The first beta release of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Long-Term Support) Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products is now available

The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the first beta release of Ubuntu
12.04 LTS (Long-Term Support) Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products.

Codenamed "Precise Pangolin", 12.04 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 throughout this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs.

This release introduces a new set of images for the ARMv7 "hard float"
ABI, denoted as armhf. There are still some armel images around, as
we finish the migration, but 12.04 for ARM will be based on armhf.

The technology that allows GPUs to go into a very low power consumption
state when the GPU is idle (RC6) is now enabled by default for
Sandy Bridge systems, which should result in considerable power savings
when this stage is activated.

The CD image size has been adjusted to 703MB to squeeze in every
bit of package goodness we can on the installation CD images.

With Ubuntu 12.04, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, and
Ubuntu Studio also reached Beta 1 status today.

  Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) Beta 1 Released