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Ubuntu 9.04 Review
Ubuntu 9.04 includes the latest 2.6.28.8 kernel as well as many other features
Ubuntu sponsors, Canonical , announced the release of Ubuntu 9.04 destop version that can be downloaded for free now!
Ubuntu is an open source operating system with the intention of supplying an up-to-date, stable operating system for the normal computer user. In addition to stablility Ubuntu try to target ease of use and installation. Ubuntu can be used on almost anything including Desktops, Business PC’s, Notebooks and many others that are able to support x86 CPU or ARM CPUs, this has only been adapted in the 9.04 version.
One standard, but remarkable (because it outdoes Vista) feature of Ubuntu is the Compiz Fusion 3D desktop, which has enables some really cool effects. Of course, for this feature to function you need a 3D accelerated graphics card.
In terms of ease of use, Ubuntu outshines Vista without a doubt. But it is arguably limited when it comes to software. Most applications written for Windows have not been ported with Linux, and therefore you may not be able to get your favourite programs running on Ubuntu. However, I don’t think this is much of a problem, as there is a whole world of open source out there, which sometimes provide even better functionality.
An ideal alternative is VMware. They have created a server version of their software which is free. It essentially allows you to run multiple operating systems at the same time, by creating a virtual machine. So, you could have Vista and Ubuntu running at the same time, which can improve efficiency greatly, if you have to use both OS’.
Canonical Jane Silber who is chief operating officer quoted,
“With every release, we see Ubuntu Desktop Edition make significant steps forward in appealing to mainstream computer users. With access to the latest office productivity suite, support for Skype and Adobe Flash, and faster boot times, we’re confident that Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition will see more people join millions of others and make the switch to an open platform.”
Product Features- Ubuntu 9.04 includes the latest 2.6.28.8 kernel, and a multitude of features. Here is a taste:
- OpenOffice 3.0
- Latest Skype
- Latest Adobe Flash
- Faster boot times
- Gnome 2.26
- Brasero 2.26 (all-in-one CD burning application)
- More intuitive multi-monitor support
- X.Org server 1.6
- More uniform notifications and system messages
- Ext4 file system support
- A Netbook Remix version, which offers:
- Even faster boot speeds
- Enhanced power management
- Easier network switching
- A Server Edition
Get the full technical overview here
Read Canonical’s press release on Ubuntu 9.04 here
You can download Ubuntu here.
Our Opinion
Pros
- Includes OpenOffice 3.0, which has been vastly improved
- Can read/write to all Windows hard drive formats
- Easy to use and install
- Vastly improved boot times
- Evolution PIM and mail client now features even better Microsoft compatibility
- Variety of Versions
- Trouble free operations
- Ubuntu’s notorious ‘wiry fonts’ have been changed- now the font makes for more solid glyphs
- Significant server platform developments
Cons
- Not enough new features
- Lack of Game support
- Program on the System –> Preferences menu which was supposed to allow control over the notifications is not included in the final release for unknown reasons
Conclusion
To be honest, this is probably the least ground-breaking release of Ubuntu so far. There just aren’t enough new features. The netbook remix of Ubuntu 9.04, however, offers significant improvements over previous releases, and is worth a try if you use a netbook. Having said all this, Ubuntu is still miles ahead of any other desktop version of Linux, and this release does have some significant server platform developments. Personally, I think Ubuntu is on the same level as Windows and OS X. We’ll just have to wait and see where Ubuntu goes from now on.
Ubuntu 9.04 Screenshots
Better colour scheme, font and overall interface for the desktop
So much cleaner and more efficient than Vista...
Installation page finally allowed to go full screen!
Some inaccuracies. Compiz 3D Desktop has been boiled into Ubuntu for at LEAST the last 2 releases. This is not new.
The listed “CON” about VMWare is not clear at all. What is this in reference to? VM stuff? Ubuntu users use VirtualBox. Also I question the lack of hardware support. That’s an old wives tale to a certain extent. The biggest “Con” of linux is game support which is not mentioned.
In your conclusion you say that ubuntu is much better than other Linux distros. Which ones have you tried for comparison? Also, what did you mean by windows apps in ubuntu?
Extention 4 file system ?? ???
Windows application in Ubuntu? Are you kidding?
I think you are not knowing that ‘Linux is not Windows’.
You have many flaws as pointed above by others. Correct them.
I wrote a guide about what to do after a new Jaunty installation. If you would like to try it out, it saves some time!
Gaurav- I apologise for the lack of clarity. What I meant to say was that most applications written for Windows have not been ported with Linux. I have changed it now
very cool!
