For those geeks out there that are not familiar with Ubuntu, I welcome you to take a look-see to find a fantastic operating system that is coming very close to competing with Windows and OS X.  Ubuntu is one of many distributions of the Linux operating system that, in my honest opinion, has become a powerful contender amongst the huge list of OS competitors available on the market.  The best part is the price:  FREE!  What makes Ubuntu such a powerful competitor is that there is a dedicated team of code monkeys that are devoted to a strict deployment schedule for Ubuntu.  They release major versions of this power house every April and October each year, adding tons of new features with each release.  If you want to take a shot at upgrading your OS to something that is really worth checking out, head on over to the Ubuntu Main Page and get your copy.  If you are not thrilled about replacing your main PC, then give Wubi a try.  Wubi allows you to download and install Ubuntu next to windows without actually rewriting any partition information, which means you can actually uninstall it if it doesn’t suit your fancy.  Seriously, check it out!

Now for the Ubuntu geeks on the market… Although there is nothing extraordinarily pressing about the new release coming up, we found a handful of interesting behind-the-scene changes that are going to change the way we do Ubuntu.

If you want to skip the hubub, just follow the direct link to the Ubuntu 9.10 features page and take a look for yourself.

To kick things off, the Ubuntu team is integrating a new feature called Upstart, which is a new startup platform that handles the starting of system processes and services during the boot process.  They are also sprucing up the boot process a bit to improve eye-appeal.  In addition, GRUB 2 will be the default boot loader for this release.

Another under-the-hood improvement to the Ubuntu community is the integration of the ext4 filesystem in this distribution.  The prior release also included this format, but now it will be the default choice for a new install.  The ext4 filesystem is supposed to be an improvement to the traditional ext3 filesystem, promising better journaling, recovery, and performance.  Of course, only time will tell.

As far as user-interface changes, the “Add/Remove” feature will be replaced with the Ubuntu Software Center which is supposed to improve the interface for managing software.  They are also upgrading both the Linux kernel and Gnome to their latest versions.  We also thought that the addition of a virtual Execute-Disable feature for machines that do not have supporting hardware was a nice addition.  This will help to improve security for users of older hardware.

There are several other changes that we are not going into, mainly because they will not likely be noticed by the public at large, but feel free to check out the Ubuntu 9.10 features page to see the specifics.  Don’t forget to look at the known bugs so you can be up-to-par on the problems you might run into.

To close, we wanted to make sure and mention what is probably the most important change with Ubuntu Karmic Koala, and that is the new desktop background that comes out with each release.  We know that you will want to upgrade exclusively to get this wonderful visual experience.  Don’t deny it, the backgrounds are where it is all at!

If you can’t wait to get a taste, head on over to the 9.10 download page and grab the beta, just make sure you contribute to the bug reports if you run across any.  Or, if you are a sissy, feel free to wait until the final release is available and grab yourself a copy.  Either way, drop a comment and let everyone know how your experience was.