Happy 6-Month Release Day!

Taking Natty Narwhal out for a Spin

The end of April 2011 sure took its time getting here. Today marks the release of Ubuntu 11.04 - the latest stable release of the free, linux-based operating system. I have been running the Ubuntu Netbook remix on my EeePC since last Fall and it is fantastic. Today's upgrade displays some upgraded desktop icons along with some very major changes under the hood.

As a Netbook Remix user, I didn't expect to see very drastic changes at first blush as Ubuntu 11.04 now uses the Netbook Remix as the primary UI for this release. The version incorporates LibreOffice rather than the Oracle-owned OpenOffice Productivity Suite, but I switched over to LibreOffice on my desktop a while back and primarily use Google Docs anyway.

The greatest thing so far is that my EeePC running 11.04 now communicates seamlessly with my Samsung T404G phone via Bluetooth. It may be an actual upgrade or just me getting it right after a dozen or so tries, but  the link now works as advertised. Now I can scratch Phone/USB cable off my 'nice-to-have' list while I offload a ton of pictures taken with the phone from its 4GB microSD card.

Probably the most exciting fact is that I now have a giant increase in options and ability using hardware I already own. A simple OS upgrade later and I'm giddy all over again without shelling out any money. Thanks as always Canonical. Ubuntu Rocks!