I’ve tried many Linux distros as well, and I keep coming back to Ubuntu for what the writer here says… ease of installation and use. I’ve tried Fedora, OpenSuse, Mandriva and Mint (yes I know it’s a Ubuntu derivative), and I keep coming back to this one. My one con that’s not listed here is that one area where Ubuntu is lacking is graphical grub support. While their OS is smooth and polished, their dual boot loader is not, and is archaic in comparison (although it works very well
)
Now that looks in sync with the topic.
Well done
I haven’t had much lucl with this new ubuntu. It seems it finally supports RAID configurations (which would have been useful to me while I still had one). But other than that, for what little I’ve used it I’ve had a few pains.
first of all, it’s made my windows xp partition unaccesible. I’ve installed a few Debian related distros and Grub always gave me the option of booting windows. Not so much now. Also the no1 reason for me returning to ubuntu after a while was the apparent fix of the ati driver problems that made videos flicker while using compiz and stuff. It worked well until I tried turning the video fullscreen and my system completely froze. Also if I put my PC on sleep mode and got it to wake up afterwards, I would’nt be able to use either mouse or keyboard, forcing me to reset. Finally, the system was very snotty about letting me use the internet when I started the system. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn’t, but I still was able to navigate through my windows workgroup.
I’m not a very savvy linux user but this is not a matter of tweaking, I had just finished the VERY simple install wizard (keyboard auto-detection??), so I’d expect a few things to come out right out of the box.
So far Feisty has proven to be my most reliable Ubuntu for some reason. I hope these problems get fixed soon
I agree that 9.04 is another great step towards real competition for Windows. Even my wireless connection now works fully straight after linux install. However, simple things like – missing plugin for website flash movies – mean that an inexperienced user will be scared off – I had to do online research and then use the command line to install the plugin. When everything is available through the GUI for the common man – then we can throw away Windows, because Ubuntu is so simple to install it’s untrue, and that has to be the greatest appeal for the majority of the population.
mono and monodevelop made a believer out of me. .NET on Ubuntu.
I know that this doesn’t apply to systems that you purchase with the OS already installed, but, I ask you to name ANY operating system that you install that doesn’t require some tweaking. Think about the time spent waiting on Windows to load drivers for your add-ons. Not to mention the nightmare of trying to find drivers that are not included on the disks. As a tech person, when we upgraded all our our computers from XP Home to XP pro, I had to keep a flash drive for all of the Dell drivers.
The only thing that didn’t work for me on my Gateway MX6629 laptop out of the box for 9.04 was the Broadcom wireless. After I connected an Ethernet cable, and updated, the Restricted drivers GUI found and installed the wireless for me. Everything else just worked. I am not a huge Ubuntu fanboy, as I still use XP for gaming and for my weekend DJ job, but, this version of Ubuntu is BY FAR the best Canonical has come up with.
Well, I think ubuntu 9.04 is a step ahead for a desktop linux. It does have a few small bugs I ran into during testing but no showstoppers. Updates in the coming weeks will likely remedy that. For a brand new “out the door” OS its quite good. I am impressed. I must say it does seem to run a little faster and respond more quickly than 8.10 did. I am interested in seeing how good the wireless network support is with 9.04 which has always been a problem with linux.
Guys
I’ve just installed it on my 7 years old PC and well… this is no doubt a far more superior OS than any windows I’ve used. it just works. It even installed a driver for my NVIDIA geforce mx4400 and all the visual effects are working perfectly. the boot time takes less than 20 seconds. and the system appears to run smoothly.
Beyond that, the UI appears to be very sleek. I mean, they took a huge step forward here. with the visual effects in place Vista appears to be boring.
alas, as people already mentioned there are stil some notable cons to ubuntu:
1. The currently best browser(firefox) works very slowly on linux. that is mainly because they are aiming their optimization efforts on windows for obvious reasons. the native linux FF is so slow that if you install windows based FF and run it with wine you will feel no difference in speed… this is true not only to FF but to all major extension (flash etc). hopefully google is planning to release chrome to linux so we might see some improvement in that departmet. (hopefully).
2. No major games releases to linux
3. Lack of user of choice software.
I believe that ubuntu is powerful. the only thing it needs is a push. so that common users that use the computer for internet and office like application will use it until the tide will turn.
Having installed this on my server, netbook, and one of my other PCs, I can vouch 100% for 9.04, and I think that it could easliy take over windows.
The server has been working great, boots up in less than 50s, as does the netbook version. The GUI on the netbook remix is far superior to many other attemts at a netbook operating system.
Thats just my opinion.
I tried for 3 days to get my Pentium-III laptop to work in Windows. Driver support wasn’t there anymore, etc. It was a paperwait…til I downloaded Ubuntu. Started at 7:50am to load it, easy…walked to work and was there before 8:30am, it was loaded, working and even the wireless worked! It was downloading updates when I left for work….by itself.
Awesome!
Just have to get used to the different terminology.
