I downloaded the release candidate this week for my laptop and it is great; Wifi works out of the box showing all the networks around me as well as my own, all the apps and settings for my 8.04 apps were picked up correctly. It is responsive and clean looking (I replaced the default wallpaper ages ago) and feels very solid. All quite unlike Vista that I have dual booting on this laptop.

Once the final release comes out, I will put it on my server.

Who needs Long Term Support.

I use a Three 3g modem. With Windows it's a nightmare - you have to install a crappy app which looks like it was knocked up in VB3 by a lemon.

In Ubuntu you plug it in and it asks you to give your UK 3G provider from a dropdown list - you're then connected. Marvellous stuff.

Is a version of ubuntu geared for mini laptops and other small screens. Looking forwards to 8.10 as there are some new network drivers for the eee pc.

Looking forward to another great Ubuntu release. These folks really are leading the way in desktop Linux usability. In my opinion they have surpassed Microsoft in this area (Vista is practically unusable) and are in the same league as Apple. Anyone who says Linux is hard to use either hasn't seen it in ten years or is on Microsoft's payroll.

The versioning for Ubuntu just indicates when it's released, i.e. Oct 08 is 8.10, the previous version 8.4 was released in April etc. I agree with you though it works excellently on the eee, I have a 901 and use netbook remix.

"Finally, Ubuntu 8.10 Server Edition supports SATA RAID controllers (sometimes called FakeRAID"

About damn time, I can finally move Ubuntu to my RAID'd 10000 Raptors instead of the old 7200 disk its currently sat on messing up my cases air flow.

That's my weekend sorted then: upgrade my trusty ThinkPad T42 from Hardy to Intrepid! And if I can have my 3G modem work out of the box, so much the better. I might give the Eee 701 a makeover while I'm at it. And the home server. And create myself an Intrepid USB stick! So much fun, that might even last for several weekends! Unless having a life comes in the way of course.

@ AC above - apparently the next release is going to be called, wait for it.... "Jaunty Jackalope"

looking forward to "masturbating monkey"

"Network Manager is now at the 0.7 level (more on this below)"

Where below is the "more on this"? It's something I was actually interested in hearing about. That's just like people who (a) start ordered lists when they are speaking, but only make one point.

"...a Xen-compatible hypervisor that many suspect is itself heavily based on Xen if not simply Xen in Windows drag. (You decompile the code and get sued by Microsoft to prove it - I'll write the story.)"

Sounds like a job for us Aussies. According to one of my law lecturers, EULAs are invalid here, and that's the only thing that says you can't decompile / reverse engineer / modify etc etc etc

... Jesus!

Can't wait for Kamikaze Kitten followed .06 versions later by Lactating Lemming, then - YES! - that most happy, time-poor monkey.

Just checked my P2P machine, is still running Azureus 2.something and mlDonkey on Ubuntu 6.06!!! Fact is, it works so well I don't see any reasons to upgrade. Updates keep flowing, thank you. I will of course upgrade the two home desktops, it's always nice to have up to date versions of everything.

I love this Ubuntu thing....

..... back for more of this, and then walking away again.

TBH, Ubuntu on the desktop has never, ever, been an issue for me. Its all been good. But why, oh why, has Canononicaniconical taken so long to address the not-so-humble laptop? WTF have they been doing all of these years? Has someone at Cananaina..... oh you know who .... just discovered the laptop? Ubuntu, and most other Lin*x distros have compeltely sucked on that platform.

Hope really does reign eternal, it seems. I'll give this'un a try and see how it does. I'm not holding my breath for anything too exciting, but it will be nice to see Ubuntu simply work simply on a laptop for a change.

By contrast, Xandros on the EeePC 701 instantly recognised my Voda 3G USB Stick and fired up a 3G/HSPA connection for me in seconds. So what we're reading is that Ubuntu has, in this respect, caught up? Shock. Horror.

Oh well, at least it is smile-inducing, in my opinion [just to be safe].