The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the first beta release of Ubuntu 12.10 Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products.

Codenamed "Quantal Quetzal", 12.10 continues Ubuntu’s proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs.

For the client, this release now has a consolidated Ubuntu image. There is no longer a traditional CD sized image, DVD or alternate image, but rather a single 800MB Ubuntu image that can be used from USB or DVD. This change does not affect Ubuntu Server, which remains a traditional CD sized image.

With Ubuntu 12.10, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Lubuntu, and Ubuntu Studio also reached Beta 1 status today. These images, along with Xubuntu will continue to have daily updates for the remainder of the release.

Ubuntu Changes

Some of the new features now available are:

The consolidated client images now support the logical volume manager (LVM) as well as full disk encryption.

Update Manager has been renamed Software Updater and now checks for updates when launched.

A new X.org stack has been introduced which includes xserver 1.13 candidate versions, mesa 9.0, and updated X libs and drivers.

Unity has been updated to version 6.4 including support for dash previews and coverflow view. Now that compiz with GLES support has landed, unity-3d works again on the pandaboard.

The Ubuntu desktop has begun migrating from Python 2 to Python 3. Most Python applications included in the desktop is now using Python 3, and most Python modules that are included by default are available for both Python 2 and Python 3.

Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ for details.

Ubuntu Server and Cloud Images

Some of the new features in the 12.10 beta images are:

ARM hard float (armhf) cloud images are now available.

OpenStack folsom testing packages are available. Openstack instance architecture testing support has been added, as has a heterogenous scheduler for ARM.

Apache Tomcat 7 is now the default supported version.

Ceph has updated to 0.48.1 (upstream argonaut stable release), and includes RADOS Gateway (S3 and Swift Compatible), as well as performance improvements.

Floodlight (Openflow Network Controller) and mininet (Network Simulation) packages are now available.

Kubuntu

Kubuntu 12.10 now comes on a 1GB image for a USB drive or DVD. In addition other significant changes include:

KDE’s plasma and applications have been updated to version 4.9.

Telepathy-KDE is now the default chat program offering easier setup for modern networks like Facebook and GTalk.

Calligra is now the default office and graphics suite adding top class painting and database applications.

The release of Rekonq 1 gives Kubuntu the stable web browser it deserves.

New login manager LightDM adds a guest session feature for letting your friends use your computer quickly.

Digikam 2.8 adds better photo handling.

OwnCloud 4 gives many web applications in your own remote or local cloud

Please see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/QuantalQuetzal/Beta1/Kubuntu for details.

Edubuntu

In Edubuntu 12.10, a new package called ‘edubuntu-netboot’ is introduced. This package now provides the functionality previously provided by ltsp-live and will also be used for casper-netboot.

In addition, Tomboy has been re-introduced and Gnote removed.

For more details on what has changed in Edubuntu 12.10, please refer to http://www.edubuntu.org .

Lubuntu

Lubuntu 12.10 has had a significant update of the visual identity, including new icon themes, wallpaper, and better integration with the applications. Other notable highlights include:

A new version of the session manager is available for testing.

A new version of pcmanfm (file manager), including at lot of bug fixes, external thumbnailer support, multiple screen support.

catfish, a searching utility, have been added to the default installation.

For more information about the changes in Lubuntu 12.10, please go to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu .

Ubuntu Studio

Ubuntu Studio 12.10 Beta 1 ships with:

A new MIDI router and MIDI tools menu have been added.

Task Manager has been switched to System Monitor for better memory use display.

Nautilus is now the default file manager.

Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/quantal/beta1 for more details on the above products.

About Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for clients, servers and clouds, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support.

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at: http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate .

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions really help us to improve this and future releases of Ubuntu. Instructions can be found at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs .

To Get Ubuntu 12.10 Beta 1

To upgrade to Ubuntu 12.10 Beta 1 from Ubuntu 12.04, follow these instructions:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/QuantalUpgrades

Or, download Ubuntu 12.10 Beta 1 images from a location near you:

http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/download (Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server) .

In addition they can be found at the following links:

The final version of Ubuntu 12.10 is expected to be released on October 18, 2012.

More Information

You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this beta release on our website, IRC channel and wiki.

To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu’s very low volume announcement list at:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce