Whats New in Ubuntu 6.10

Linux Ubuntu

I am excited all over again on the new release of Ubuntu. Expected to be released next month but the beta version is currently availabe for download. It has:

  • Firefox 2.0 RC 1 (code named: Bon Echo):
    • New Theme (Tangerine) and user interface have been updated to improve usability.
    • It has inline spell check support in web forms.
    • You can now restore session that crashed.
    • Bebuilt in phishing protection, Phishing Protection warns users when they encounter suspected Web forgeries, and offers to return the user to their home page. Phishing Protection is turned on by default, and works by checking sites against either a local or online list of known phishing sites. This list is automatically downloaded and regularly updated when the Phishing Protection feature is enabled.
    • Enhanced search engine management with built in OpenSearch support
    • Improved tab support: By default, Firefox will open links in new tabs instead of new windows. Each tab will now have a close tab button and users who open more tabs than can fit in a single window will see arrows on the left and right side of the tab strip. Epiphany had these features since some time now. and I found them very useful. History menu will keep a list of recently closed tabs, and a shortcut lets users quickly re-open an accidentally closed tab.
    • Improved support for previewing and subscribing to web feeds.
  • GNOME 2.16: I am currently using Gnome 2.14.3, so I checked out whats new in Gnome.
    • Laptop support has improved with the integration of power management support. Since I don’t use a laptop so I don’t think that this tool would benefit me anyways. But it is quite obvious that it is going to help lots of other users.
    • A new utility Baobab now displays Disk usage, available free space and other useful information about your hard disks. Particularly useful for me.
    • Totem has new support for reading and writing XSPF playlists, an open standard allowing people to share playlists.
    • You can now preview a screensaver in fullscreen. Just a few days ago I was showing screensavers to my younger brother we talked about this feature and now it is made available.
    • You can now also use Reminder Notes from existing GroupWise accounts by using Evolution. I don’t use Evolution, I use Thunderbird + Gmail.
    • Improvements in menus, graphics and eye candy.
  • OpenOffice.org 2.0.4 RC 2: I checked OpenOffice.org 2.0.4 RC 2, OpenOffice.org says “The software is not recommended for production deployment at this stage.” I am sure that Ubuntu maintainers had some solid reasons for this upgrade. Ubuntu Edgy Beta’s release notes mention this upgrade as “This is mostly a security and bugfix release, dealing with specific issues regarding sandboxing of Java applets and macros.”
  • F-spot has replaced gthumb. F-spot allows easy tagging, editing and uploading to various online photo websites, including Flickr. Hence, making the photo sharing easier.
  • Faster Boot and shut down with new Upstart – init. On my machine Ubuntu shut downs quickly but it takes a long time to boot. I have tried many solutions to improve this but still it is not fast enough.

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0 thoughts on “Whats New in Ubuntu 6.10

  1. Hello!
    I’m using edgy, right now, and I must say it works pretty well, despite everything people say (including on ubuntu-fr forums).
    But there is a taste of “not enough”…I don’t know how to explain, but still, it’s there :p

    Not as much difference from dapper as expected…

    Whatever, it will be fine with feisty :d

    Splitsch

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