A few minutes ago, the Ubuntu development team unleashed the first Beta version of the upcoming Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) operating system, due for release in late April this year. As usual, we've downloaded a copy of it in order to keep you up-to-date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS development.

What's new in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1? Well, as everybody already knows... Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1 has a brand-new look, composed of two new themes (Ambiance and Radiance), one is dark and the other one is light. Click the link above to access a very nice article we created last week, to showcase the new themes, logos, font, boot splash and boot prompt. However, after installing the proprietary Nvidia video drivers, the boot splash screen has been changed to what you see below...

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1

Another thing that everyone already knew from various websites around the web is that Ubuntu 10.04 LTS incorporates the Yahoo! search engine on the default Home Page for the Mozilla Firefox web browser. However, this can be easily switched back to the Google search engine by simply selecting it from the Search Bar!

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1 is powered by the GNOME 2.30 RC (2.29.92) desktop environment and the kernel packages have been updated to version 2.6.32-16.25, based on Linux kernel 2.6.32.9.

What's new in Kubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1? The first beta version of the upcoming Kubuntu 10.04 LTS operating system is built on top of the KDE Software Compilation 4.4.1, and includes the newly released Amarok 2.3.0 music player, a polished system tray notification, better integration for Mozilla Firefox, Touchpad configuration support in System Settings, integration of GNOME apps in systray, and a good-looking installer!

Kubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1

Xubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1

Lubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1

The Lucid Lynx Release Schedule:

December 10th, 2009 - Alpha 1 release; January 14th, 2010 - Alpha 2 release; February 25th, 2010 - Alpha 3 release; March 18th, 2010 - Beta 1 release; April 8th, 2010 - Beta 2 release; April 22nd, 2010 - Release Candidate; April 29th, 2010 - Final release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.

Download Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04 LTS Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud 10.04 LTS Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Studio 10.04 LTS Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu 10.04 LTS Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04 LTS Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Xubuntu 10.04 Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Edubuntu 10.04 Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Mythbuntu 10.04 Beta 1 (Lucid Lynx) right now from Softpedia.

Download Lubuntu 10.04 Beta 1 right now from Softpedia.

Remember that this is a beta release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only. Please report bugs to the Ubuntu Bug Tracker.