Been in computers forever and do it for a living, at a College. 18 years+
Ubuntu in my opinion is quiet impressive. ive been exposed to widows only prior to this. windows still beats it in terms of ease of use (Xp that is) there was a slight learning curve as was expected but i got the hang of it now….i think. i love it but cant say i can commit to it cuz of the software compatibility issue. It also blacklisted my graphics card
2 questions…(1) its hard for viruses to run on linux platform so is a key logger able to run easily on it?/
…(2) is a firewall necessary. cant some1 gain access to yr system easily without a firewall and all even on this platform
BTW, Ubuntu 9.04 has some serious drawbacks that one should know about before upgrading to it. Read this:
http://tech.shantanugoel.com/2009/05/04/ubuntu-904-jaunty-jackalope-upgrade-graphics-problem.html
Nice review, I tend to agree with most of it. However, I am not of the mind that it is not a Windows replacement. Think of how we have come to get “favorite” programs that only run in Windows. Ok, it is because we have been conditioned….it is simple psychology, is it not? Just sell me something and make sure they have to buy an upgraded version next year….now that is called good marketing. So, open source is a way out of that type of economics. It is really a matter of choice as to whether or not you want to install it, but isn’t this suppose to be a review?
My school is now 100% Ubuntu and we have no problems at all. In fact, the benefits are especially great since I have no worries of viruses on any computer. Before, when we had Windows, I spent hours fixing the problems. We had to have MS Office on each computer and that meant a license ($), who needs that when you are on a tight budget? I use iTalc to monitor student computers, OpenOffice comes with Ubuntu and Firefox works best with our online curriculum. We use old, surplused Pentium 4 computers that we just given to us and the students love it, not to mention that most of the students think these old computer run as fast as their Vista-based computers they have at home.
Ubuntu 9.04 boots faster than any Ubuntu I have used to date and tends to runs as quickly as WindowsXP ever did. I am just struggling now with why Windows could be better for my situation. I’d say that Ubuntu beats windows in the fact that it is free to use & free of viruses. The only problem is that I don’t want it to become too mainstream or we will be looking at having to pay for this stuff, then we are back where we started.
I heard Ubuntu was easy to install and use…and it’s true…This was my first step out of the Windows world…and i find i can do anything i want to do with Ubuntu that i do with Windows…It boots fast…and programs launch quickly…The answer for many Windows users who are looking to replace XP…could be Ubuntu 9.04…
Well ubuntu is great if u r a regular user but if u r a professional then it’s like crap for most of the time.
of course for casual users it’s much easier to use than windows but…..unless u r a serious programmer then it doesn’t make a lot of sense to try ubuntu as a serious os.
The lack of software argument is great; did anyone write against OSx because it cannot run linux software for example?
@donchacha Many professionals use ubuntu, probably more than you could ever imagine. Your statement is void in my opinion, how can you say its “crap”? Are you a programming professional? If yes, I’d like you to get in contact so we can have a chat.
This post rocks
does anyone have any ideas on how to get the application software people to start writing their applications for Linux/ubuntu? That is all that is needed to eclipse M.S.
ubuntu 9.04 is a fine O.S. and much more stable than M.S. has ever been. I have used Windows from the time it was release 3.
N.T. was fair but not this good.
I tried Red Hat back in 1998 and had a poor experience.
ubuntu is what we have been waiting on.
Keep it coming guys.
I am using Ubuntu for internet use and a first time user. I like compiz, really useful for intensive work but what intensive work can I do on this. I work with video, audio and graphics as well as literature and there is not an alternative in gimp for Photoshop or Dreamweaver.
I would love to see Linux do well against MS but without some serious software it will never become my OS of choice.
My disappointments were:
No support for my iTouch.
I was not able to watch YouTube HD videos in full screen even on my video cards that had 1gb of memory.
I couldn’t use the SPDIF digital output on my sound card.
I couldn’t use a webcam on PIDGIN.
It would find and install my printer driver, but a printer test page would spit out printouts of grey lines endlessly. I never even bothered trying to install the scanner drivers for my multi-function printer.
Other than that I was very impressed with the speed of the 64-bit OS. I had to go back to Vista (unfortunately).
I’m a total linux newb; in fact, I’m not exactly up on a lot of computer jargon and technical use (did some programing in high school, C++). But, I was able to dual boot my Vaio with Ubuntu, get the wireless working, get my ATI graphics card working, and get HDMI video/audio out working with a total of about 2 hrs of work. Its now my default OS (it takes about a quarter of the time to boot than Vista). Ubuntu, if it doesn’t pass the Grandma test, at least passes the “Hipster who is too cheap to buy an Apple” test!
There are only a few things that i miss from windows: Netflix Instant View/Watch, iTunes, and Audible, otherwise Ubuntu rocks!
@Mark: That’s the best test I’ve ever heard of.
