We’re preparing to release Kubuntu 11.10, the Oneiric Ocelot, in October 2011. With this beta pre-release, you can see where we are with our bug fixing and polishing of the official release. Read on for some feature highlights and information about known issues.

NOTE: This is an beta pre-release. Kubuntu Pre-releases are NOT recommended for:

Regular users who are not aware of pre-release issues

Anyone who needs a stable system

Anyone uncomfortable running a possibly frequently broken system

Anyone in a production environment with data or workflows that need to be reliable

Kubuntu Pre-releases ARE recommended for:

Regular users who want to help us test by finding, reporting, and/or fixing bugs

Kubuntu developers

Getting Kubuntu 11.10 Beta 2

Upgrading from Previous Versions

To upgrade to Kubuntu 11.10 from an older release, follow the Upgrade Instructions. Please be aware of the known issues, as one effects upgrading.

Download a Disk Image

Instructions for burning the image to a CD/DVD or USB flash drive can be found on the Burning ISO Howto.

We recommend you learn how to check your CD image so your pre-release is as it’s supposed to be. Compare your MD5 checksum with the correct ones found alongside the CD images.

Beta 2 Highlights

Plasma and Applications 4.7

The latest stable release of KDE's Plasma Workspaces and Applications brings new features and improvements all around. Highlights include:

Visual updates include a new Oxygen icon theme

A cleaner default look to Dolphin

Gwenview's new ability to compare two or more images

New breadcrumb feature in the Kickoff menu that simplifies navigating submenus

More improvements in the Network Management widget

More details can be found here and here.

KDE Personal Information Management Suite 4.7

We’re happy to bring you the new KDEPIM suite, which includes the Kmail 2. The look and feel is familiar, but under the hood, most of the applications have been updated to use the Akonadi storage service. This will enable better email, calendar, and other PIM activities moving forward.

IMPORTANT: Do note that this is a major upgrade to the mail, calendar and addressbook systems, and as such still needs usage and migration testing. While loss of data should not be an issue, it is highly recommended to back up all important data, mail, contact information, and calendars if you plan to test upgrading to 11.10.

Amarok 2.4.3

This new and improved version of the default music player features native support for remote NFS & SMB/CIFS collections, a better looking user interface, support for gpodder.net, as well as vastly improved reliability.

For more information have a look at the release announcements of Amarok 2.4.1 and 2.4.3

Test Drive OpenGL ES Powered Desktop Effects

For those adventurous and curious, we’ve packaged the work towards using a more compatible and reliable version of OpenGL, OpenGL ES. This new technology is particular interesting in the not so distant future for mobile devices.

To try running your system desktop effects on OpenGL ES install “kde-window-manager-gles”. More information can be found on Martin Gräßlin's blog (that's "graesslin").

New from Kubuntu

Muon Suite 1.2

The Kubuntu team is proud to present our new suite of tools for installing and managing software. Installing of .deb packages, updating, and software management is all part of this new, integrated suite, specifically designed to work with Debian style package management. Check out Jonathan Thomas’s Blog for more info.

Muon Software Center

Accessing thousands of free applications for your computer has never been easier. The Muon Software Center provides an easy-to-use way to access extra applications, games and accessories to further customize your desktop. Applications come with ratings and reviews for each application from the wider Ubuntu community, as well as with screenshot previews to help you make informed decisions.

Muon Package Manager

For the budding system administrator, the Muon Package Manager provides a powerful feature set with a usability-driven interface. With its lightning-fast quick-search and extensive filtering abilities, you should have no trouble finding exactly the right package. From selective upgrades to package pinning to mass package removal, the Muon Package Manager should give you every tool you need to quickly and efficiently administer your system.

Low-Fat Settings

Kubuntu introduces Kubuntu-Low-Fat-Settings: a collection of configuration options that reduce memory usage and even speed up KDE's loading time. This will help Kubuntu run better on older, lower-end systems.

Some of the many tweaks include:

Turning off compositing by default.

Disabling the automatic loading of various modules, such as bluedevil, the free space notifier, some Nepomuk services, and a other components.

Reducing the number of default Krunner plugins that are loaded automatically.

Reducing the amount of graphical effects used in the window decoration.

Significant reductions in memory usage (up to 32%) and the subsequent savings in KDE's loading time (up to 33%) can be had simply by installing the package "kubuntu-low-fat-settings"!

From the Ubuntu Community

Read the Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 2 Technical Overview for the updates on kernel drivers, better backwards compatibility for 64-bit machines, and other improvements.

Known Problems

639933 Some users may experience issues while updating from a previous version to the beta. There are proposed fixes for those brave enough to ignore the issue until officially resolved.

805906 Shutdown in the live session under VirtualBox sometimes does not work and seems to just hang on the desktop. Just restart the computer with the power button in that case, there is no possibility of data loss.

KDE Bug 275469: A window may retain a taskbar entry after closing the application.

855763 Installer crash is not fixed on the i386 alternate ISO, so oem-config installations are not possible from just this one image.

Feedback

We want to hear your opinions on this beta.

Do we “Ama rok ”?

Did a feature make or break your day?

What do you flat-out dislike?

Take a look at the Ubuntu Code of Conduct, try Kubuntu 11.10 Beta 2 and head on over to the Feedback Page. Your input is an invaluable resource, so do take the time to write down your thoughts and let us know what you think!