The second alpha of the Zesty Zapus (to become 17.04) has now been released!

This milestone features images for Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Kylin,
Ubuntu GNOME, and Ubuntu Budgie.

Pre-releases of the Zesty Zapus are *not* encouraged for anyone needing a stable
system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent
breakage. They are, however, recommended for Ubuntu flavor developers and those
who want to help in testing, reporting and fixing bugs as we work towards
getting this release ready.

Alpha 2 includes a number of software updates that are ready for wider testing.
This is still an early set of images, so you should expect some bugs.

While these Alpha 2 images have been tested and work, except as noted in the
release notes, Ubuntu developers are continuing to improve the Zesty Zapus. In
particular, once newer daily images are available, system installation bugs
identified in the Alpha 2 installer should be verified against the current daily
image before being reported in Launchpad. Using an obsolete image to re-report
bugs that have already been fixed wastes your time and the time of developers
who are busy trying to make 17.04 the best Ubuntu release yet. Always ensure
your system is up to date before reporting bugs.

Lubuntu:
Lubuntu is a flavor of Ubuntu based on LXDE and focused on providing
a very lightweight distribution.

The Lubuntu 17.04 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:

* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/zesty/alpha-2/

More information about Lubuntu 17.04 Alpha 2 can be found here:

* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ZestyZapus/Alpha2/Lubuntu

Ubuntu MATE:
Ubuntu MATE is a flavor of Ubuntu featuring the MATE desktop
environment for people who just want to get stuff done.

The Ubuntu MATE 17.04 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:

* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/zesty/alpha-2/

More information about Ubuntu MATE 17.04 Alpha 2 can be found here:

* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ZestyZapus/Alpha2/UbuntuMATE

Ubuntu Kylin:
Ubuntu Kylin is a flavor of Ubuntu that is more suitable for
Chinese users.

The Ubuntu Kylin 17.04 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:

* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntukylin/releases/zesty/alpha-2/

More information about Ubuntu Kylin 17.04 Alpha 2 can be found here:

* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ZestyZapus/Alpha2/UbuntuKylin

Kubuntu:
Kubuntu is the KDE based flavor of Ubuntu. It uses the Plasma desktop
and includes a wide selection of tools from the KDE project.

The Kubuntu 17.04 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:

* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/zesty/alpha-2/

More information about Kubuntu 17.04 Alpha 2 can be found here:

* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ZestyZapus/Alpha2/Kubuntu

Ubuntu GNOME:
Ubuntu GNOME is a flavor of Ubuntu featuring the GNOME desktop environment.

The Ubuntu GNOME 17.04 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:

* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-gnome/releases/zesty/alpha-2/

More information about Ubuntu GNOME 17.04 Alpha 2 can be found here:

* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ZestyZapus/Alpha2/UbuntuGNOME

Ubuntu Budgie:
Ubuntu Budgie is a flavor of Ubuntu featuring the Budgie desktop environment.

The Ubuntu GNOME 17.04 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:

* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/releases/zesty/alpha-2/

More information about Ubuntu GNOME 17.04 Alpha 2 can be found here:

* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ZestyZapus/Alpha2/UbuntuBudgie

If you're interested in following the changes as we further develop the Zesty
Zapus, we suggest that you subscribe to the ubuntu-devel-announce list. This is
a low-traffic list (a few posts a month or less) carrying announcements of
approved specifications, policy changes, alpha releases, and other interesting
events.

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

A big thank you to the developers and testers for their efforts to pull together
this Alpha release, and welcome Ubuntu Budgie!

On behalf of the Ubuntu Release Team,

Simon Quigley