New Ubuntu version available on April 23rd, 2009

April 23rd, 2009, the new version of the Ubuntu operating system will be available for installing. People who already use the last Ubuntu 8.10 version can upgrade easily through a fairly simple menu command. I will soon publish a detailed article on how to do so, right here on Tuxdequebec and other related blogs, Waska and Communauté Québec.

The 9.04 release will be called "Jaunty Jackalope", in the tradition of using an African animal's name and a version numbering referring to the year and month of publication.

For newbies, it is easy to get yourself Ubuntu. You simply have to browse Internet and display the Ubuntu main site (www.ubuntu.com) and click on the "Get Ubuntu" link to the left. It will give you three choices:

• you can download it right away (it is free and absolutely legitimate!) on your hard disk and then burn it onto a CD if you have a CD burner drive. You will then be able to install Ubuntu on your computer simply by inserting the CD in your CD drive while the machine is turning on. Install procedure lauches itself and guides you through the most simplest questions: It asks you what language you speak, what country you live in, what time zone, makes sure your keyboard is set to your country's standards, your name, the user name you wish to log with and the password you wish to secure it with.
• you can order the free CD by mail, it will arrive 6 to 10 weeks later and works the same way, as explained above.
• you can feel like contributing to the free software community by buying your CD, which works the same way as explained above, except for the fact that you've helped the developers make people happy with a nicer version of Ubuntu every six months.

Ubuntu works basically the same way your Windows or Mac OS-X operating system do. It is a "Linux" form of operating system with simple to understand menus for people like me, who like very few steps to get what they want. Three short menus are enough for me and do everything I need. Perfect for users who like it simple.

What is nice about it is that by simply installing Ubuntu, you get all this readily included: an Internet browser (Firefox), a complete office software suite (OpenOffice) with a word processor compatible with MS Word, a spreadsheet compatible with MS Excel and Lotus 1-2-3, a database compatible with MS Access, a presentation tool compatible with MS PowerPoint... There's more! Ubuntu comes also with a professional drawing tool (GIMP) rivalizing with Adobe's Photoshop! And many more, the list would go on for hours.

Personally, I use Ubuntu to browse Internet, to chat with my friends and family with aMSN, I like listening to music with Amarok, I re-arrange my pictures a bit and draw logos with my GIMP, I confess my taste for downloading tunes with Limewire and/or Frostwire, my daughter likes to travel the world virtually aboard Google Earth, our youngest son, 6, is a fan of Childsplay and the many many games we've installed simply with the easy menu: Tuxpaint, and this long list.

Some people say Linux is complicated. They haven't honestly tried Ubuntu before speaking!

Jean-François Patrice Néron