Feisty Fawn Herd 4 is now available for download:
Ubuntu "Feisty Fawn" 7.04 has two more months before its planned release on April 19th. Herd 4, the fourth alpha release is another milestone on the road to final release. Herd 4 is the first herd release after Feature Freeze, meaning testing is very much needed and each alpha/beta release from now on will require extensive testing to guarantee rock-solid stability in the final version.
Note: This is still an alpha release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released in April 2007.
GNOME 2.17.91
Although not many features were added after the 2.17.90 release, the latest unstable release still included many bug fixes, and various application updates.
Orca 2.17.91
Numerous bug fixes which allow for better compatibility with Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org and other applications. Usability bug fixes such as window focus and preferences window.
Totem 2.17.91
This new version of Totem brings with it the usual multitude of bug-fixes, along with support for more mimetypes and more robust back-ends.
Nautilus and Deskbar
Nautilus and Deskbar have both seen their fair share of the new point release's requisite bug fixes.
Migration-Assistant
Just in time for Feature Freeze, migration-assistant 0.3.1 was uploaded to main and the accompanying changes were merged into Ubiquity. Migration Assistant is a program that ties into Ubiquity and Debian Installer, and allows users to import documents and settings from their previous operating systems and convert them into their Ubuntu equivalents during a dual-boot installation.
Examples
For music, it will pull "My Music" into Music and set the necessary settings so Rhythmbox starts with all of their existing music already available. It will also merge settings from multiple sources. So if you have Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer installed under windows it will create a single set of bookmarks from all three of them.
How to Test
Forewarned: Since Migration Assistant and the new partition manager are unstable, it is crucial that you back up any and all data before testing. Simply add '--migration-assistant' to the options for running Ubiquity. Then run Ubiquity as you would normally. Please report bugs to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/migration-assistant/+bugs
Easy Codec Installation
Double click on a media file for which you do not have the codec
Kernel
Feisty's kernel is VMI enabled, for improved performance when running on VMware hypervisors. VMI paravirtualization can be enabled in VMware Workstation 6.0 beta http://www.vmware.com/products/beta/ws/.
Artwork
For Feisty all new artwork is trickling in, for Herd 4 we see a new Desktop Background image, and a Usplash image that has more 'bling'.
Help Center
In order to make Help more accessible, Herd 4 features a brand new Help Center with a easier to use interface that is more stylish.
Download Herd 4
Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/feisty/herd-4/ (Ubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/feisty/herd-4/ (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/feisty/herd-4/ (Edubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/feisty/herd-4/ (Xubuntu)
Reporting Bugs & Testing
Feisty Fawn has bugs! (I bet you're not surprised). Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve future releases. After reading https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs please report bugs through Malone.
If you want to help out with those bugs, the Bug Squad team in Launchpad is always looking for help.
If you plan to do an installation of Feisty Herd 4, be sure to head to [Testing]. With just a few minutes of time at your hands, you can really help to improve Ubuntu. We have two different tests; one takes just a short while, but the other is more through.
Testing/Current - Simply note how your installation went
Testing/Short - the short test
Testing/Long - the longer test
Participate in Ubuntu
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/
More Information
You can find out more about Ubuntu on our website and 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
Ubuntu "Feisty Fawn" 7.04 has two more months before its planned release on April 19th. Herd 4, the fourth alpha release is another milestone on the road to final release. Herd 4 is the first herd release after Feature Freeze, meaning testing is very much needed and each alpha/beta release from now on will require extensive testing to guarantee rock-solid stability in the final version.
Note: This is still an alpha release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released in April 2007.
GNOME 2.17.91
Although not many features were added after the 2.17.90 release, the latest unstable release still included many bug fixes, and various application updates.
Orca 2.17.91
Numerous bug fixes which allow for better compatibility with Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org and other applications. Usability bug fixes such as window focus and preferences window.
Totem 2.17.91
This new version of Totem brings with it the usual multitude of bug-fixes, along with support for more mimetypes and more robust back-ends.
Nautilus and Deskbar
Nautilus and Deskbar have both seen their fair share of the new point release's requisite bug fixes.
Migration-Assistant
Just in time for Feature Freeze, migration-assistant 0.3.1 was uploaded to main and the accompanying changes were merged into Ubiquity. Migration Assistant is a program that ties into Ubiquity and Debian Installer, and allows users to import documents and settings from their previous operating systems and convert them into their Ubuntu equivalents during a dual-boot installation.
Examples
For music, it will pull "My Music" into Music and set the necessary settings so Rhythmbox starts with all of their existing music already available. It will also merge settings from multiple sources. So if you have Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer installed under windows it will create a single set of bookmarks from all three of them.
How to Test
Forewarned: Since Migration Assistant and the new partition manager are unstable, it is crucial that you back up any and all data before testing. Simply add '--migration-assistant' to the options for running Ubiquity. Then run Ubiquity as you would normally. Please report bugs to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/migration-assistant/+bugs
Easy Codec Installation
Double click on a media file for which you do not have the codec
Kernel
Feisty's kernel is VMI enabled, for improved performance when running on VMware hypervisors. VMI paravirtualization can be enabled in VMware Workstation 6.0 beta http://www.vmware.com/products/beta/ws/.
Artwork
For Feisty all new artwork is trickling in, for Herd 4 we see a new Desktop Background image, and a Usplash image that has more 'bling'.
Help Center
In order to make Help more accessible, Herd 4 features a brand new Help Center with a easier to use interface that is more stylish.
Download Herd 4
Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/feisty/herd-4/ (Ubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/feisty/herd-4/ (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/feisty/herd-4/ (Edubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/feisty/herd-4/ (Xubuntu)
Reporting Bugs & Testing
Feisty Fawn has bugs! (I bet you're not surprised). Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve future releases. After reading https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs please report bugs through Malone.
If you want to help out with those bugs, the Bug Squad team in Launchpad is always looking for help.
If you plan to do an installation of Feisty Herd 4, be sure to head to [Testing]. With just a few minutes of time at your hands, you can really help to improve Ubuntu. We have two different tests; one takes just a short while, but the other is more through.
Testing/Current - Simply note how your installation went
Testing/Short - the short test
Testing/Long - the longer test
Participate in Ubuntu
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/
More Information
You can find out more about Ubuntu on our website and 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
