WORK IN PROGRESS

Introduction

We are now in the final stages of Dapper Drake development. Everything is stabilizing and Ubuntu 6.04 will certainly be a top notch professional OS. Now that all of the lower level improvements have been made it is time to close the hood and rub on a coat of wax. This week brings us Dapper Flight 5, the fifth alpha release of Ubuntu 6.04 - The Dapper Drake. With Flight 5 comes a new and improved Human Look-and-Feel, a few new GUI power tools and much more. In addition to Ubuntu specific improvements GNOME 2.14 final is now in Ubuntu 6.04 as well. On to the screenshots!

Note: This is still an alpha release. Do not install it on production machines. The final stable version will be released in April of 2006.

Human Installer Splash

To bring more consistency to all aspects of the look-and-feel of Dapper the gfxboot menu now has a light brown Human theme. In addition to the new look the accessibility features now work as well.

Screenshot 1: Human gfxboot

[http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/gfxboot-big.png http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/gfxboot-small.png]

Click the thumbnail for the full size screenshot

Assistive Technology

The introduction of gfxboot (the initial boot screen) has made possible a radical improvement in accessibility support on the live CD. Starting in Flight 5, it will now be possible to select one of several accessibility options from the very first boot screen. Having enabled assistive technology from start of the live CD process it is now possible for disabled users to complete the installation independently, using Ubuntu Express and the assistive technology systems available in Gnome.

Sleek New Artwork

Ubuntu 6.04 is the result of nearly 2 years of hard work and over that time the Human theme has received mostly minor improvements. Ubuntu 6.04 is a professional strength OS and a sleek professional look-and-feel helps instill confidence in it users. Flight 5 introduces the new Ubuntu 6.04 artwork based on the custom “Ubuntulooks” theme engine and great new icons.

NOTE: This new artwork is still a work in progress.

Ubuntulooks Human

Dapper Flight 5 includes a brand new theme called “Ubuntulooks”. Ubuntulooks is based on the very popular Clearlooks theme with some additional improvements. Ubuntulooks brings with it improved buttons, check boxes, radio buttons, sliders, progress bars and much more. Check out the new theme screen shot below.

Screenshot 2: Ubuntulooks

[http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/ubuntulooks-big.png http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/ubuntulooks-small.png]

Click the thumbnail for the full size screenshot

New Icons

Along with the new Ubuntulooks theme engine comes a new sleek set of icons. Icons make up a large part of the user experience and a good icon set can really spice up the desktop and make a great impression on people. Here is a preview of some these great new icons.

Screenshot 3: New Icons

http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/dapper-icon-sample.png

You can see some more of the icons here:

• https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DapperUbuntuIcons

Download a copy of Flight 5 to test and see all icons for yourself!

New Help Menu

With Flight 5, a new “Help” menu has been added which provides users with an easy way to get help from a variety of sources.

Screenshot 4: New Help Menu

http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/help-menu.png

New Web Browser Home Page

Every time you start up your web browser you are greeted by a friendly page the tells you a little about Ubuntu, where you can help out and where you can get help. This page has been updated with a new clean look and updated information about Ubuntu.

Screenshot 5: New Web Browser Home Page

[http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/home-page-big.png http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/home-page-small.png]

Click the thumbnail for the full size screenshot

Improved Add/Remove Applications

Add/Remove Applications provides users, especially new users, with a very simplistic and easy to use interface for finding and installing software. Ubuntu 6.04 includes a new version of Add/Remove Applications that adds among other things a new more organized interface and the ability to search for the software you are looking for.

Screenshot 6: Improved Add/Remove Applications

[http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/g-a-i-big.png http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/g-a-i-small.png]

Click the thumbnail for the full size screenshot

Free Windows Software

As usual the Live CD contains a small selection of useful software for the Windows platform. For this release that includes Abiword, Firefox, Gaim, Gimp and Thunderbird. The layout of the Win-FOSS CD browser has been redesigned to make it as dapper as the rest of the distribution.

