A few minutes ago, the Ubuntu developers unleashed the third alpha version of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system, which is scheduled for release in late October 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 9.10 development.

What's new in Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3? It has been about six weeks since the last alpha release, therefore the developers had some time to introduce new technologies and features to this version. Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 has a new development version of the GNOME desktop environment, 2.27.4, which brings cool new features. Here are the most important features of Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3:

1. Sad news for Pidgin fans, as the development team decided to replace it with the Empathy instant messenger client.

Brasero now shows how much free space is available on the disk

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The revamped login manager

Ubutnu One, available from the Internet menu entry

The new notifications

The Ubuntu start page in Firefox 3

What's new in Kubuntu and Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3? The good news is that Kubuntu now has its own "Netbook Remix" Edition (see below for download links). This version contains the KDE 4.3 RC2 desktop environment and the following applications:

· Arora Web Browser (replaces Konqueror) · Amarok 2.1.1 · KPackageKit 0.4.1.1 · K3b 1.66.0 (alpha 2) · QtCurve 0.65.1 · kcm-gtk 0.5 · KDE microblogging Plasma widget

Kubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) Alpha 3 with KDE 4.3 RC2

Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3

The Karmic Koala Release Schedule:

May 14th, 2009 - Alpha 1 release June 11th, 2009 - Alpha 2 release July 23rd, 2009 - Alpha 3 release August 13th, 2009 - Alpha 4 release September 3rd, 2009 - Alpha 5 release September 17th, 2009 - Alpha 6 release October 1st, 2009 - Beta release October 22nd, 2009 - Release Candidate October 29th, 2009 - Final release of Ubuntu 9.10

Download Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Server 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Kubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Xubuntu 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) right now from Softpedia.

Download Ubuntu Studio 9.10 Alpha 3 (Karmic Koala) 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.