Review: Why Ubuntu 'Hardy Heron' Wins Laurels

Reviewers encountered a lot of trouble with Wubi on Windows Vista. It kept hanging toward the end of the installation. On reboot, the boot manager would list Ubuntu, but it would display screenfuls of error messages or a blank page that exited to a BusyBox/initramfs prompt. Ubuntu installed properly once User Access Control was turned off (or the executable run as "Run as Administrator") in Vista. However, the installation process continued to hang. This is a known bug, and does not actually impact the installation process since by the time it hangs Windows has completed the installation. Copying Wubi to the hard drive and running locally fixed the problem, but it was an odd bug to encounter in a stable LTS release.

The look and feel of Ubuntu remains the same, with the brown and orange color scheme. The rounded corners and overall finish also are familiar. Under the hood, however, Ubuntu 8.04 runs on a new engine. Based on the new Linux kernel 2.6.24-12.13, there is significant security and performance improvements. Ubuntu 8.04 comes with the new GNOME 2.22 desktop (that we liked in Fedora 9 beta) as the default, with improved Bluetooth integration, world clock applet, and multimedia support.

Hardy Heron feels faster and more responsive than the previous version, and it is definitely an improvement since the last LTS. Copying large files or launching applications all seemed quicker. On the machine with only Ubuntu installed, performance was markedly faster, but even on the Windows-based-Ubuntu-install (with Wubi), applications opened quickly and disk access was fast. For users sticking with Wubi's dual-boot, there is no performance hit for using Ubuntu. In fact, Firefox launched faster on Ubuntu than on the Windows side.

A note of caution, however: Hibernation does not work in a Wubi installation.

Solution providers can work with customers to take advantage of dual-boot. Have the users boot into Ubuntu to surf the Web, check their e-mail, download files, and light word processing; boot into Windows to run office-specific or legacy applications that would not work on Linux. This would help secure the office since many of the malware attacks would be ineffective against a Linux box.

Ubuntu 8.04 has enhanced many of its multimedia capabilities, including F-Spot enhanced photo manager, plugins to work with YouTube and MythTV (open source TVR) and improved Totem Media Player to play DVDs. Transmission has replaced the older Gnome BitTorrent, Transmission. Finally, Brasero CD/DVD burning application replaced the Serpentine audio CD burning utility.

PolicyKit, integrated in administrative user interfaces, supports fine-grained control over user permissions. Under PolicyKit, the entire application does not need to run as root, but only selected operations within the application, enhancing security.

Reviewers tried integrating with an Active Directory using Likewise Open and succeeded, but it wasn't exactly seamless. However, the capability opens up Ubuntu 8.04 to otherwise Windows-only offices. Users can use their AD credentials to login to their Ubuntu box, and continue accessing servers and other services in the office.

Hardy Heron maintained the Spartan look and feel that made Ubuntu popular amongst the Linux faithful, while packaging it in such as a way as to make it comfortable for Windows -oriented businesses. The bare desktop might be a difficult adjustment for Windows users looking for their folders and data, but it's all there with a little poking. Getting them this far is a victory of sorts