Development plans for Ubuntu 7.10 (codenamed Gutsy Gibbon) were announced last night on the Ubuntu development mailing list. Scheduled for official release in late October, Gutsy Gibbon will include version 2.6.22 of the Linux kernel, GNOME 2.20, and Xorg 7.3. Kubuntu 7.10 will feature KDE 3.5.7 and offer optional packages for KDE 4.0 RC2. Ubuntu 7.10 Server Edition will feature some nice additions, including support for Novell's AppArmor security framework.

Ubuntu 7.10 will be the first Ubuntu release to offer a complete mobile and embedded edition built with the Hildon user interface components, which are also used by the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet's Maemo platform. The Ubuntu mobile and embedded edition is most likely intended for use on upcoming portable computing devices being developed by Intel. This will also be the first Ubuntu release to include compositing support by default by fully integrating Compiz Fusion, a window manager that merges elements of Compiz and Beryl.

Xorg 7.3, which includes RandR 1.2 and supports hotplugging for monitors and input devices, will vastly simplify Xorg configuration in Ubuntu 7.10 and significantly reduce the need for manual xorg.conf manipulation for some users. Ubuntu 7.10 will also include a new graphical display configuration utility that aims to reduce the complexity of configuring support for two displays. Unfortunately, users who want to run more than two displays by using multiple video cards will have to continue to manage their configuration by hand and endure the serious deficiencies of Xinerama, which still isn't compatible with RandR.

Tribe 1 (the first Ubuntu 7.10 development prerelease) was officially released on June 7th. According to the official release schedule, Tribe 2 is officially scheduled for release late this month shortly after the Debian import freeze. Additional Tribe prereleases will be issued at the rate of one or two per month until October. Assuming that circumstances don't necessitate a deviation from the schedule, Ubuntu 7.10 release candidates will be available mid-October and the final official release is scheduled to take place on October 18.

Favored by prominent hardware companies like Dell and Intel, Ubuntu is rapidly becoming one of the most important distributions in the Linux ecosystem. The addition of the new mobile and embedded edition in the 7.10 release represents the next major step in Ubuntu's evolution and portends broader Ubuntu adoption in the context of portable computing.