Canonical has just published the first Ubuntu Touch RTM version for their new operating system, as the company is getting closer to the release of the OS on the open market.

In just a few months, two years will have passed since the official announcement of Ubuntu for mobiles and tablets. It looks like Canonical is almost ready to release the OS on a device that's actually selling in stores, and that will be the true test of the new operating system.

The first Ubuntu Touch-powered phones are expected to arrive in December, from Meizu, so the release of an RTM version a couple of months ahead of time is actually very good news. In case you didn't know, RTM means release to manufacturing and indicates that a system is almost complete, feature-wise, and that the developers are now only focusing on the bugs and various performance issues.

Ubuntu Touch RTM is finally here

The new Ubuntu branch is already available for download and this is the first release made. The developers have been working for some time to get it off the ground, and now the RTM release is finally here. Those who have been using the regular stable channel won't find too many changes, but there are a few subtle ones.

The entire system feels a lot more stable, all the commands work (no more pressing on apps and not registering the touch), it doesn't crash anymore (at least it didn't crash while we were testing it), a system passcode is now required to unlock the phone and various operations (for now it's the same one with the PIN), and a developer mode has been implemented (like USB debugging on Android), which has to be activated in order to interact with the phone through your PC.

"We have promoted our first image from the ubuntu-rtm distribution! After QA did promotion-wise exploratory testing of #44 (krillin) and gave us a green light we decided to promote krillin's #44 and it's mako counterpart - #41, to the ubuntu-rtm/14.09 channel."

"That's excellent news as per our agreement we will not enter TRAINCON-0 but continue normal operation. Yay! To anyone that wants to have a stable and up-to-date Ubuntu Touch device, please flash your devices with an ubuntu-rtm/14.09 image. As a reminder: the stable-proposed images (those that have not yet been promoted) can be found in the ubuntu-rtm/14.09-proposed channel," says Canonical’s Łukasz Zemczak.

Where to get the latest Ubuntu Touch

There are a number of ways in which you can install Ubuntu Touch, and there is even a comprehensive official wiki about it. You can choose to replace Android with it and you can dual-boot, just like on a regular PC. We used an Android app designed specifically for this purpose, called MultiROM Manager, which is very easy to use and it only requires the user to have root in place.

The screenshots below have been made on a Nexus 4 phone. If you want to know anything more specific about the OS, you can leave a comment below and we'll try to offer an answer.