Canonical last week released the first beta version of Lucid Lynx ahead of its scheduled April 29 final release. As a beta release there are still some rough edges but on the whole the release is very promising.<\/p>\n
Also known as Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, Lucid Lynx is the latest Long Term Support (LTS) release from Canonical which will be supported for three years on the desktop and five on servers. Generally LTS releases are more conservative than other releases but Lucid Lynx has broken this rule and sports not only a new interface and new social networking features but also premiers the Ubuntu One Music Store.<\/p>\n
Installation<\/strong><\/p>\n Installing Lucid Lynx is, mostly, straight forward. The best way is by downloading an .ISO version, burning that to disc and running the installer.<\/p>\n The Live CD-based version is fairly slow but once up and running can be used to test the release before installing as well as being used to install directly to disk. The impatient can simply bypass the Live version and head straight onto the installation.<\/p>\n Installing a fresh copy of the beta release is painless and takes just a few minutes. Upgrading from an earlier version of Ubuntu is also relatively painless, although an upgrade on dual-boot system left me with a messed up Grub bootloader which needed a bit of fiddling to get back to workable state. This is not ideal for less than confident users but I expect problems like this will be fixed ahead of the final release.<\/p>\n Desktop<\/strong><\/p>\n The most-talked about feature of Ubuntu Lucid is the new desktop theme. The new theme, which replaces the earth tones of previous releases, is available in two forms: a dark theme and a light theme. The accent colour is described as “aubergine” – purple to most of us – and the dark theme has an almost-black menu system and panels. The light theme has a pale cream-like colour menu system and panels.<\/p>\n As much as I have argued that the theme is ultimately just candy-coating, I do dislike the new themes intensely and had to switch to something a little more familiar. The dark theme is so dark as to make it oppressive and the light theme is, conversely, so light that it feels washed out. Of course this is Linux so it’s easy enough to find another theme, which I did. <\/p>\n The other big change on the desktop is that the window control buttons (maximise, minimise and close) have been moved to the top left of the window bar. This is a massively debated issue in the Ubuntu community with a significant portion of users complaining bitterly about the change.<\/p>\n At first this is a frustrating move as it takes time to re-orientate from the old style when these were on the right. Mark Shuttleworth has said that the decision to move the buttons to the left opens up opportunities for other things to be added the right. At this point exactly what these could be is unclear but, unlike the theme, I’m prepared to get used to it.<\/p>\n Big changes<\/strong><\/p>\n Window dressing aside, Lucid has a number of features that are very good.<\/p>\n One of these is the ever-improving Ubuntu Software Center. The newest version of this is both attractive and easy to use. The Software Center includes lists of Ubuntu-provided software as well as software provided by partners. The partners section is still fairly limited at this point but clearly there is scope to add additional partners in time. What’s the chance of Canonical creating a software market through its Software Center? It seems obvious.<\/p>\n The list of installed software makes it easy to manage and uninstall software. I’ve been a long-time user of Ubuntu and through habit have always installed software through a command line. This is the first release of Ubuntu in which I find myself using the Software Center in place of the command line.<\/p>\n Social<\/strong><\/p>\n Lucid Lynx also has the start of social network integration on the desktop.<\/p>\n By hooking Gwibber and Empathy together Ubuntu has created a new top-panel item which allows users to send and receive chat, IT and microblogging messages. The service can manage the likes of Facebook, ICQ, IRC, Twitter and Status.net messages from one point. It also allows users to manage their Ubuntu One cloud storage account.<\/p>\n It’s not the most intuitive setup at this point but as it is pulling together a broad collection of disparate services some bumps are to be expected. Right now the social networking features feel like a work in progress but holds huge potential for tightly integrating social networks into the Ubuntu desktop. <\/p>\n Ubuntu One and Music Store<\/strong><\/p>\n Canonical’s cloud storage service, Ubuntu One, has been around for some time now. But with Lucid Lynx it gets a new twist with the Ubuntu One Music Store, an iTunes-like music store. Although still very much in beta the store allows users to purchase music online and store it in their Ubuntu One account. The music is available in MP3 format and is available to users through Rhythmox, the default music player, as well as through the Ubuntu One desktop and web client.<\/p>\n Overall impressions: The good and bad<\/strong><\/p>\n On the whole Lucid Lynx looks to be a good release. It is very fast – just seconds to a login screen – and snappy in operation. Clearly a lot of effort has gone into making the entire system easy to use and in terms of use is no harder to use than any other major operating system. The days of command line tinkering on Linux are largely over and most users should be able to get up and running successfully in a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n On the downside, there are still some legacy things that dog the system, some of them from the Gnome project. The process for managing overall desktop preferences is still cumbersome with a choice of two separate menus, each containing literally dozens of separate configuration tools. In terms of ease-of-use having to wade through endless configuration tools to find the right one is daunting.<\/p>\n This aside Ubuntu Lucid Lynx is a great addition to the Ubuntu lineup and is easy to recommend to others.<\/p>\n