Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 adds software store, improves boot speed

Filed under: OS Updates, Linux, Open Source, Canonical

Canonical has some pretty ambitious goals for Karmic Koala: faster startup times, tight cloud integration, an improved experience for netbooks, a Ubuntu software store, and much more. Some of these changes in recent alpha builds and yesterday's 9.10 alpha 6 continues to bring things into focus.

As you can see from the header clip, the old usplash boot animation has been replaced by xsplash which (unsurprisingly) uses X to draw the screens. In the demo, the full desktop is loaded around the 21 second mark - a very respectable time. Don't forget, Canonical hopes to cut that time in half in Ubuntu 10.04.

Also making its debut this go-ground is the Software Store. It's been added to the system menu and brings a more user-friendly program installation experience to Ubuntu. Sure, Synaptic and Ubuntu's own add/remove system are good, but the Software Store is a nice gesture to new Linux converts and less computer-savy users.

The beta release of Ubuntu 9.10 is slated for October 1st and the final release on the 29th. You can upgrade via apt-get or the Ubuntu Update Manager or download the new builds from Canonical. In addition to the flagship distribution, KUbuntu, Xubuntu, EDUbuntu, UbuntuStudio, and Mythbuntu are also available.

Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6 adds software store, improves boot speed originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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