The second alpha version of Ubuntu 17.10 is now available

his milestone features images for Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Ubuntu Budgie and Ubuntu Kylin.

Pre-releases of the Artful Aardvark 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 flavour developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs as we work towards getting this release ready.

Alpha 2 includes some software updates that are ready for wider testing, however, it is quite an early set of images, so you should expect some bugs.

While these Alpha 2 images have been tested and do work, except as noted in the release notes, Ubuntu developers are continuing to improve the Artful Aardvark. 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 17.10 the best Ubuntu release yet. Always ensure your system is up to date before reporting bugs.

[Lubuntu]
Lubuntu is a flavour of Ubuntu based on LXDE and focused on providing a very lightweight distribution.

The Lubuntu 17.10 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:
* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/artful/alpha-2/

More information about Lubuntu 17.10 Alpha 2 can be found here:
* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArtfulAardvark/Alpha2/Lubuntu

Also in this milestone is Lubuntu Next, an experimental flavour of Ubuntu based on LXQt and focused on providing a modern, lightweight, Qt-based distribution.

The Lubuntu Next 17.10 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:
* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu-next/releases/artful/alpha-2/

More information about Lubuntu Next 17.10 Alpha 2 can be found here:
* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArtfulAardvark/Alpha2/LubuntuNext

[Kubuntu]
Kubuntu is the KDE-based flavour of Ubuntu. It uses the KDE Plasma desktop and includes a wide selection of tools from the KDE project.

The Kubuntu 17.10 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:
* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/artful/alpha-2/

More information about Kubuntu 17.10 Alpha 2 can be found here:
* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArtfulAardvark/Alpha2/Kubuntu

[Ubuntu MATE]
Ubuntu MATE is the MATE Desktop based flavour of Ubuntu. It is ideal for those who want the most out of their computers and prefer a traditional desktop metaphor.

The Ubuntu MATE 17.10 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:
* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/17.10/alpha-2/

More information about Ubuntu MATE 17.10 Alpha 2 can be found here:
* https://ubuntu-mate.org/blog/ubuntu-mate-artful-alpha2/

[Ubuntu Budgie]
Ubuntu Budgie is the Budgie Desktop based flavour of Ubuntu. Combines the simplicity and elegance of the Budgie interface to produce a traditional desktop orientated distro with a modern paradigm.

The Ubuntu Budgie 17.10 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:
* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/releases/17.10/alpha-2/

More information about Ubuntu Budgie 17.10 Alpha 2 can be found here:
* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArtfulAardvark/Alpha2/UbuntuBudgie

[Ubuntu Kylin]
Ubuntu Kylin is a flavour of Ubuntu that is more suitable for Chinese users.

The Ubuntu Kylin 17.10 Alpha 2 images can be downloaded from:
* http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntukylin/releases/artful/alpha-2/

More information about Ubuntu Kylin 17.10 Alpha 2 can be found here:
* https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArtfulAardvark/Alpha2/UbuntuKylin

If you're interested in following the changes as we further develop the Artful Aardvark, we suggest that you subscribe to the ubuntu-devel-announce list. This is a low-traffic list (a few posts a week) carrying announcements of approved specifications, policy changes, alpha releases and other exciting 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!

On behalf of Ubuntu Release Team,

Simon Quigley & Dustin Krysak

  Ubuntu 17.10 Alpha 2 released