I’ve been using Jaunty Jackalope–what a name!–for the last few weeks, and I upgraded to the release candidate last night the hard way, i.e. from the source code. I’m impressed. I think you will be too when you download it yourself. The ISO versions are scheduled to be available later today, April 16th, from the usual Ubuntu download sites.

I’ve been running Jaunty on a Gateway 503GR. This is an older PC with a 3GHz Pentium IV CPU, 2GB of RAM, an ATI Radeon 250 graphics card, and a 300GB SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) hard drive. Even on this 2006 vintage system, Ubuntu ran quite well.

Specifically, here’s what I’ve found, so far, in the new Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com) that I liked, and I think you’ll like as well.

1) X.Org server 1.6/GNOME 2.26. The first part gives you peppier video performance, while the second gives you a really, nice integrated desktop. Particularly nice features include the integration of the Brasero CD/DVD burner with all other Gnome applications and improvements with both audio, PulseAudio, and multiple monitors control and support.

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