12.04 is almost here, any takers?

Anyone want to be a guinea pig and try it when it comes out on the 28th? I'll be downloading it when it's released, and I can post my experiences here if anybody wants.

 

I'll be upgrading on my old Xubuntu machine. And I think it's actually the 26th

 

Is it??? Even better. Right now I have two custom ubuntu iso's, because one has AMD catalyst drivers integrated for my llano notebook. It would be nice to have only one to maintain.

 

I usually stay away from *.04 releases as from my experience *.10 releases are much more pleasant to deal with .

 

I've been with 10.04 since the very beginning and I haven't had any major problems.

 

Yeah *.10 releases are more bug free and polished. I think that's their purpose. Hopefully Optimus support is right around the corner seeing as how new laptops are utilizing the technology.

 

When released I will download Ubuntu 12.04 version and run it as a liveSD and see how it works OOB. I tried one of the daily builds of Ubuntu 12.04 about 3 weeks ago and it hung on desktop.

I think many people prefer .04 versions because they are long-term releases which are candidates for updates far longer than the .10 versions. I have also tried Xubuntu 11.10 out of curiosity and it left me with a favorable impression. I like the menus and the hardware in my ThinkPad R60 with ATI graphics worked OOB. I may rid my Ubuntu 10.04 partition and replace it with Xubuntu 12.04 if Xubuntu runs well.

 

I like linux os but you think it will help me more than windows 7 do actually on my laptop?

 

Depends on your purposes. For general schoolwork and potential gaming, for instance, I wouldn't recommend Linux as a primary OS; as of now, Windows 7 is still more versatile in both instances.

 

@ TheArkTruth

You can download an ISO from HERE and burn the ISO to a disc. Make sure you burn the disc at slow speed (I usually set my burn speed to 4X) to reduce the possibility of errors in the encoding of the disc. When it is finished put it in your DVD drive and restart the laptop. As it is booting press F12 or whichever key loads up your boot order menu. Choose the DVD drive to boot from and pick "try ubuntu without installing." This choice will let you try linux without actually installing it to your hard drive. I only put the bold on "without" so you do not accidentally proceed to install an OS you aren't sure about

After the disc runs there will be some lines of codes which is normal. Just give it a bit and let the OS load to your RAM and the desktop for Ubuntu will appear after a minute or so. When it does load you are free to explore and check out what programs there are and get a basic feel for the OS. When finished go to shutdown and follow the prompts for shutdown and end of test drive.

Hope that helps

 

The main problem is the limited support for Microsoft Office. However, I suspect you could get Word, Excel and Power Point working somewhat acceptable.

Ubuntu also runs cooler than Windows. You could try to see which one of the gives the most battery life. Everything on my laptop worked out of the box in Ubuntu which I also found amazing. If I didn't use an convertible (which requires Microsoft OneNote) so would I go for Ubuntu as my main OS.

 

That's hard to say; depends on the machine. My Thinkpad T500 definitely ran hotter and consumed more power in Ubuntu than in Windows 7. The drivers for many laptops are optimized better in Windows than Linux, so you may take a bit of a hit on battery life.

 

This is incorrect. 12.04 is a LTS, and the focus in LTS is on removing bugs, polishing etc, rather than blazing new features. 11.04 was not an LTS, thus it was a regular releases, and may have been more buggy than 11.10.
12.04 is a more polished, bug removed version of 11.10.

 

Same here, every laptop I install Linux on tends to run hotter. The only exception has been Mint LXDE and it's because it runs less processes. The CPU tends to idle between 1-5% on idle which Windows 7 tends to idle between 1-2% CPU load.

 

I am just basing this from my experience. 10.04 was pretty horrid on the hardware I ran it on while 10.10 was quite smooth and everything worked OOB. 9.04 had the same issue while 9.10 solved many of those issues and ran better. Same could be said about 8.04 and 8.10.

Running *.04 usually had breakage attached while *.10 fixed those issues. I am pretty certain 12.04 will be no different, though I will wait 1-2 months after it's been out to try it .

The opposite experience could apply to others just based on the hardware.

 

Since Ubuntu is now certified for HP servers, I'll probably try this out in Hyper-V on my Windows 8 notebook. At the very least, I want to familiarize myself with it in order to stay on top of market trends in the field.

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

 

I have spend enough time with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview to see what it is all about. Will be installing this as soon as released.

 

I have never had any issues with .04 systems. In fact my old ubuntu 9.04 machine would still be running had the shuttle PSU and motherboard not died.

 

I think I'm going to let others be the testers. 11.10 runs great on my R60e. I only use it for Office and Internet. I don't need a bunch of new features. I'll upgrade eventually.

 

I'll leave it a few days I think. I'm still on 10.04LTS so I think I'm going to be in for a bit of a shock when I move on. Ubuntu doesn't seem to be as popular as it once was.

