Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn is here -- Linux fans, download now!
Not only is Ubuntu one of the most user-friendly Linux distributions, but it also gets many timely releases. Say what you want about it, but the overall experience is second to none. I would not hesitate to recommend Ubuntu to both Linux beginners and experts alike.
After we just learned the name of the future version of the OS (15.04) to be Vivid Vervet (it is coming in 2015), Canonical releases Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn today. Linux fans can download it now!
One of the most important aspects of a Linux-based operating system is the kernel. In 14.10, it is very up-to-date.
Canonical explains, "the Ubuntu 14.10 release delivers a v3.16 based kernel. This brings a significant number of bug fixes and new hardware support including expanded architecture support for Power 8 and arm64 platforms. It also includes support for Intel Cherryview, Haswell, Broadwell and Merrifield systems, and initial support for Nvidia GK20A and GK110B GPU’s. There is improved graphics performance on many Nvidia, Intel and ATI Radeon devices and also audio improvements with support for the Radeon .264 video encoder. Expanded platform support is enabled via support for 64 bit EFI boot on 32 bit EFI BIOS. This release also brings performance improvements in suspend/resume times".
Canonical touts the following additional changes:
- Unity has improved support for High-DPI displays.
- Firefox is updated to version 33 and Chromium is updated to version 38.
- Gtk updated to version 3.12. Qt updated to version 5.3.
- Support for IPP Everywhere printers is added, and printers shared from Ubuntu can emulate IPP Everywhere printers.
- LibreOffice 4.3 brings a lot of improvements including improved PDF support, new features in Writer, Calc and Impress (word processor, spreadsheet and presentations).
If you are ready to download, you can get it here. Since this is a final release, it should be safe for most home users; however, if you are using it for a business, you should always test first.
Tell me how your upgrade goes in the comments.