Screenshot 7: Live CD FOSS Windows Software

[http://www.ubuntu.com/include/testing/flight5/ff_scr.png http://www.ubuntu.com/include/testing/flight5/ff_small.png]

Graphical Power Tools

Linux based operating systems are loved by many because of their powerful capabilities on the command line. For less technical users the command line is not the most cozy place to be. To help new users be more comfortable using Ubuntu the Ubuntu developers have started to put a pretty face on traditional command line tools creating a set of Graphical Power Tools. Below is a brief overview of some of these great new tools.

gdebi

Ubuntu provides literally thousands of applications in its package repository ready for easy installation. Even though we have all sorts of great software ready to use there are times when we need software that is not available in the Ubuntu archive. Traditionally to install some package you would have to go to the command line and run a command. This is not easy for new users. gdebi comes to the rescue to solve this issue. With gdebi a package (and its dependencies) can be installed graphically with a few mouse clicks. Take a look at the screen shots below which show how gdebi works.

Screenshot 8: Installing Software with gdebi

http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/gdebi-install.png

Screenshot 9: Installed Package

http://www.simplifiedcomplexity.com/images/screenshots/dapper/flight5/gdebi-installed.png

OpenOffice.org 2.0.2

OpenOffice.org comes with the 2.0.2 release candidate 4 (now renamed to 2.0.2 final); a vast number of issues was addresssed (for the details see the [http://development.openoffice.org/releases/2.0.2rc4.html release notes], on the Linux side, this build now has better integration into the Gnome desktop and comes with enabaled accessibility support.

Screenshot 10: OpenOffice.org 2.0.2

Graphical Shutdown

Many Linux distributions have had graphical start up screens for a while now. No Linux distribution has had a complete graphical shut down process... until now. Starting with Flight 5, Ubuntu 6.04 now uses usplash to provide a graphical shut down screen. This gives Ubuntu a more professional and user friendly feel overall. Users now see almost no text messages on the start up and shut down screens. Watch this short movie below for a sneak peak at this great new feature.

Movie 1: Graphical Shut Down via usplash

http://www.ubuntu.com/include/testing/flight5/usplash-shut-down-movie.gif

This movie is a 30 second long clip and will play in a loop. Actual shut down times are faster than shown in this movie.

Download Flight 5

Get it while it's hot. ISOs and torrents are available at:

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/dapper/flight-5/ (Ubuntu) BR http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/dapper/flight-5/ (Kubuntu) BR http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/dapper/flight-5/ (Edubuntu)

Participate in Ubuntu

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at

• http://wiki.ubuntu.com/HelpingUbuntu

Some things you can do to help Ubuntu right now is to simply download the CD (links above) perform some basic testing and report bugs when you find them.

Testing

If you plan to do an installation of Dapper Flight 5 be sure to head to ["Testing"]. With just a few minutes of time at your hands, you can really help to improve Ubuntu. We have two different tests, one takes just a short while, the other is more thorough.

• ["Testing/Current"] - Just simply note how your installation went
• ["Testing/Short"] - the short test
• ["Testing/Long"] - the longer test

Reporting Bugs

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve future releases. Please report bugs through Launchpad's Bug tracker Malone:

• https://launchpad.net/malone/distros/ubuntu

More Information

You can find out more about Ubuntu on our website, IRC channel and wiki. If you're new to Ubuntu, please visit:

• http://www.ubuntu.com/

To sign up for future Ubuntu development announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's development announcement list at:

• http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-announce

Additional Resources

Here are some additional resources discussing current Ubuntu 6.04 and GNOME 2.14 developments.

GNOME 2.14

• [http://www.gnome.org/~davyd/gnome-2-14/ A Look at GNOME 2.14] - by Davyd Madeley

Previous Flights

• DapperFlight4

• DapperFlight3

• DapperFlight2

All comments, suggestions, etc... about this document can be fired, out of a cannon, at: [mailto:matt.t.galvin@gmail.com Matt Galvin]