with you about the OOO issues. Personally I solved that by running XP as a VM in seamless mode. Works like a charm. Although Office 07 does take some time to run since my laptop is very old.
As for Graphics/Photoshop I don't really have much interests in that field, GIMP does the simple tasks I need so I'm fine with it.
And game wise, I only play tried one Flash game (it's called 'N') but it runs at normal FPS when in fullscreen. Might be cause it was recompiled for Linux tho. Other than that I occasionally play some old windows games on Wine.
I've never been a fan of iTunes, I don't even use it on Windows. On Ubuntu I use Amarok, great for everything. The Amarok 2.0 version is still unreliable IMO. But I only use this to play/manage my collection not to handle my iPod, it could do it but I never tried it. For that I use Floola, it's what I also use on XP.
Amarus
takemetoyourtoaster
Posted 7:31 AM 5/10/08
I asked this before and nobody responded, is there any way to get hulu working under ubuntu 8.04?
takemetoyourtoaster
TheLouis
Posted 8:26 AM 5/10/08
@Amarus: The problem is it does take a bit of fiddling around before you figure it out... And honestly, that's a pain.
While we're on the subject, is there another site besides gnomelook.org? I really hate, hate, *HATE* the site's layout. It's impossible to find anything of use.
TheLouis
cetheriel
Posted 9:19 AM 5/10/08
well, i'm looking for open source drivers hardware.
i mean, i'd love to see a list of devices that run ok in linux, so i can buy proper hardware... does anyone know such list?
cetheriel
mudfly
Posted 10:43 AM 5/10/08
Been running Intrepid for a while, it has many small improvements from Hardy. Bulletproof X works much better now, I am glad they are finally making inroads in auto X configuration. This is an area that has been desperately needing fixing for a long time.
Upgrading from Hardy broke a few things for me, but I also run many packages from outside of the Ubuntu repos. I did a clean install this morning and to my surprise I have compositing working with dual head! XRandR has had some love recently, and now dual head works without Xinerama!
There has been quite a bit of work going on in the theming community on this cycle, the package "community-themes" contain some very impressive work. I have the Dust theme running (with a few modifications) and it is very professional looking, it also kicks the hell out of NewHuman.
The logout dialogs got a very nice face lift on this Gnome Dev cycle as well.
Nothing here is ground breaking, but its nice to see this Juggernaught moving forward spelling impending doom unto Windows.
mudfly
CaptainHowdy
Posted 11:23 AM 5/10/08
Looks good
I will install tonight
CaptainHowdy
headl3ss
Posted 4:12 PM 5/10/08
I still think that Canonical should have the guts at some point to do something about the default gtk theme.
Lets face it,its damn ugly.
Many new users would be discouraged to try out something that doesnt look half as nice as the vista aero or the mac os leopard look.
A better theme,such as the one used in ubuntu studio,would be a more than welcome change.
And of all the ugly wallpapers in the world,they had to pick the ugliest.
Dont get me wrong, I love ubuntu,thus the occasional nagging.
headl3ss
24fc
Posted 4:37 PM 5/10/08
@mudfly: Windows is not doomed by Linux. Linux actually holds less market share today than it did years ago during the boom when red hat went public.
24fc
24fc
Posted 4:33 PM 5/10/08
@Amarus: I don't have a windows to run in a VM. Why would I? My OS should be able to stand alone. If I ever need XP in dual boot or VM, then why would I even have Ubuntu. I have it so that I don't use Windows.
To me, dual booting is for trying it out. Once you try it out, you either decide to use it and nuke windows entirely and never use it again or you nuke Linux and go on back crying to Windows. I see no point at all in running both.
24fc
daddydave
Posted 8:48 PM 5/10/08
Does WPA support work (for wireless cards without the one or two chipsets you seem to gotta have for it to work in Linux)? Or do I have to wait for version Virile Vulture, Wistful Wombat, Xenophobic Xerus, Yelping Yak, or Zippy Zebra?
daddydave
nironan12
Posted 11:06 PM 5/10/08
Looks cool. Dual Bootin' with Vista and 8.04 right now.
nironan12
Amarus
Posted 11:56 PM 5/10/08
@TheLouis:
There's a category for them on deviantART and [art.gnome.org] .
And I think that there was some kind of tool (gnome-art or something) in the repository to browse, preview and install themes from the later.