 

I'll just be ticked if Precise doesn't work with Nero Linux 4. 10.04.4 broke it so I stuck with 10.04.3. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

 

If anyone wants gnome classic, according to this thread, you can get it by

Code:

sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback

Edit: I've had a chance to try it out for a bit. TBH, I still hate unity. Most of the shortcuts are gone, you have to type into search what you want to find, which kind of negates the whole point to having a tablet IMHO (you'd have to use an external keyboard, or onscreen keyboard just to find things). I reverted to gnome session fallback, I like it, but not everything is there.
The mouse gets wonky in fallback mode. Moving the mouse around normally, it just jerks and moves maybe an inch or two on screen, but if I move the mouse very slowly it tracks across the screen fine. Changing mouse acceleration options has no effect. Logging out and back in corrects the problem... for about a minute, then it starts up again. I tried gnome classic, and gnome classic (no effects), it made no difference.
The interface is much cleaner however. Nice fonts and graphics, easy on the eyes. But all in all, not a great first impression.

 

Been using it most of the day testing Unity and the shortcuts, Hud, Lenses,etc., and I come to the conclusion that Unity is stll a "toy" desktop environment. It is in no way near as productive and as efficient as classic GNOME/Xfce/Lxde/KDE and even gnome-shell.

At this point, for the future of my Linux needs I will be testing Pantheon shell and Mint's cinnamon DE.

 

I still find it funny how the 32-bit version is still recommended . Other OS have long since migrated to 64-bit altogether.

 

I may go ahead and make a custom iso today and try it out some more, but I'll be keeping 10.04 handy just in case. I just don't see how unity is at all productive compared to classic gnome.

 

I just tried 12.04 liveUSB on my old laptop and nothing worked. Apparently there's some serious regression in the current kernel used for 12.04 which breaks USB support on certain hardware, HA! Worked OK on my newer laptop though.

 

I have11.10 and want to do a fresh install of 12.04. Is there a faster way to do it other than cleaning the partition of 11.10 then installing 12.04 again?

 

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/upgrade

 

Did a Ubuntu upgrade from V11.10 to V12.05. Followed recommended install
procedure (installed via V11.10 software updates). Total install went smooth.
24 hours since the upgrade, everything looks clean & green.

Acer Aspire AS8951G-9630 LX.RJ202.153 Notebook PC
Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.2GHz, 8GB DDR3, 750GB HDD, Blu-Ray Player,
2GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M, 18.4" Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, Black

 

Actually, I take that back. I burned it on a CD and tried installing from there, same thing, freezes when loading the installer or liveOS. Freezes at the exact same spot for LiveUSB as well regardless of which boot parameters I choose.

People with similar hardware have been reporting the same issue. Hardware this happens on is the Acer laptop found in my sig.

 

I got my custom iso running last night and was testing it. I installed and uninstalled a bunch of packages, but made sure I installed gnome-session-fallback so I could have gnome classic, as I just can't seem to function in unity.
Every time I click Applications -> Sound and Video to access VLC, as soon as the menu opens an error pops up, saying some module is missing. It does this everytime, and I think it's complaining because it's looking for either rhythmbox or totem and it's not there.
You can no longer access the default 'ubuntu' user account from Users and groups, so you can change the password to something random. Since ubuntu's password is blank by default, and since I run a live version off a thumb drive, that is the first thing I do when I boot up. I can no longer do that in 12.04. Sure I can do it from the terminal via "sudo passwd ubuntu", but I prefer to change to something random upon every boot.
From what I can tell, package manager is now gone, and has been replaced by Ubuntu Software Center. I tried to install the nero linux 4 .deb as usual. I was instead greeted by a HUGE window advertising what third party software I could install, but the Install button was greyed out. nice. Thankfully it installed via the terminal just fine, and I'm happy to report that 12.04 didn't break Nero.
While gnome classic is a near exact clone of gnome 2, a bunch of shortcuts are missing. I also noticed that every time I insert a disc, or mount a volume, it no longer shows up on the desktop (also does this in unity). I have to go to Home and navigate from there, or go to Places.
Also every time I boot up I have to log out, then select gnome classic, otherwise it just defaults into unity every time. Unless there is a trick somehow to get me to the login screen first, in live mode?
One last thing. I noticed the devs have adopted Apple's 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes model. Kind of interesting. Try it out for yourself.
All in all I am not impressed, and I'm reverting back to 10.04. I may try Precise again when 12.04.1 comes out, but 10.04 runs quite nicely on my systems, and EVERYTHING WORKS.

 

Updated to Xubuntu 12.04 on my Averatec. Everything is working fine, and a few quirks have been worked out (including a drive mounting issue I've been having), so I'm a happy camper!

 

I downloaded Xubuntu 12.04 also. Looking forward to installing it soon

 

I just installed 12.04 on my HTPC and on my thinkpad...so far it has been fantastic. Will definitely install on my other systems ASAP.

