Karmic impressions

[sn3rd]

Well I just had to give my 2c on the new Ubuntu release, Karmic Koala.

SPECS:
Dell Studio 1537 Notebook
Core 2 Duo T5800 @ 2.0GHz
2GB DDR2 RAM
250GB Hard drive
Slot load DVD writer
Intel 4500MHD graphics
Vista Ultimate (secondary OS )

After the initial rush of people downloading (according to the TENET representative, peak was around 300Gbps!), I managed to get my ISO downloaded.

I immediately fired up UNetBootIn and created a bootable flash using the ISO.

Hit the reboot button (having backed up my important data), and booted from the flash.

The first thing I noticed was the initial splash screen. Very Windows 7-esque in its simplicity, but somehow better because it showed at the full 1280 x 800 where it used to revert to a default 800 x 600.


Next splash screen was like looking at the desktop through some frosted glass, with a progress bar that made it resemble the old Ubuntu usplash. Next thing I know, almost immediately, I'm at the desktop.

"WOW!"

Go through the motions to check how my hardware's doing... Everything's fine.

Hit install...

Everything goes smoothly... Reboot to see how it goes...

First boot not as fast as the initial boot into the Live distro...

BUT... What's this? INTEL DRIVERS ARE FIXED!!

Well that's fantastic... Hmmm... Is sound improved as was promised?

YES!!! My Intel audio is 1000% better. At maximum volume, there's no distortion, or crackling. Awesome. In addition, every software volume level corresponds to a hardware volume level. Whereas before, only half the software volume levels made any difference.

Installed a bunch of packages that I normally use, and the Intel drivers seem to be handling 1080p HD videos just fine

BUT... Dell 1510 Wireless-N half mini-card didn't work out-the-box. I needed to use a wired connection so it could download the driver. but working well now!

I assume the results of the 100 papercuts project are the fixes to the Bluetooth GUI, that kind of thing. It all makes a huge difference!

Will keep you all updated on any other issues that may arise.

 

[Sn00zE]

What did you install it on? I had problems with the UNR 9.04 on my netbook. There was no xorg.conf.

 

[sn3rd]

What did you install it on? I had problems with the UNR 9.04 on my netbook. There was no xorg.conf.

Oops, forgot my specs in the post... Updated my post with my machine specs.

The reason there was no xorg.conf was because there is a move AWAY from doing everything in xorg.conf. Rather, things should be done using HAL (which, BTW, is also on its way out one of these days).

I installed UNR 9.04 on my Acer Aspire One A110L, and it worked perfectly. Still prefer the normal Ubuntu though. And I think 9.10 might fix some of the performance issues I've been having with the AAO's Intel GMA 950 graphics. Will update at a later stage once I get around to installing on the netbook

 

[sn3rd]

Up and running with Ubuntu 9.10 on Acer Aspire One A110L...

I'm very impressed so far. Either they did some SERIOUS optimisations or the fixed Intel driver for GMA 950 works wonders... Haven't had any of the greyed out screens I used to get every so often.

Everything works out the box except for fan control, which was literally 10 seconds to fix.

Full compiz and it looks brilliant

Maybe I should get some work done now

 

[kingrob]

Intel drivers fixed? Hooray!!!

Cant wait to install 9.10 on my notebook!

 

[d0b33]

Loving it!

The UI tweaks are showing, very clean and sleek.

I've had win7 final for days but still have to install it, as soon as I got Karmic i loaded it

 

[kingrob]

Loving it!

The UI tweaks are showing, very clean and sleek.

I've had win7 final for days but still have to install it, as soon as I got Karmic i loaded it

I wouldnt bother, looks exactly like Vista, in fact it is Vista SP3. But whereas Apple gave snow leopard away for $40 or $50 (whateva), Microsoft decided to call SP3 a new OS. Go figure.

Also much more excited about Karmic.

 

[sn3rd]

I wouldnt bother, looks exactly like Vista, in fact it is Vista SP3. But whereas Apple gave snow leopard away for $40 or $50 (whateva), Microsoft decided to call SP3 a new OS. Go figure.

Also much more excited about Karmic.

I can't stop playing with it!

The 100 papercuts project seems to have done some good things!

Intel drivers are working beautifully

 

[d0b33]

I wouldnt bother, looks exactly like Vista, in fact it is Vista SP3. But whereas Apple gave snow leopard away for $40 or $50 (whateva), Microsoft decided to call SP3 a new OS. Go figure.

