New features since Ubuntu 9.10

These features are showcased for your attention. Please test them and report any bugs you find:   

• http://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs   

Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 2 includes the latest GNOME desktop environment with a number of great new features.   

Default search engine has been changed to Yahoo! The default Home Page will use either Google or Yahoo! depending on user setting.   

Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 2 includes the 2.6.32-16.25 kernel based on 2.6.32.9.   

Kubuntu 10.04 Beta 2 features the new KDE SC 4.4. For more information about new features in Kubuntu, see the Kubuntu technical overview.   

This beta sports full removal of HAL from the boot process, making Ubuntu faster to boot and faster to resume from suspend.   

The likewise-open package, which provides Active Directory authentication and server support for Linux, has been updated to version 5.4. The package supports upgrades from both the officially supported versions 4.0 (Ubuntu 8.04 LTS) and 4.1 (Ubuntu 9.10), as well as the likewise-open5 packages from universe.

Since this upgrade involves a lot of configuration file changes and in-place database upgrades, testing and feedback is appreciated.

The Nouveau video driver is now the default for nVidia hardware. This driver provides kernel mode setting, which will give improved resolution detection. This driver provides hardware accelerated 2D functionality, like the -nv driver it replaces. The nouveau driver is being actively developed upstream and we anticipate this will enable faster bug fixes for problems encountered.

Three different NVIDIA proprietary drivers are currently available: nvidia-current (190.53), nvidia-173, and nvidia-96. Thanks to a new alternatives system, it is now possible to install all three of these packages at the same time (although it is only possible to have one configured for use at a time).

We now feature built-in integration with Twitter, identi.ca, Facebook, and other social networks with the MeMenu in the panel, which is built upon the Gwibber project, which has a completely new, more reliable backend built on top of desktopcouch. Gwibber now also supports a multi-column view for monitoring multiple feeds simultaneously.

Multiple changes to look, feel and speed of the boot experience have been included in the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS beta.

The notification area now features more consistent user experience and design for communication, session management, and many other tasks. See the application indicators page for information on this change.

The desktop has been beautified with the addition of two brand new themes, Ambiance and Radiance. New wallpaper and icons are also included.

Select any folder in your home directory for sync, pick from your existing contacts when sharing folders. An updated preferences application has been added, with more features.

Millions of songs are available for purchase from your Ubuntu desktop, integrated with the Rhythmbox Music Player and using Ubuntu One cloud storage for backup and easy sync. Watch http://one.ubuntu.com/blog for the public beta launch.

The Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud installer has been vastly improved in order to support alternative installation topologies. UEC components are now automatically discovered and registered, including for complex topologies. Finally, UEC is now powered by Eucalyptus 1.6.2 codebase.

If you installed Lucid prior to Alpha 3, you may have libmysqlclient16 7.0.9-1 installed. This package was present in the Ubuntu archive by mistake and was retracted, but because it has a later version number than the real libmysqlclient16 package, the real package will not be installed automatically on upgrade. To ensure that you have the official package installed on your Lucid system and will receive security support for it throughout Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, it is important that you run sudo apt-get install libmysqlclient16/lucid and follow the instructions.

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 Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 2. 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:

• Because of the new alternatives system used for nvidia driver packages, the nvidia installer from NVIDIA's website currently doesn't work.

• Activating a RAID 1 array in degraded mode is reported to lead to RAID disks being reported as in sync when they are not, resulting in data loss. Since RAID 1 arrays will automatically be brought up in degraded mode when a member disk is unavailable, users with production software RAID 1 disks are advised not to upgrade to the 10.04 LTS Beta until this bug is resolved. (557429)

• When installing with the Kubuntu alternate CD in OEM mode, the "prepare for shipping" icon is absent from the desktop after install. As a workaround, users can use the Kubuntu desktop CD. This issue will be resolved for the 10.04 LTS release. (557309)

• If additional packages are selected for installation in OEM mode, a message will be shown at user configuration time that "An error occurred while installing packages" if no network connection is available. This issue will be resolved for the 10.04 LTS release. (539710)

• LVM, RAID, or encrypted block devices are incorrectly limited to 2TiB. This issue will be resolved for the 10.04 LTS release. (543838)

• The "Reboot now" option in the Wubi installer will sometimes fail to reboot Windows. To work around this issue, you can reboot manually to Ubuntu. (543032)

• Due to a seed issue, Edubuntu doesn't have its artwork in this release. That can easily be fixed post-installation by manually installing the edubuntu-artwork package.

It should come as no surprise that this beta release of Lucid Lynx contains other bugs. Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve future releases. Please report bugs using the tools provided.

If you want to help out with bugs, the Bug Squad is always looking for help.

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at

• http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/