Canonical taking on Microsoft with Ubuntu Business Remix

A new tab has appeared on the Ubuntu.com website along the top menu. It appears that Canonical, the lead development company for Ubuntu, is looking to take on Microsoft by directly entering the business PC area. If you click through the links and attempt to download the Remix version of software, you are even asked to sign off on some licensing agreements. This new version of Ubuntu contains some proprietary software. I have not downloaded or tried out this latest version of Ubuntu. It appears to be running the Unity desktop. The oft criticized Unity desktop just may be seen as a slightly better evil to work with than the upcoming Windows 8 version.

Microsoft has continued to dominate the business PC desktop world over the past couple of decades with its Windows based operating system. However, support for Windows XP is coming to an end, and Windows 8 is creeping on the horizon. Many businesses have already upgraded from Windows XP to Windows 7, and may be looking at shelling out more dough to upgrade to the next version of Windows. Ubuntu Business Remix may be the ticket for businesses to convert to to avoid the Windows update costs.

However, Canonical's launch of Ubuntu Business Remix may still be coming about a year too late. They could have really taken advantage of Microsoft's Windows Vista debacle. Windows 7 is a much improved version of Windows. Since Remix is free, it may still make significant inroads into the business arena if Windows 8 comes in at a premium price point, especially in the cost cutting era phase of the economic downturn.  

Kubuntu Loses Funding Support from Canonical

Kubuntu will lose its funding support from Canonical after the 12.04  release according to a recent e-mail to the Kubuntu Developers List .  In the e-mail, John Riddell stated that it was "unrealistic
to expect it to continue to have financial resources put into it" since the Kubuntu desktop has not been a business success for Canonical.

This does not imply that Kubuntu will disappear from the Linux scene.  It will simply slide further on down on the Ubuntu totem pole.  Down with the likes of Xubuntu, not bad company.   It seems that Cannonical just wants to do away with the GNOME vs. KDE desktop war by turning to Unity, a desktop interface that still leaves a lot to be desired.

Unity may work great on Tablets, TVs, and smart phones, but for desktop PCs, it is just not as productive.  Maybe Unity in Precise Pangolin will work better?

Changes for Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin in April 2012

The next version of Ubuntu, called Precise Pangolin 12.04 , will be released in April of 2012. An early development version has already hit the streets. It is available for Ubuntu users to download and test. The upcoming release of Ubuntu will be a Long Term Release (LTS). This means that the operating system will be supported for five years. This is an increase from the usual three years for Ubuntu desktop releases.

The alpha release of Ubuntu are usually full of some rough edges. If you decide to try it out, be sure to use not to use it on a computer that is involved with key production. Be prepared of an occasional crash or process failure, and be prepared to file a bug report or two to help the developers of Ubuntu.

Here are some changes of note for next release of Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin. Since April is still a little ways off, some more changes may still be on tap.

Old to New Linux Hardware
Ubuntu will continue the trend of losing its luster when it comes to running on older hardware. The introduction of Unity and its bulky and slow interface, along a beefier Linux kernel in recent Ubuntu releases makes this operating system a less than suitable Linux distribution. when it comes to running on my older hardware, recent Ubuntu releases have been steadily getting slower.

Precise Pangolin continues the trend of shedding compatibility with older hardware, by making a 64 bit version the default. A meeker 32 bit version will still be available for older computer systems, but don't count on Ubuntu winning speed tests when running on older systems. There are better options for running Linux on older computers, like Linux Mint LX, or Xubuntu.

Ubuntu Precise Pangolin will also shed CD install disks. The new release will only be able to fit on a DVD or USB device that can hold about 1GB. Daily builds of the alpha release of Ubuntu are coming in a little over 700 MB which is too big to fit on a CD. You will need a computer that has a DVD drive, or is able to boot from a USB device.

