The release candidate of Ubuntu Linux 5.04 is available. Here the full announcement:

The Ubuntu Team is proud to announce a release candidate for Ubuntu 5.04

Ubuntu 5.04 RC - codenamed "Hoary Hedgehog" (*)

This release candidate is a preliminary version of what you will see in Hoary when it makes its full release next week. The release candidate includes both Install and Live CDs for Intel/x86, PowerPC and AMD64, which can be found here:

United Kingdom: http://releases.ubuntu.com/hoary/
Sweden: http://se.releases.ubuntu.com/hoary/

Please use the .torrent downloads if you can. This will provide a faster download and save bandwidth costs for the download mirrors. For more information on BitTorrent, see http://www.bittorrent.com/



There are many new additions in Ubuntu 5.04. A long partial list is available in the announcement for the preview version of Hoary sent a few weeks ago, you can read it here:
http://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2005-March/000019.html

Also exciting is the simultaneous release of the Kubuntu release candidate:

Kubuntu 5.04 RC - "Hoary Hedgehog"

Kubuntu is a community driven flavour of Ubuntu designed to work with KDE rather than GNOME. Kubuntu release candidate CD images are available here:

United Kingdom: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/hoary/rc/

You can find more information about Kubuntu at the Kubuntu homepage here:

http://www.kubuntu.org

The final version of Ubuntu 5.04 is expected to be released within about one week. We are announcing this release candidate in order to promote wider testing before the final release, so if you encounter any unexpected problems, please report them to Ubuntu Bugzilla at

http://bugzilla.ubuntu.com/

At release time, we will be mailing shrinkwrapped CDs free of charge to anyone who signs up for one. To receive a complimentary copy of the Hoary Hedgehog CD -- or a handful to give to your friends, your school or LUG, place your request at the URL below. If you requested CDs before, you'll need to log in and update your order:

http://shipit.ubuntu.com/

You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this release candidate on our website, IRC channel and wiki. If you're new to Ubuntu, please visit:

http://www.ubuntu.com/

The community behind Ubuntu has continued to grow since our last release. There are many ways to track Ubuntu development and to participate in mailing lists, forums, and in focused teams. Teams include new Local Community Teams that help coordinate Ubuntu advocacy and support for users in communities around the world. Visit our community page for more information:

http://www.ubuntu.com/community/

To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's very low volume announcement list at:

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

(*) Hoary, adj., So old as to inspire veneration; ancient. In case you were wondering.