Ubuntu 9.04, “Jaunty Jackalope,” hits RC status

Robert Hallock 17 Apr, 2009 at 12:50pm ET Article published in Tech

The Ubuntu team has moved Ubuntu 9.04, dubbed “Jaunty Jackalope,” into release candidacy. The curious and brave Linux users alike are encouraged to grab an ISO and give the newest version of Ubuntu a spin.

New features and fixes for Jaunty include:

Drastically improved CD burning.
Better multi-monitor support.
Big improvements in performance for modern Radeons.
Wacom tablet hotplugging.
Improved boot times.
And Ext4 file system support.

The release candidate arrives with GNOME 2.26, X.Org server 1.6 and kernel version 2.6.28.

If anyone is interested in giving the newest version of Linux’s finest a whirl, every civilized continent is carrying scads of mirrors right here.

Comments

17 Apr 2009 ~ 12:54pm GnomeWizardd Using it now on my lappy, Works great and is sexy
17 Apr 2009 ~ 12:55pm Snarkasm GWiz, how's the power management on the laptop now? I get significantly better battery life with 7 than I did with 8.10, which is what's kept me from running it when possible on the laptop.
17 Apr 2009 ~ 12:56pm MiracleManS If that's the case, I wish I had more hard drive space on my netbook. *sad panda*
17 Apr 2009 ~ 1:19pm GnomeWizardd I don't know yet, I haven't unplugged it! I will tonight when I am on the couch chilling
17 Apr 2009 ~ 10:09pm Cliff_Forster For the record, "Jaunty Jackalope" is the best code name for a piece of software, ever.
18 Apr 2009 ~ 11:47am Tim The next version will undoubtedly be "Krazy Kangaroo".

Version 8 wasn't out very long before 9 came out. Less than a year.
18 Apr 2009 ~ 12:49pm Snarkasm

They're SCHEDULED 6-MONTH RELEASES. Every April and every October they release an updated version. Twice a year. Every year.
18 Apr 2009 ~ 1:35pm mertesn Also, the version refers to the year during which it is released: 9.04 = April 2009.
19 Apr 2009 ~ 11:20pm mas0n

Big improvements in performance for modern Radeons.

The issues I had with 4000 series cards were enough for me to abandon Ubuntu altogether on my main rig; I look forward to testing out 9.04.
20 Apr 2009 ~ 7:03am Tal @Tim, the october 09 release is called "Karmic Koala", I can't wait =)

Installed the RC last night - woke up to gratefully find all my drivers still installed, very happy =)
20 Apr 2009 ~ 12:06pm AlexDeGruven Just finished doing a fresh install using ext4 on my laptop. Moderately spec'd by today's standards (T7600, 4GB DDR2, 160GB 5400rpm drive).

I can say without a doubt that ext4 makes a big difference on this drive. From GRUB countdown at 0 to login bongos was only 19.5 sec.

nVidia driver install went off w/o a hitch and everything seems to work nice and smooth.
20 Apr 2009 ~ 12:06pm Dinesh It will still not be able to beat Windows 7.
20 Apr 2009 ~ 12:27pm Garg

Dinesh wrote:

It will still not be able to beat Windows 7.

It'll sure cost a lot less
20 Apr 2009 ~ 2:53pm mas0n

Dinesh wrote:

It will still not be able to beat Windows 7.

At what, thumb-wrestling, poker, scrabble? You may want to be a little more precise when making absolute statements.:p
21 Apr 2009 ~ 9:20am drasnor

Dinesh wrote:

It will still not be able to beat Windows 7.

It doesn't need to. At any rate, I'm looking forward to EXT4. I'll update my machines once the version goes gold.

-drasnor
21 Apr 2009 ~ 9:38am AlexDeGruven I've been hearing some reports that there are some issues with the journaling on ext4 and people are experiencing data loss here and there when they have a crash, so beware.

But then, in my case, I can't remember the last time I had an actual crash, so it's probably a pretty rare occurrence for most users.

Still can't get over how fast this is, even with a 5400rpm drive. Cold boot in 25 sec (from power button) is just unreal.

drasnor wrote:

It doesn't need to. At any rate, I'm looking forward to EXT4. I'll update my machines once the version goes gold.

-drasnor
21 Apr 2009 ~ 9:45am drasnor

AlexDeGruven wrote:

I've been hearing some reports that there are some issues with the journaling on ext4 and people are experiencing data loss here and there when they have a crash, so beware.

But then, in my case, I can't remember the last time I had an actual crash, so it's probably a pretty rare occurrence for most users.

Still can't get over how fast this is, even with a 5400rpm drive. Cold boot in 25 sec (from power button) is just unreal.

I heard that too but with regards to the development versions of EXT4. I figured EXT4 is out of beta now though if Ubuntu is going to include it.

I heard it was really fast too .

-drasnor