Ubuntu 10.10 review

Here's a review from our December issue:

The latest version of Ubuntu has been released by Canonical. It is called their Perfect 10 version and is the latest version of one of the most successful flavors of Linux. This article is focused on the Netbook Edition, our personal Netbook choice.

The 10.10 version is one of the periodic upgrades and not a long-term support version. Version 10.04 is a long-term version.

The biggest change is the Unity interface. The new interface is designed specifically for the smaller screen and for mobile use. We found Unity to be the most intuitive and powerful desktop we’ve ever used on a Netbook. It absolutely rocks!

As usual we used the Universal USB Installer to create USB flash drives with persistence for our tests. When you download the Netbook version you’ll find all of the links and instructions you’ll need to be able to create a flash drive.

We tested the system with five different Netbooks and had mixed results. Our ASUS Eee PC 900 would never recognize the flash drive at all. Other Netbooks booted from the same drive and the ASUS booted with other versions of the Netbook software. Neither of our Lenovo Netbooks, an S10-3 and an S12, would fully boot. Both hung up and never completed a boot-up.

Our Gateway LT2030u and Samsung N220 both booted perfectly and were a joy to use with the new desktop.

We contacted Ubuntu support and traded several emails trying to figure out what’s wrong. As of the time I’m writing this they still haven’t found a solution to the problems.

Recommendation: If, and it’s a big IF, your Netbook runs with 10.10 then download it and upgrade to the new version. However, if your Netbook isn’t compatible, then stick with version 10.04.

MSRP is, as always, $0. That is… free

www.ubuntu.com