Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex beta available: Don't install it on your laptop yet

Filed under: OS Updates, Linux, Open Source

Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex beta available: Don't install it on your laptop yet

by Brad Linder Oct 3rd 2008

Canonical has released the first beta versions of Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex and its KDE counterpart, Kubuntu 8.10. Both feature a whole slew of new features and updates. ~~But first thing's first. I don't recommend installing this operating system on your laptop unless you:~~

~~Know what you're doing.~~
~~Are willing to risk frying your LAN card.~~

~~As we reported last week, a bug in the latest version of the Linux Kernel used by Ubuntu 8.10 not only causes some Ethernet cards to stop working, but it also~~ ~~kills them dead. Basically, if your Ethernet hardware uses the Intel~~ ~~82566~~ or ~~82567~~, do not install Intrepid Ibex yet. Because it could corrupt data on your hardware. There is a patch available to address this issue, but Canonical hasn't incorporated that patch yet. It should be in place by the time Ubuntu 8.10 final is released.

So if you do decide to go ahead and install Ubuntu 8.10, what will you see? Intrepid Ibex includes Gnome 2.24 with a number of improvements including tabbed browsing in the latest version of the Nautilus file manager. You also get a new version of the network manager which provides a 3G connection manager, among other things. The OS also uses X.Org 7.4, which has improved support for hot-pluggable input devices like keyboards, mice and tablets.

Update: If I'd spent a few more seconds reading the release notes, I would have told you that the offending component has been disabled so as not to fry anybody's Ethernet card. That's the good news. The bad news is that means you may not be able to access the internet via a LAN using this build. The issue should be addressed by the time Ubuntu 8.10 final is ready to go.

Check out some more of the highlights after the break.

While the new 2.6.27 Linux kernel may kill you Ethernet card, it generally offers better hardware support.
Ubuntu 8.10 will make a copy of your kernel every time you successfully boot your computer and offer you a "last successful boot" option during your next startup.
Kubuntu 8.10 ships with KDE 4.1.2 which offers stability improvements over KDE 4.1.
Kubuntu also has the new Adept 3.0 package manager which has a new interface and is more stable and responsive than Adept 2.
KWin desktop effects are enabled by default in Kubuntu 8.10 as long as your graphics card supports them.
Kubuntu's KMix audio controls now support many keyboards with multimedia keys.

Tags: intrepid-ibex, kubuntu, kubuntu-8.10-beta, ubuntu, ubuntu-8.10-beta

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

kastonie said 1:39PM on 10-03-2008

so when will it be safe to use the new release of linux? will they come out with a 8.11 version or something?

Dagur said 12:49PM on 10-08-2008

I'm assuming you're confused with the naming scheme.

There's a new (stable) Ubuntu release every 6 months. The "version" number is . so 8.10 means October 2008.
The next version will be 9.04

Alex M said 1:40PM on 10-03-2008

Xubuntu 8.10 Beta is also available:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Xubuntu/IntrepidIbex/BetaAnnouncement

The usual benefits of the XFCE desktop manager apply (in short, it's "lighter"; recommended for older computers).

josh said 1:43PM on 10-03-2008

If you actually read the page describing the beta release, it says that the problematic intel driver has been disabled, so it shouldn't be dangerous to use. If you have one of those intel network cards, you will just not have network support in this release.

Brad Linder said 1:46PM on 10-03-2008

My bad. I've fixed the post.

Vadim Peretokin said 2:31PM on 10-03-2008

It is already safe, because the stuff that fries your card was disabled. Bad journalism here...

But 100% safe is when it's out of beta, which is at the end of this month.

Jash Sayani said 2:31PM on 10-03-2008

Linux ppl are learning interface designing..... OpenSUSE 10.3 was a milestone with its awesome CompizFusion. ! Linux can really do well if they improve on the "user-friendly" functionality !

wormeyman said 2:41PM on 10-03-2008

http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/8.10/ubuntu-8.10-beta-desktop-i386.iso.torrent

Link to the torrent would have been nice considering how slow their website is for me, the torrent is currently very fast.

mikia said 5:06AM on 10-05-2008

It's ok, i install on lenovo f31, work fine ;)inclusice net.

Simon said 3:12PM on 10-08-2008

Hi!

I have a problem.
I upgraded Ubuntu to the 8.10 beta now... everything's working fine. No fried ethernet or so but i can't open any video. I have some .avi files but i can't play them.
Is this just a bug which is going to be fixed soon or did i do anything wrong???
PS: I'm working with Ubuntu since 6.10 and everything worked all the time.

thx & bye

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