Apple published an Mac OSX Lion sneak peak that includes a launchcer which "gives you instant access to your apps - iPad style". And this launcher is called [drums..... ] Launchpad.

Several months ago there there was a lot of debate about Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx switching to Yahoo! as the default search provider for Firefox.

Well, it seems it was all for nothing, as the final version of Ubuntu 10.04 will ship with Google as the default search provider.

The official reason for this is not mentioned, but there could be several reasons, including: Google paying more for the deal, less changes for those upgrading from older Ubuntu versions (they probably consider that moving the window buttons to the left is enough for one release) and so on.

Canonical has just launched it's Ubuntu Single Sigle Sign On service, who's goal is to provide a single, central login for all Ubuntu websites.

Ubuntu Single Sigle Sign On will replace existing Launchpad login but existing accounts will continue to work. The change will take place gradually:

A recent official post (and I hope this time it really is official) on the Ubuntu Forums asks users to complete a survey with the applications they would like to see in the upcoming versions of Ubuntu:

We are trying to gather preferences for the apps that users would like to see in upcoming version of Ubuntu. While we all believe in the power of open source applications we are also very keen that users should get to choose the software they want to use. There are some great apps that aren't yet available to Ubuntu users and Canonical would like to know the priority that users would like to see them. This list is indicative not definitive and we would love to also read your suggestions in the free text box.

Mark Shuttleworth has announced he wants to focus on energy on product design, partnerships and customers and the new Canonical CEO will be Jane Silber, currently Chief Operating Officer and Director of Online Services.

This change should be be completely in place by 1 March 2010.

Mark Shuttleworth points out that this doesn’t mark a change of direction, however:

this change does mark our commitment to continually optimise our operations and offerings, and as Canonical matures as an organisation I believe that Jane brings the skills and experience that we need in the CEO role.

Cannonical just announced on their blog that they are "contributing engineering to Google under contract". For Chrome OS, obviously.

More about this, on the Canonical blog.

Canonical prepares to increase the storage for Ubuntu One, however, the new storage limit is yet to be disclosed.

In case you don't know, Ubuntu One is a service which allows Ubuntu users to synchronize files between multiple computers via the internet and also share files using it's web interface or work remotely with those computers. Currently, users get 2 GB of space available for free or 10 GB of available space for $10.00 (USD) per month.

Canonical seems to be listening very closely to Ubuntu One user requests regarding Windows, Mac OS X and iPhone support too (Ubuntu One currently runs on Ubuntu only), and they may "revisit the discussion at the beginning of next year [2010]," says Ubuntu One Product Manager Matt Griffin. "A few people have chimed in and said they’re interested in doing [cross-platform] development, but we haven’t seen anything concrete yet," adds Griffin.

For further reading, head over to WorksWithU.