I just have to throw in here that (IMHO) Ubuntu is no harder to use or install than Windows. If you buy an OEM rig with an OS pre-installed, everything “just works” with THAT OS.
If you take that same rig and install an original, non OEM copy of a different OS, there are going to be hardware issues. Until companies stop being lazy and code properly the end user is the one that has to fix those issues. (For instance HP’s BIOS that “breaks” hardware if you aren’t running Vista)
There are some devices that don’t work in Linux, however, there are some that don’t work in Windows too. For instance, the firewire in my laptop (HP DV6700z) does not work in Windows XP without downgrading the BIOS or breaking suspend. It does, however, work “out of the box” with Ubuntu.
Instead of posting in a blog or forum about how “nothing” worked on your rig when you tried Ubuntu (easily arguable as Linux will boot on almost anything), email the vendor and tell them how disappointed you are that they don’t support open source and that you, as a consumer, will be looking for another company to do business with that does support open source.
If hardware vendors were to release the source to their drivers or write drivers for *nix, we wouldn’t have any of these problems.
I tried Ubuntu 9.04 on my Dell Mini 9 Netbook. I could not get the Microphone to work with Skype
I tried everything and all the blogs said other users had the same problem. Finally, I gave up and reinstalled Ubuntu 8.04 that came with my system. Other than the Skype problem, Ubuntu 9.04 works great.
I have ubuntu 8.10 i love it never turned back to m$ but ubuntu is solid crap i say this because the resultion keep changing on me never the same. and the splash screen is ugly (i think) but that is easy to change so i switch back to 8.10 overall ubuntu is by far the best the gui is very basic but with apps like compiz or emerald it can be much nicer than vista/7 people with pcs who don’t play video games on them shuld throw windows out get ubuntu however if you play alot of games and you like to play on pc this is the last thing you want on your pc in that case just stay with windows. however for the rest of us the the time of errors virus shit and slugish process is now over
IN A WORLD WITHOUT WALLS OR FENCES WHO NEEDS WINDOWS AND GATES
As a newbie, I think that one of the things that keep scaring me from deleting my windows from my computer is the fact that everything is not in the gui. The console scares me. Which is funny, cause dos never intimidated me. I will admit that the setup is getting easier and easier as Ubuntu evolves. But there are still lots of things that I don’t know how to do and I find it frustrating trying to figure it out. If linux ever wants to rival microsoft, they will have to make their software dummy proof. I don’t want to learn how to program linux just to use it.
Hey all,
I’ve been using Ubuntu since April 2008 (Ubuntu 8.04) and I love it! I can run most if not all Microsoft Windows apps and I’ve entirely ditched Windows (still can run it in VirtualBox). All of this and I’m 12.
I just made the switch from Windows 7 to ubuntu 9.04 today, and may I say, “holy shit” this has blown away all my expectations….. all hardware was immediately detected and drivers were installed, love the synaptic manager, made my job a hell of alot easier, I will never go back to windows, cheers to the programmers, who take time from their own lives to make this wonderful software and ask nothing in return.
Ubuntu is a nice OS to use when dusting out an old PC. My old P4 3.0, which was collecting dust, and does not meet Vista’s hardware requirements, runs exceptionally smooth on Ubuntu. Unfortunately, I’ve run into problems with incompatible software and drivers. My printer won’t print, and forget about re-installing MS Office. So my system makes a nice surfing computer. But I’m going to need a fully functional Windows system soon … looking forward to Windows 7.
nice info sharing. Thank’s a lot for informatif posting. I have been waiting for UBUNTU 9.10 ^_^
I haven’t yet installed Ubuntu, but after reading this review i am definitely going to install it on my desktop. I will also load it onto my mother-in-laws laptop. She calls me and complains about vista so much, this will stop the problem hopefully! Thanks to all for all the input, good and bad.
Ubuntu is user friendly and devloper friendly
Ive been developing applications for ubuntu using the inbuilt python interpreter
It rocks its cooll……
The stuff which ive been dreaming for years.. secured.cool.artistic.robust.reliable.stable OS
The Gen NEXT OS is here grab ur copy now.. http://www.ubuntu.com
anyone know how to fix shutdown computer / OFF switch on desktop ? [ kubuntu 9.04 ]
only sleep mode / hibernate on main menu shuts down computer – have to use reset button on computer to reboot o/s to restart it again – after hibernate / sleep mode computer wont reboot again until reset button is pressed
can anyone fix this ?
Hello All
I tried not so long ago Ubuntu 9.04 on a Compaq-HP Server ML 330. I plan to upgrade the graphics and audio card and finally install over the windows XP I have it running Ubuntu 9.10.
1. Does any of you guys know if Ubuntu updates any new / installed software changes (video – audio card)?
2. Does any of you guys know how to install a wireless Netgear WGT 111 or WGT 311 wireless card on this system?
Thanks on beforehand.
Juan.