Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

The Release Candidate version of the upcoming Ubuntu 9.04 (codename Jaunty Jackalope) was uploaded a few minutes ago on the official mirrors. As usual, we've downloaded a copy of it in order to keep you up to date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 9.04 development.

What's new in Ubuntu/Kubuntu 9.04 RC? Well, not much has changed since the Beta release, only various software updates and many bugfixes. We also decided not to publish any more screenshots, as nothing has changed on the artwork part, and you already know from previous screenshot tours how Ubuntu 9.04 will look. This Release Candidate has the brand new GNOME 2.26.1 desktop environment, which brings lots of fixes and a few improvements.

There is also good news for Wacom tablet users, as these devices will be automatically recognized and enabled. However, the configuration for button mapping isn't supported at the moment (it can be set only manually if the user adds an fdi file in /etc/ha/fdi/policy). The kernel packages were updated to version 2.6.28-11.14, based on Linux kernel 2.6.28.9.

On the other hand, Kubuntu 9.04 RC (Jaunty Jackalope) is built on top of the KDE 4.2.2 desktop environment.

See you again on April 23rd for the final release of the Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) when we will showcase, once again, all its new features!

Ubuntu 9.04, or, should I say, "The Jackalope," will be the tenth release of the Ubuntu operating system. Here's the release schedule for Jaunty Jackalope:

November 22, 2008 - Alpha 1 release
December 19, 2008 - Alpha 2 release
January 16, 2009 - Alpha 3 release
February 5, 2009 - Alpha 4 release
February 26, 2009 - Alpha 5 release
March 12, 2009 - Alpha 6 release
March 26, 2009 - Beta release
April 16, 2009 - Release Candidate
April 23, 2009 - Final release of Ubuntu 9.04

[via softpedia.com]