Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot launched

The next milestone in Ubuntu’s roadmap has been achieved. Version 11.10, codenamed Oneiric Ocelot was launched last evening, with a bunch of additions and changes being made in the new build. Ubuntu 11.10 runs the Linux kernel 3.0 - this is one of the big changes that have been made in the new release. Gnome, although not installed by default, has been upgraded to 3.0 from 2.32 that was carried in the Ubuntu 11.04 release. There are cosmetic changes as well - the login screen is based on the LightDM display manager and there’s a new app that handles the Alt-Tab task switching. The Places section is being called Lenses and searching and sorting has now got simpler, albeit slightly. A neat little utility called OneConf allows users to sync their installed applications between different systems.

Oneiric Ocelot arrives

One of the interesting bits to note about the new build is the support for ARM architecture, and specifically support for the NVIDIA Tegra 2. This means the ability to run the operating system, along with the possibility of being able to run the OS on platforms other than the PC, such as tablets and mobile phones. The next major Ubuntu release will be 12.04, which is scheduled to be released in the month of April, next year.