With the move to DVD, Rhythmbox makes a return as the main media player. It was replaced by a slimmer Banshee a couple of Ubuntu releases ago. Now that the Ubuntu developers have more space available in the Precise Pangolin Linux distribution, Rhythmbox returns to the Ubuntu stage as the main desktop media player. The move for Rhythmbox may only be temporary, as it seems that Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu's founder, favors Banshee.

Despite Complaints, Unity Hangs On
According to statistics from Distrowatch, Ubuntu may have lost some of it popularity due to the Unity interface. But these stats do not give a real indication about the actual number of users still using Ubuntu. But Precise Pangolin will stick to this very same graphical user interface and Ubuntu will look to expand its horizons into tablets and mobile devices in the future. The new release should have some tweaks tucked in to help appease the many complaints that Unity has received.

Ubuntu starting to Fade Behind Fedora?

There is no question that Ubuntu dominated the desktop Linux world over the past few years. Yet if recent statistics from distrowatch.com are to believed, then the Ubuntu star is starting to fade.  Even Linux Mint, which overtook Ubuntu in the number of times.  In the statistics, you can also see that Fedora is rising fast.  I am inching toward giving Fedora a try, at least on a live CD, just to see what it has to offer.  I am fairly sure I will run into hardware issues, since some of my machines are a little bit more of the vintage kind of PC!

This certainly does not mean that the number of desktop Linux Mint users, or even Fedora users now outnumber Ubuntu users. But it is strong indication that Ubuntu users are unhappy with the complete devotionby Canonical to the Unity desktop.

The Unity interface is something that I abandoned earlier this week in favor of GNOME Classic on every single one of my computers.  Even my netbook is now GNOME  classic.   Yet, even with the switch back to GNOME, there was no need for me  to completely leave Ubuntu.  I simply installed GNOME from the Ubuntu Software Center and moved on with my life.

It is amazing that I lasted for so long with the slow Unity interface!  My computer is so much faster and zippier with GNOME.  Then again, these are older PC.

Ubuntu Looks to Mobile Operating System for Tablets

Canonical has asked member developers to provide their thoughts and ideas on creating a mobile version of the popular Ubuntu operating system.

The company wants to jump into the mobile arena and create software that will run on smart phones, tablets, smart TV's by the year 2014.  By then, maybe most of the kinks that are in the Unity interface will have been worked out. Canonical still has plans to have a smoother user experience over the next few releases.

The Ubuntu user interface has gone through a lot of changes in the past few months. Mark Shuttleworth has received a lot of negative feedback since the introduction of the Unity interface.

It is likely that Canonical will have a tough time selling its Unity interface to tablet makers. It is unlikely hardware makers will be willing to stake their money on the Unity interface.  This interface is going to have  two more year worth of developing a 'bad reputation' by many unhappy and vocal Linux users.  It will not matter if things in Unity are going to get fixed, the damage has been done.

I suspect that the best the Canonical could hope for is to find some obscure Chinese company that makes cheap tablets to install  an Ubuntu operating system, and try to sell them on some obscure website that typical web surfers will never find.  Pretty much the same story for Canonical as it tried to enter the desktop and laptop OEM market a couple of years ago.

Maybe by 2014, things will be different....

Next Generation Apple TV May Coming Soon. After Christmas?

I picked up an Apple TV about a year ago and have been pretty pleased with its performance. I do not use iTunes much though, just Netflix.

I am not much of an Apple Fanboy, and this being a blog mainly about Ubuntu Linux it may seem a bit of a digression to post about something that Apple makes.  But, Amazon and Best Buy lowered the price for Apple TV's down to $89.  This is likely to get more units sold for the holiday season and to clear out inventory to get ready for the next generation.

Internet rumors are flying that Apple is working on, or has already perfected some sort of magical television device that may be integrated with its Siri software.  It probably will not appear before Christmas, as the holiday shopping season has begun and the Black Friday sales advertisements have already hit the streets.  Perhaps we can look toward the first or second quarter 2012 for some kind of announcement from Apple.  But, I could be wrong?