From Gutsy to Hardy

I waited for 24th April o8. Why? Because it was the release date for Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron.

But I missed it. Too many things to take care of and do. I waited and read about it at blogs and websites.

The Ubuntu I first installed was 7.10, a.k.a Gutsy Gibbon. Ubuntu has an interesting way of naming its releases. The figure 7.10 stands for year 2007 and month of October, the time it was released. The code name is especially amusing, it follows the form of an adjetive and an animal. Warty Warthog for release 4.10, Breezy Badger (5.10) and Dapper Drake (6.06). It makes it easy for people to talk about a specific release without having to remember numbers.

Upgrading from Gutsy to Hardy was done via download. A notifaction icon appear via Update Manager, telling me a new release is available. It took a few hours, leaving me with ample to pray to God that nothing terrible will happen.

Alhamdulillah, downloading the update went well. Except for a few minor hiccups, I amazed at how easy and smooth everything went.

Overall, I wish there are significant changes to report. But mostly the changes are internal, and they make Ubuntu feel more stable. That's a good thing. I also feel it's somewhat user-friendlier a bit. They've added a new CD buring software called Brasero, but I don't have a burner so I can't test it out.

The minor hiccups, one in particular, was the change in the resolution of the login screen. It was big that I couldn't see where to type my username and password. This led to a few seconds of panic. I solved the problem by switching to a less prettier-looking Debian login screen, which fits my monitor's resolution nicely.

Like I said just now, Hardy is a solid release, one that I makes me feel more confident to recommend to anyone interested in Linux or Ubuntu. If you're installing from the installer CD (that you can order for free but remember to sign up first), there's WUBI. WUBI is probably the easiest way yet to install Linux, it makes the installation process similar to the way we would usually install any new program in Windows. Neat!

One thing I'm waiting for though, a change in Ubuntu overall look. The one now is a bit too brown and orange-y. Earthy maybe the word, but how's about more colour scheme options, yeah?