The Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source Community has to offer. The Karmic Koala Alpha 1 is the first alpha release of Ubuntu 9.10, bringing with it the earliest new features for the next version of Ubuntu.

This is an alpha release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released on October 29th, 2009.

To upgrade from Ubuntu 9.04 on a desktop system, 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 '9.10' is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.

To upgrade from Ubuntu 9.04 on a server system: install the update-manager-core package if it is not already installed; edit /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades and set Prompt=normal; launch the upgrade tool with the command sudo do-release-upgrade; and follow the on-screen instructions.

Development for Karmic just recently opened and many of the new features have not yet started to appear. Currently the changes include the sync of packages from Debian Unstable or Sid has begun, a new kernel based on 2.6.30 and the latest development release of GNOME, 2.27.1.

Please test and report any bugs you find:

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

As with every new release, packages--applications and software of all kinds--are being updated at a rapid pace. Many of these packages come from an automatic sync from Debian's Unstable branch. For a list of all packages being accepted for 9.10 Karmic Koala, please subscribe to karmic-changes:

• https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/karmic-changes

Ubuntu Karmic Alpha 1 includes the latest GNOME 2.27.1 development release.

Alpha 1 includes the 2.6.30-5.6 kernel based on 2.6.30-rc5.

Karmic Alpha 1's underlying technology for power management and laptop Fn key maps was moved from "hal" (which is going to be deprecated soon) to "DeviceKit-power" and "udev-extras". When testing Alpha 1, please pay particular attention to regressions in those two areas and report bugs.

In later Karmic milestones the Intel video driver will most probably switch from the current "EXA" acceleration method to the new "UXA". This will solve major performance problems of Ubuntu 9.04, but is still not as stable as EXA, which is why it is not yet enabled by default. We invite you to help testing UXA, please see the instructions and feedback page.

Feedback about the new "kernel mode setting" feature is also heavily appreciated. This will reduce video mode switching flicker at booting, and dramatically speed up suspend/resume. Please see the instructions and feedback page for details.

Karmic uses GCC-4.4 as the default compiler, which in some parts is more strict than GCC-4.3, see list of changes. Please make sure to test packages on karmic or in a karmic chroot before upload.

Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/karmic/alpha-1/ (Ubuntu Alternates, Server, Netbook Remix, and MID)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-1/ (Kubuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/karmic/alpha-1/ (Xubuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/karmic/alpha-1/ (Ubuntu ARM)

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 Karmic Alpha 1. 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:

• There are no desktop CDs with live systems available, since the current kernel still lacks support for the "aufs" file system.

• English language support is not installed by default. This, and full support for many other languages is currently not installable due to openoffice.org-l10n failing to build.

It should come as no surprise that this alpha release of Karmic Koala 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/

You can find out more about Ubuntu on the Ubuntu website and Ubuntu wiki.

To sign up for future Ubuntu development announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's development announcement list at:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-announce