The first beta of Ubuntu 11.10 has been released. The next beta will be released on September 22nd, 2011.

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 1.

Codenamed "Oneiric Ocelot", 11.10 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of
integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a
high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at
work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs.

This release introduces a new set images called Ubuntu Core. These
include a minimal software and are can be used as the basis for
customized Ubuntu distributions and products.

The DVD images have been slimmed down to 1.5GB, retaining a complete
set of language packs, for faster downloading and use on USB drives.

With Ubuntu 11.10, we also welcome a new Ubuntu family member, Lubuntu!
Lubuntu, together with Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, Mythbuntu,
and Ubuntu Studio also reached Beta 1 status today.


Ubuntu Changes
--------------

Some of the new features now available are:

DVD images have been revised into extended desktop images with
additional language support and a few extra applications, and thereby
reduced to a more manageable size of around 1.5 GB.

"Lenses" (formerly "Places") now integrate multiple sources and advanced
filtering like ratings, range, categories.

Thunderbird is included as default email client including menu and
launcher integration.

DÃjà Dup is included as the default backup tool, making it easy to
create backups and upload them to Ubuntu One.

The new gwibber landed in Oneiric bringing improved performance and a
new interface using the most recent GNOME technologies.

GNOME got updated to current unstable version (3.1.5) on its way to
GNOME 3.2

LightDM now uses the new Unity greeter by default.

The indicators have been visually refreshed, including a refactoring of
the session indicator and a new power indicator.

The Ubuntu Software Center adds new "top rated" views to the main
category page and all subcategory pages, it allows you to edit or delete
your own reviews, and has had a significant speedup for standalone deb
file installation.


And we continue to improve the underlying infrastructure:

Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 1 enables support for installing 32-bit library and
application packages on 64-bit systems

Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 1 has a new kernel based on v3.0.3.

GNU toolchain has transitioned to be based off of gcc 4.6 for i386,
amd64, and ARM omap3/omap4 architectures.


Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ for details.


Ubuntu Server
-------------

Ubuntu Server now includes Orchestra, a collection of the best free
software services for provisioning, deploying, hosting, managing, and
orchestrating enterprise data center infrastructure services.

Ensemble is now available as well, it is a critical part of Ubuntu
Server designed to handle service deployment and orchestration for both
cloud and bare metal.

OpenStack has been updated to the latest Diablo-4 development release.


Ubuntu Core
-----------

Ubuntu Core is a new minimal rootfs for use in the creation of custom
images. Developers will be able to use Ubuntu Core as the basis for
their application demonstrations, constrained environment deployments,
device support packages, and other goals.


Kubuntu
-------

Kubuntu 11.10 Beta 1 sports the latest KDE software including KDE 4.7
Plasma Workspaces and Applications.

Along with KDE 4.7, 11.10 also introduces the new KDEPIM suite, which
includes the new Kmail 2.

The new Amarok 2.4.3 music player has several improvements to make it
easier to use.

Kubuntu has switched to providing the Muon Software Center and Muon
Package manager by default.

Please see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/OneiricOcelot/Beta1/Kubuntu for
details.


Xubuntu
-------

Xubuntu has changed several default applications: Pastebinit is now
included to make it easier to share information. Leafpad is now the
default text editor. gThumb has been added to assist with digital

The onscreen keyboard, Onboard, is now included in the default Xubuntu
menus, under Accessories. For those who require an onscreen keyboard,
this will be much easier to access using only a mouse or touchpad.


Edubuntu
--------

Oneiric Ocelot Beta 1 is the first release of Edubuntu to feature a
fully translated installer. LTSP Live has been re-written and is now
fully translatable and network-manager aware.

This beta also offers a refreshed look and feel with a new wallpaper and
login screen.

For more details on what has changed in Edubuntu 11.10, please refer to
http://www.edubuntu.org .


Mythbuntu
---------

Mythbuntu Oneiric Ocelot Beta 1 has transitioned over to the quicker
lightdm desktop manager and brings updated builds of MythTV.


Please see http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/oneiric/beta for more details
on the above products.


About Ubuntu
------------

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, and
servers, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases. A
tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and
an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and
hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information
about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support .

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 .

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions really help us to
improve this and future releases of Ubuntu. Instructions can be
found at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs .


To Get Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 1
--------------------------

To upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 1 from Ubuntu 11.04, follow
these instructions:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OneiricUpgrades

Or, download Ubuntu 11.10 Beta 1 images from a location near you:

http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/download (Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server)

In addition, they can be found at the following links:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/oneiric/ (Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server)
http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/oneiric/beta-1/
(Ubuntu Cloud Images)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/oneiric/beta-1/
(Ubuntu DVD, Alternates, pre-installed ARM Images)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/11.10/ (Ubuntu Netboot)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/oneiric/ (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/oneiric/beta-1/
(Kubuntu DVD)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/oneiric/beta-1/
(Xubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/oneiric/beta-1/
(Edubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/oneiric/beta-1/
(Ubuntu Studio)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/oneiric/beta-1/
(Mythbuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/oneiric/beta-1/
(Lubuntu)


The final version of Ubuntu 11.10 is expected to be released on
October 13 2011.