LOL, better hope a win user does not see your post.

Intel drivers are working beautifully

My nvidia driver was activated without hassle using the restricted driver dialog, before it would need a few tweaks.

 

[LazyLion]

running fine on my HP laptop with 2.1 Ghz AMD processor and 1.2 Gb of RAM.

Don't see too many changes visually, but still too early to tell on usage.

 

[sn3rd]

LOL, better hope a win user does not see your post.


My nvidia driver was activated without hassle using the restricted driver dialog, before it would need a few tweaks.

Awesome

I can't believe the performance increase over Jaunty. How on earth did I live with that??

Jaunty == Canonical's Vista

 

[sn3rd]

running fine on my HP laptop with 2.1 Ghz AMD processor and 1.2 Gb of RAM.

Don't see too many changes visually, but still too early to tell on usage.

Check out the Bluetooth manager.

Check out Ubuntu Software Centre that replaces Add/Remove programs.

Note that reboot doesn't cause a loud beep (pcspkr has been blacklisted by default).

Note the smooth transition between login window and desktop.

Note the smooth transition returning from sleep.

And note the insanely fast shutdown/startup times.

I could go on all day

 

[Tassidar]

Loving UNR so far. The layout is awesome.

 

[hawker]

+1

Its awesome - and the suspend hibernate stuff when i close my netbook lid! OMW it works like a charm, so impressed.

It looks good to, and it is super stable at the moment I have about 15 tabs open in FF, have music playing, thunderbird open, pidgin and editing a presentation its awesome.

 

[Nuro]

I'm slightly dissapointed.

I ran Mint 7 which is based on Ubuntu 9.04. Everything worked perfectly.
I switched to 9.10 last night, now I'm having problems As mention in another thread, totem now crashes when i watch dvds, evolution segfaults when checking my exchange mail. Something new i discovered this morning, is when I request a full shutdown, it eventually just hangs, and I have to hold my power button to power down.

This was a clean install on a HP 8710w laptop.

EDIT: Have not googled for solutions yet, will only check tonight.

 

[kingrob]

LOL, better hope a win user does not see your post.

LOL....it seems there are a lot of Windoze fanboys lurking on MyADSL nowadays.

Or it might be Microsoft SA employees that have been sent to Redmond for a brainwashing session and to watch the infamous "Why Windows 7 is better than Linux" sales video.

 

[Sn00zE]

I just hope that he fixes made to other intel display drivers has been made on the GMA500 aswell! Will load UNR 9.10 this weekend on my netbook.. Hope it works!

 

[sn3rd]

I'm slightly dissapointed.

I ran Mint 7 which is based on Ubuntu 9.04. Everything worked perfectly.
I switched to 9.10 last night, now I'm having problems As mention in another thread, totem now crashes when i watch dvds, evolution segfaults when checking my exchange mail. Something new i discovered this morning, is when I request a full shutdown, it eventually just hangs, and I have to hold my power button to power down.

This was a clean install on a HP 8710w laptop.

EDIT: Have not googled for solutions yet, will only check tonight.

Full specs of your notebook? Perhaps we can figure it out. Both my notebook and netbook are going really well.

 

[Solidus]

I want to clean install Karmic on my machine can someone help?

Currently have a Windows and Jaunty dual boot going.
Don't want to update the jaunty cause I want a complete clean slate.

If I format the partition in windows will it screw up windows booting?

 

[Nuro]

Full specs of your notebook? Perhaps we can figure it out. Both my notebook and netbook are going really well.

* Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.20GHz/ 800MHz FSB/ 4MB L2 cache)
* Nvidia Quadro FX 1600M with 512MB dedicated memory
* 4096MB DDR2-667 RAM
* 320GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
* 17" WUXGA (1920x1200) WVA anti-glare matte display
* 8X DVD Super Multi drive
* Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN WLAN
* Internal Bluetooth

Shamelessly copied and pasted from some review.
Like I said, 9.04 and Mint worked perfectly.

The exchange connector for evolution is a nice to have, but not critical, as our exchange box is imap enabled as well. Totem can also be replaced with vlc, which i prefer anyway. So no massive show stoppers. I also notice that with the shutdown problem that it occurs after my partitions are unmounted, so no crisis there.