The repository also contains a couple of packages filled with various themes (gnome-themes / gnome-themes-extras).
Personally I have both packages, tons of other themes and all the GTK2 engines installed. I like changing the way the device look frequently. After all I do spend most of my time working on it.
Currently using a modified version of this.
Amarus
MerlePeitho
Posted 10:54 PM 4/10/08
Ubuntu 8.04 has been a good workhorse for me, after having used 6.10 for 20 months. Very happy with Ubuntu. Security updates come promptly as well as regular updates. I was also hoping for a complete visual refresh, but it's ok...they can put more effort to get a quality theme for the next version. Ubuntu had made my life easier. Well done people.
MerlePeitho
techmunkey
Posted 2:44 AM 6/10/08
@MuglyTheWorm:
I have recently moved to XBMC for linux. I run Ubuntu 8.04 and have to say I am quite impressed.
I also tried XBMC on vista it runs laggy....
The linux version is smooth and fast. The setup is a snap and very intuitive(if you understand media center concepts).
[xbmc.org]
techmunkey
techmunkey
Posted 2:49 AM 6/10/08
I have been using Ubuntu since 7.04 and do most everything in Linux including game. WOW is snap to setup and I get better frames in Linux.
I am most excited to see all the new toys in 8.10. I am a big fan of 8.04. Compiz + AWN + XBMC = Amazing
techmunkey
krewl
Posted 6:04 AM 6/10/08
@eeefresh: We've only been hearing that for the last 15 years.
krewl
Ken
Posted 12:36 AM 7/10/08
Ubuntu is just plain ugly.. I really dislike the orange/brown theme
Ken
Linkz57
Posted 3:18 PM 6/10/08
@MuglyTheWorm: [boxee.tv] it's still in private alpha, but I signed up for an invite, and got it within two days. Works without a snag for me so far, but best used with a remote (apple remote comes with a macbook, and microsoft probably has a deal for their windows media remote).
Linkz57
AlexandraHaobo
Posted 1:31 PM 6/10/08
The new theme is included in an update after you install. Personally, I like the lighter Ubuntu theme and new icons. The new network manager is just awesome now! I can't wait until the official version.
AlexandraHaobo
VeraClytemnestra
Posted 2:26 AM 6/10/08
I agree with "My IT Guy", IMHO Ubuntu 8.04 introduced more problems than it solved, I wish Linux distros would put more into stability of the features they offer than introduce as many features and eyecandy as possible. P.S. I dont thing that "boot into" is the right phrase Under "Ubuntu 8.10's other highlights:", Guest login... do you mean restart the computer and bootstrap the liveCD and login as guest?
VeraClytemnestra
ZabrinaAtreus
Posted 6:54 PM 5/10/08
Try Amarok... it's really slick once you get used to the interface and menus.
ZabrinaAtreus
FabronZegan
Posted 4:25 PM 5/10/08
I'm just replying to say that there is a way to get sound working with a creative soundblaster x-fi. You have to install OSS 4 to replace AlSA and if you would like to look into this more here is a how-to that I used to set up pulse audio. It also mentions the soundblaster x-fi and provides links to more in-depth how-to on this subject. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=843012 Just control+F and search for x-fi.
FabronZegan
sensibile
Posted 1:37 PM 7/10/08
@jackster: Really, the whole seamless rdp setup is not needed. Just use Virtualbox instead. It does seamless rdp out of the box. Your window's apps just alongside your windows apps. Its kind of freaky actually.
sensibile
evilkarma
Posted 5:09 PM 7/10/08
Reading this on Ubuntu - Goodbye Hardy, hello Intrepid.
evilkarma
ddouthitt
Posted 12:35 PM 8/10/08
I tried Kubuntu with KDE 4, which is totally crippled; perhaps Kubuntu with KDE 3.5 is much better. I know I love Kubuntu Hardy Heron and have made it my primary desktop.
However, the orange and brown obsession with Ubuntu is a complete turn-off and has been from the very beginning. At least Kubuntu uses a sensible (and uplifting) blue. Brown and orange are depressing colors - at least, brown is. A good vibrant sunny orange would be an improvement.
ddouthitt
ashtonisdrugfree
Posted 5:23 AM 10/10/08
Actually you can play WOW in wine.
ashtonisdrugfree