Ubuntu Alphas Offer a Sneak Peak at ‘Hardy Heron’
Hardy Heron, the next release from the Ubuntu Linux team, isn’t due until April 2008, but already the early alpha releases are filled with significant changes and improvements. Alpha 4, the most recent release of Hardy Heron, features a new BitTorrent client, new CD/DVD burning tools and PulseAudio which will be the new audio handler.
Hardy Heron will also ship with Firefox 3 as the default web browser; at the moment the alphas use Firefox 3 beta 2.
PulseAudio promises to bring better system-wide audio performance to Ubuntu by providing a uniform audio layer for Gnome apps. Unfortunately, some popular apps like MPlayer and Xine use their own audio handling tools, which means PulseAudio integration won’t be total, but for most users it will handle their needs. For more technical details on PulseAudio, including how to install it in Gusty Gibbon, check out the coverage at Linux.com
The move to use Transmission as the default BitTorrent client is perhaps the most potentially controversial change in Hardy Heron. While Transmission has served me well on both Linux and OS X, many people seem to loath it. Still, replacing it with Azureus or another client isn’t hard and Transmission is head and shoulders above Gnome BitTorrent, the long-time Ubuntu default.
Also worth noting in Alpha 4 is the inclusion of GVFS, a virtual filesystem that’s set to replace GnomeVFS. GVFS promises to fix some of the shortcomings of the Nautilus file browser like the inability to restore files from the trash or pause and undo file operations.
Hardy Heron still has a ways to go and alpha 4 is definitely not recommended for your daily needs, but if you’d like to see what’s coming in the final release there are ISOs and torrents available via the Ubuntu Wiki.
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