ChazmanianDinkle

So you've most likely already heard the news, but as of April 23'd the newest version of Ubuntu, Ubuntu 9.04 a.k.a. Jaunty Jackalope, has just been released. This new release promises faster boot times, more compatibility, and a quicker interface; all of which it delivers. It goes without saying, however, that as nice as it is Jaunty does have its downsides. Apparently they are using a new method of 3D rendering for the desktop effects that will speed things up, but this in turn has caused some graphics chipsets to be able to render any desktop effects. My laptop, unfortunately, uses one of those chipsets. For this reason I didn't keep Jaunty installed for a very long time. I did get a chance to test out some of its other features though, and I must say I am impressed.

The first thing I noticed upon my install was a MUCH quicker boot time. I am booting up in just under a minute when using Intrepid, and with Jaunty I booted in about 30 seconds! For a first impression, that was pretty sweet. What's more, Jaunty brings with it a pretty slick new login screen.


Pretty sexy, ain't it? It's definitely a step in a different direction than the skin tones of 8.10, but I kinda like it. If you don't, however, you can always go into the settings and change it later. The desktop interface basically the same though, but it does come with a few more themes than Intrepid. As for the official wallpaper... eh, it's ok.


I would have liked to see them use an animal theme in it like Hardy and Intrepid, but it's ok (I'm actually using one of the new Windows 7 wallpapers on my machine).

As for the other claims, more compatibility and higher security, I didn't get much testing because of the short time I kept it installed. Besides the graphics card, though, everything else worked just as well as Intrepid. It recognized everything I plugged into it and got the drivers.

So overall, 9.04 is a very good release, and aside from the problem I had with the graphics, it worked flawlessly. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't have one of the unsupported chipsets.

~Chaz D

What do you guys think? Anyone use it and have a different opinion?