Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid" Alpha 5 Released

With almost a month having went by since Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 4 was released, the fifth alpha release is now available for testing. This release most significantly swaps out the Linux 2.6.26 kernel for 2.6.27 for reasons we shared in a previous article. We are very happy to see the Linux 2.6.27 kernel being used. In addition, this release is shipping with the latest GNOME 2.24 bits which also bring some interesting features for the Linux desktop.

On top of that, Ubuntu now is retaining a copy of the last successfully booted kernel in the event a new kernel fails. This is good as it allows the older kernels to be automatically removed, but still provides one level of fall-back in case the latest kernel goes awry. Last but certainly not least, Ubuntu 8.10 will ship with DKMS by default. DKMS, or Dynamic Kernel Module Support, is a project of Dell's that allows out-of-tree kernel modules to be rebuilt automatically when switching to a new kernel. A notable user of this technology is ATI with their Catalyst Linux driver.

More on Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" Alpha 5 can be read on the Ubuntu Wiki along with download links for it and Ubuntu Education, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu. The final release of Ubuntu 8.10 is expected on the 30th of October.