Introduction
The
Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the absolute latest
and greatest software the Open Source Community has to offer. The
Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 5 is the fifth alpha release of Ubuntu 9.04,
bringing with it a number of new features to improve daily computing.
This
is still an alpha release. Do not install it on production machines.
The final stable version will be released on April 23rd, 2009.
Upgrading from Ubuntu 8.10
To upgrade from Ubuntu 8.10, press Alt+F2 and type in "update-manager -d" (without the quotes) into the command box. Update Manager should open up and tell you: New distribution release '9.04' is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.
New features in Jaunty
These features are showcased for your attention. Please test them and report any bugs you find on Launchpad:
Updated packages
As
with every new release, packages--applications and software of all
kinds--are being updated at a rapid pace. For a list of all packages
being accepted for 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, please subscribe to
Jaunty-changes:
X.Org server 1.6
The latest X.Org
server, version 1.6, is available in Jaunty. For a little while, this
will again cause increased instability for some users while the
proprietary video drivers catch up.
Font size optimization
Font
dot-per-inch settings are now optimized based on your monitor's
capabilities, rather than defaulting to 96 dpi. You can further
customize your dpi settings via System ? Preferences ? Appearance ? Fonts ? Details...
New style for notifications and notification preferences
Included in Jaunty is a simple menu which can be used to set preferences for notification icons, such
as where they pop up on the taskbar. There is a possibility that Ubuntu
9.04 will get a whole new notification system, as shown in the Flash
movie here:
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/jaunty904_notifications_example1_web_092.swf
Linux kernel 2.6.28
Alpha 5 includes the 2.6.28-8.26 kernel based on 2.6.28.7.
Ext4 filesystem support
Alpha
5 supports the option of installing the new ext4 file system. ext3 will
remain the default filesystem for Jaunty, and we will consider ext4 as
the default for the next release based on user feedback.
Alpha 5 adds Ext4 support to gparted (Curtis Gedak).
Download Alpha 5
Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:
Known issues
As
is to be expected at this stage of the release process, there are
several known bugs that users are likely to run into with Jaunty Alpha
5. We have documented them here for your convenience along with any
known workarounds, so that you don't need to spend time reporting these
bugs again:
-
The
installer sometimes fails to tell the kernel to reload the partition
table during partitioning. This is a race condition, so not everyone
will be affected, but if you are then you may have to re-try
partitioning a few times before it completes successfully. We believe
that the main problem lies in udev, and will be fixing that immediately
after Alpha 5. 334278
-
A
new XServer, version 1.6, is included in Alpha 4. The binary
proprietary fglrx driver is not yet supported for this server and will
exhibit various serious issues if run against it. Users of this driver
are encouraged to wait or to switch to the open source -ati driver in
the meantime. 313027
-
Users
of Intel i845 or i865 video chipsets are unable to load X, getting an
error message of "Fatal server error: Couldn't bind memory for BO front
buffer". Users on these systems are advised to wait for a resolution to
this bug before upgrading. 304871
-
OEM
configuration fails in Jaunty Alpha 5 due to a repeating error pop-up
when setting up the end user. This bug will be resolved for Jaunty
Alpha 6. 334281
-
Users
testing the ARM images on NSLU2 systems will need to take special
measures to avoid time-consuming locale generation. Use the 'Go back'
button in the installer, select "Change debconf priority" from the main
menu, and select medium priority; once at the detailed locale selection
screen, de-select all locales. Detailed instructions can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ARM/NSLU2. In Jaunty Alpha 6, this will be handled by default.
-
Ctrl-Alt-Backspace
is now disabled, to reduce issues experienced by users who accidentally
trigger the key combo. Users who do want this function can enable it in
their xorg.conf, or via the command dontzap --disable.
-
Font
sizes may be abnormally small or large on monitors which mis-report
their capabilities. If you suspect this may be the case, please see X/Troubleshooting/HugeFonts for steps to troubleshoot this issue.
