Ubuntu 8.04 Beta Released

markybob writes "Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 beta has been released. It features GNOME 2.22 and uses Linux kernel 2.6.24. Furthermore, it uses Firefox 3 beta 4, and PulseAudio is enabled by default. To ease the transition of Windows users, it includes Wubi, which allows users to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other Windows application. It does not require a dedicated partition, nor does it affect the existing bootloader, yet users can experience a dual-boot setup almost identical to a full installation."

WUBI?

[scubamage]

Anyone have any information about this? I prefer having a linux environment but my work laptop *must* run windows thanks to company software. This seems like it may be a much better solution for me compared to, say, cygwin.

Re:Still free?

[Computershack]

I saw on the Kubuntu pages the other day they are forking into 2 versions, one free ( 'with limited functionality') and a commercial version with 8.04. Is the parent Ubuntu heading that way too?

It was certainly how Mandrake and Redhat went. Sucker people in for a couple of years with free versions then release payware ones with all the stuff you want on whilst releasing stripped out crippleware free versions.

Re:Still free?

[NDPTAL85]

During the time that RH and Mandrake didn't do this, weren't THEY suckers too for thinking you could run a business without charging for ... well anything?

ubuntu a windows application

[dspolleke]

which allows users to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other Windows application.

Since when is Ubuntu a windows application? It isn't even an application.. It is a Linux distribution. If Wubi get's out into the world as "the way to install Ubuntu" noob users will assume they need Windows to install a Linux distro.. why is no one creating an app to turn it around? You can convert your Windows partition to a VMware disk and save it to an USB disk or network store.. Install a Linux distro, install a Virtual Machine player (Innotek virtualbox, VMware) put the disk back and load windows from within Linux.. And install and uninstall windows like any other Linux distribution software package

Re:WUBI?

[strabes]

My advice is to wait for the final release of hardy, which should be rock solid stable. It is still decently buggy at this point.

Re:WUBI?

[Anonymous Coward]

So it's like UMSDOS? A good idea though, ZipSlack [slackware.com] was the easy way to try Linux that got me started.

Re:Still free?

[nurb432]

Charging for support/consulting is something that money can be made on. You don't have to cripple your product in the process.

Re:Still free?

[HermMunster]

KDE 4.0 has some fundamental problems. They tried to somewhat mimic the Vista start menu and essentially failed. They were trying to shoot the prairie dog and killed the horse by mistake. IMHO they created an ugly weak and problematic menu.

Other things are that KDE 4.0 was released early so that developers could work on it to help resolve issues and create new features. In the end, as far as end users are concerned tho, if they chose to use it as an early adopter they will have to put up with some extremely messy looking features.

I've looked at it and after some time dropped it. It was messy as hell and had some real organizational issues. Even the icons on the desktop are kludgy. They can easily get disorganized and spread around thus creating a messy desktop. They are extremely buggy and the desktop itself can be inadvertently moved off center of the screen with no hopes of moving it back, unless you restart KDM.

Conceptually, it is a good first start, but I'd say it is about a year out before it becomes anything really useful to the average person. This makes it an obvious choice for limited support.

KDE needs serious work, but it is the future of their desktop. It is a good first try, though buggy as all hell.

Re:The Real Question Is.....

[PCM2]

You can't very well blame the extremely hardworking Ubuntu and Linux kernel developers when hardware manufacturers actively block their attempts to write drivers, refuse to release specs, etc. Sure, it would be another success for Linux if it could support your device without using the Windows drivers. But you act as if it's a failure for Ubuntu when you try to use incompatible hardware with it. In future, try to buy from vendors whose hardware is at least possible to support under Linux.