Canonical Launches Latest Ubuntu Desktop 7.04

Ubuntu 7.04 Desktop Edition
The latest version of Ubuntu includes the following new features:

Windows migration tool: The new migration tool recognizes Internet Explorer bookmarks, Firefox favorites, desktop wallpaper, AOL IM and Yahoo IM contacts, and imports them all into Ubuntu during installation. This offers easier and faster migration for new users of Ubuntu and individuals wanting to run a dual-boot system.

Simpler multimedia: A new guided wizard for automatically installing multimedia codecs not shipped with Ubuntu gives users a safe and easy way to view music and videos.

Plug and play network sharing with Avahi: This new feature allows users to automatically discover and join a wireless network to share music, find printers and more.

Best of the open source world: Ubuntu 7.04 supports the Linux 2.6.20 kernel, the recent GNOME 2.18 desktop environment, and thousands of additional applications.

Ubuntu's already outstanding support for thin clients is further enhanced with advanced sound support from PulseAudio sound server and Jetpipe, a printing architecture for thin clients.

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Ubuntu 7.04 Server

On x86 systems with the Intel VT or AMD-V extensions, Kernel-based Virtual Machine support (KVM) allows users to run multiple virtual machines running unmodified Linux. Each virtual machine has private virtualized hardware: a network card, disk, graphics adapter, and so on. Ubuntu is the first Linux distribution with Para-Ops and VMI support which provides optimized performance under VMware.

Also new is a management tool for the server that enables upgrades to new releases of Ubuntu in a simple, automated manner. This completes the ability to easily and safely upgrade Ubuntu whether you're using it on the desktop or server. The server tool gives Administrators control over how their upgrade will be undertaken and lets them override decisions where required. By default the upgrade tools provides full dependency checking and task upgrades ensuring that the server remains functional. Whether using Ubuntu server on a single system or across a data-centre the ability to upgrade seamlessly will help administrators save time and money.

New features for thin clients include advanced print and sound support through Jetpipe, a printing architecture, and PulseAudio sound server.

In addition to virtualization support and easy upgrades, new features include:

Performance improvements: A range of new performance improvements including better performance on multicore processors, support for the Processor Data Area and optimizations for 64-bit architectures.
Improved availability of network services: Improved scheduling for highly parallel services. Services such as SQL and Apache will remain more responsive and stable under heavy loads.
Secure remote network installation: Administrators who aren't physically where their server is can securely install Ubuntu using a remote SSH terminal.

UltraSPARC improvements: Ubuntu now recognises other operating system installations so that it's easy to install without damaging existing data.

Updated LAMP stack: The latest software for developers including new versions of Apache (2.2.3), MySQL (5.0.38), Python (2.5) and PHP (5.2.1).

Updates to the supported cluster suites: Updates to the latest software along with the latest GFS and OCFS2. GFS2 and the new local mount capability for OCFS2 are technology previews for Administrators to start testing before production deployments.

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