A few minutes ago, the Ubuntu development team unleashed the third and last Alpha release of the upcoming Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system, due for release in October 10th, 2010. As usual, we've downloaded a copy of it in order to keep you up-to-date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 10.10 development.

What's new in Ubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3? Do you remember the OneConf software introduced by Softpedia a couple of months ago? Well, you should know that the first version has been released and it is available in the default software repositories. OneConf can be easily installed via the Synaptic Package Manager and it will allow users to synchronize the applications installed on all of their Ubuntu desktop or laptop/netbook machines, via the Ubuntu One service. After the installation, OneConf can be found in the File menu of the Ubuntu Software Center application and it is entitled "Inventory on Ubuntu One." Below you can see some screenshots of OneConf in action ...

Moreover, the "What's New" and "Featured" sections of the Ubuntu Software Center, introduced in the Alpha 2 release, were improved. Also introduced in the second Alpha version, there's a History plugin that will keep an evidence of what packages you have installed, removed or updated...

Ubuntu Software Center 2.1.7 in Ubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3

GNOME 2.31.6 is now the default desktop environment, and most of its components were updated to the latest development version. Mozilla Firefox was updated to version 3.6.8 and the Transmission BitTorrent client to version 2.03.

The kernel packages were updated to version 2.6.35-14.19, based on the final release of Linux kernel 2.6.35.

Last but not least, the highly anticipated Btrfs filesystem can now be safely used on new installations, via manual partitioning. Remember that you MUST create an EXT3 or EXT4 /boot partition first.

Shotwell is now the default photo management application in Ubuntu Netbook Edition.

What's new in Kubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3? Well, this third Alpha version of Kubuntu 10.10 is built on top of the newly released KDE Software Compilation 4.5 RC3, which brings many attractive features.

What's new in Xubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3? Well, the third Alpha version of Xubuntu 10.10 is built on top of the Xfce 4.6.2 desktop environment, which has updated applications and many overall improvements. There are also new default programs in Xubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3: Totem Movie Player was replaced with Parole, Brasero was replaced with Xfburn, and Gnome Task Manager was replaced by the xfce4-taskmanager app.

Kubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3

Xubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3

On October 10th, 2010, Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) will become the thirteenth release of the Ubuntu operating system. See you again in exactly one month (September 2nd), for the first Beta version of the upcoming Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system.

The Maverick Meerkat Release Schedule:

June 3rd, 2010 - Alpha 1 release; July 1st, 2010 - Alpha 2 release; August 5th, 2010 - Alpha 3 release; September 2nd, 2010 - Beta release; September 30th, 2010 - Release Candidate; October 10th, 2010 - Final release of Ubuntu 10.10.

Download Ubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Server 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Studio 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu Netbook Remix 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Download Xubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Download Edubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu ARM 10.10 Alpha 3 (Maverick Meerkat) right now from Softpedia.

Remember that this is an alpha 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.