In spite of the improvements, I still don't get unity. Gnome Shell or XFCE for me, thanks. Cinnamon is coming along slowly but it is a way off yet.

Btw, I never upgrade. Clean install seems to help me avoid the various gremlins that plague the upgraders.

 

@MidnightSun and/or turqoisegirl; does Xubuntu come with a "startup disk creator" like ubuntu, so I can transfer an iso to a thumb drive? I can't find any indication on that.
I'm still searching, but if vlc and other software I typically use in ubuntu is available also for xubuntu, I may try it. I just remember when I last tried it, that there were no admin rights for the desktop, so I couldn't do simple things like cut and paste files in dirs and so on.

 

I installed Pangolin on my R60e last night. It doesn't seem all that different, but scrolling on sites with heavy flash is more fluid, which is a plus. I don't know if that's Pangolin or Firefox.

 

So you took the plunge after all.

 

Hi Talin. I use THIS to make my own SDLive or USBLive media. I am 99.9999999999% sure you will be able to install VLC on xubuntu. Let us know if you have problems. I have not done my installation yet. I am studying for finals atm. I will do my installation after finals are over with.

 

Thanks, I'll look into that. I just packed away my old thinkpad today, it's starting to show its age, and with more and more content being pumped into webpages these days, it's getting slower and slower. :\ So now I'll have only one machine to maintain distros for.

 

Stuffed xubuntu 12.04 on the eeepc just now. It's incredibly responsive sans compiz of course.

I think, however, that I might go to Mint Debian Edition xfce which pretty much matches Lubuntu for speed and agility.

 

For your eeepc I would give WattOS 5 a shot -- it's like a better Lmint LXDE:

PlanetWatt - PlanetWatt - The home of wattOS

WattOS 5 is the best LXDE variant I've tried in the last month or so (epic battery life). Also with one of the nicest Linux communities.

 

I did not like Lenses. Now I do not see the point of HUD.

 

*shrug* I've learned to live with Unity. It all depends on how you use the new interface. I've gone through so many different session layouts that I just got used to adapting to whatever. I understand that a lot of people have a hard time letting go of Classic Gnome. Old habits die hard.

The key to getting used to Unity is to understand that it's not Classic Gnome.

I don't understand when people say Unity gets in the way of being productive. How?

 

Because I primarily prefer the mouse to manage my way through my OS and opening APPS and using said APPS.

Unity wants me to use my keyboard, and if I choose to use the mouse it is much more inefficient to do so ( up to4-7 more mouse clicks, gestures).

Also I don't like having a 'dock' on the left of my screen at all times. I know I can change this by adding a third-party APP (MyUnity) but I shouldn't have to.

HUD is also hit or miss, especially with power users. HUD is essentially, with how it has reacted with my use, a keyboard 'hot-key' for Ubuntu Help. It does work on some occasions for 'lite' use, but for power users/work environments using advanced programs (Gimp,DraftSight,etc.,) it just is no wear near as good as GNOME 2,XFCE,LXDE, the list could go on and on.

Also I am not a big fan of an operating system looking like it just left the Mattel warehouse.

 

I usually have the most frequently used programs set on the dock, so just one click away for me. And if the program is not on the dock, I just go to lens or some other alternative (alt+f2), enter the first two letters of said program, and there you go. If I can't remember the program name, I just filter the results under a specific category and search for it, which doesn't take long at all.

The dock usually hides when you have a program open.

But yes, I can see how Unity can get annoying if you prefer to use the mouse exclusively.

I just find it easier to adapt to whatever I am using at the time instead of fighting how something is supposed to be used .

 

In using 12.04 some more, I'm starting to think I was being a bit nitpicky about some things. Gnome Classic does need work, but to be honest I'm finding that minus the quirks, it actually runs better on my notebook than 10.04.
Once I got the custom iso configured the way I want, it's not as bad. I still find Unity unproductive, as it actually requires more clicks to get to the same programs, plus having to "search" for those that are not on the toolbar, it's kind of annoying. But gnome classic makes it a hell of a lot more bearable for me.
With some fixes and more refinement, Precise might be a keeper.

 

I am sticking with Ubuntu 12.04, but have replaced the desktop with Gnome 3.4.1 and removed the new scroll bars.

 

Anyone had the issue of the installer not being able to see the partition layout?

Reason I ask is because I dual-boot Ubuntu, since the only reason I really use it is for Android development. With the last few versions of Ubuntu it recognized my partition scheme. 12.04 does not, and I refuse to wipe my entire disk for it.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

I am may need to reinstall the new Ubuntu scrollbars. Soketimes, time two finger scroll does not work on the windows that used the new scrollbars. Will see how it goes.

 

Removing the new Unity type scrollbars (which make a lot of sense in a tablet) seems to have slowed down the launch of System Settings. And when I launch Settings, it may cause two finger scroll now to work in some Windows. No a big deal I guess since I rarely use system settings.