Introduction

On August 29th, 2007, Jono Bacon announced the next release, version 8.04, codenamed the Hardy Heron, on the Ubuntu Developer Announce mailing list.

Alpha 4, the fourth release in a series of milestone CD images that will be released throughout the Hardy development cycle, represent the very latest snapshots of Hardy. The pre-release images are known to be reasonably free of CD-build or installer bugs, however they are not recommended for use in stable environments. These releases will be for those who are developing, documenting, and testing. Beta releases can be downloaded from the following URL:

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/hardy/

NOTE: This is an alpha (pre-) release. Pre-release version of Hardy are NOT encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or for anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent, breakage. Pre-release versions of Hardy ARE recommended for Kubuntu developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs.

Screenshots will be available at: http://www.thecodingstudio.com/opensource/linux/?q=node/55

Previous Kubuntu 8.04 Releases

• Alpha 1

• Alpha 2

• Alpha 3

New In Alpha 4

Hardy Heron Alpha 4 CD release brings with it many updated, new, and exciting applications. For this latest release of Kubuntu 8.04, the usability standards have improved and there have already been some aesthetic changes. Besides these changes, there have been updates to many common applications as well as bug fixes to some of those annoyances you may or may not have run into. With every new pre-release, updates will be documented allowing you to thoroughly test your Kubuntu 8.04 installation. Remember that all of these features are part of a pre-release version of Kubuntu, and may still have issues. We ask that any problems you come across that you file a bug, if one has yet to be filed for your problem.
https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+filebug

Artwork

A new wallpaper has been chosen for the KDE 3 version of Kubuntu 8.04. It is a beautiful composition created by Vlad Gerasimov of Vlad Studio.

KDE 4 Integration

KDE 4 integration has been improved since the last release. If you are in KDE 3 and have KDE 4 applications installed, you will notice that in KMenu the KDE 4 applications will be marked as KDE 4 applications, and vice versa when inside an instance of KDE 4.

Printer Configuration

To test the new printer magic, simply run system-config-printer-applet-kde from the command line and do some test printing. Also you can test it out by attaching a printer to your computer and seeing if the new printer is automatically recognized and configured.

Desktop Effects

Desktop Effects for Kubuntu is a new application that will help you to get Compiz installed, and also configured for your system. It is currently an alpha release, so expect bugs. To install the application, which is located in the universe repository, install the desktop-effects-kde package. Once it is installed, simply run desktop-effects-kde4 from either the run dialog, command line, or KRunner. This application can be used in both KDE 3 and 4. Do not worry about the binary name with the -kde4, as this will be fixed in the future. At this time, this application does not register itself in KMenu, so running it as mentioned above is the only way at this time.

Flash

It is good to report that Konqueror and Flash are once again working together nicely after a recent SVN checkout of kdelibs and an updated patch by Kubuntu.

Qt

INFO: http://trolltech.com/company/newsroom/announcements/press.2008-01-18.5377846280

Trolltech, the company behind the Qt toolkit, has gone ahead and licensed Qt under the GPL version 3. With this news, Kubuntu has gone ahead and released Qt version 3.3.8b, which is the GPL version 3 release of Qt 3. Qt 4 also includes the updated GPL version 3 licensing.

Feedback

We want to hear what you think about the current release of Kubuntu 8.04, The Hardy Heron, Alpha 4 CD Release. We want to know if it Rocks, if it is just OK, or it is flat out wrong. No matter the feedback, as long as it is in line with the Ubuntu Code of Conduct we would like to hear it.

So what are you waiting for, head on over to the Feedback Page and let us know!