Friday, April 20, 2007

Ubuntu Linux 7.04 - Feisty Fawn

Today Ubuntu 7.04 was released.

7.04 brings with it Ubuntu's new live install. Previous versions of Ubuntu used to ship 2 CD-ROMs, one for demos, the Live CD, and one for installs. Now these are combined to create what I think is the ultimate installer. Ubuntu now boots up a full working version of the OS from CD with an icon on the desktop labeled "install" you can play around with most of the Ubuntu software including games and the Firefox web browser before or DURING the install process. This is a huge leap forward and I'd love to see windows and MacOS follow suit and give the techies the ability to browse the web at least while the OS installs.

Also new in the installer is the migration assistant that looks for compatible previous OSes on your hard disk and attempts to import users and data from them into your new Ubuntu install. That is also a nice feature that I'd like to see replicated on other OSes.

7.04 server edition also includes optimized Virtual Machine support for Kernel-based Virtual Machines (KVM) and VMware.

I may write a bit more about Ubuntu 7.04 later as I get a chance to use it more, but for now I just wanted to say I LOVE the new installer.

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