Introduction

Jaunty Jackalope will soon become Kubuntu 9.04!

The focus of 9.04 for the Kubuntu community is delivering a polished, user-friendly KDE 4.2-based desktop. Jaunty is the first dazzling step into the future of desktops with innovation not seen elsewhere.

Alpha 6, the sixth in a series of testing CD images that will be released throughout this cycle, represents the very latest snapshot of Jaunty Jackalope. The pre-release images are known to be reasonably free of major undocumented 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. The Alpha 6 release can be downloaded from the following URL:

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/jaunty/alpha-6/

NOTE: This is an alpha (pre-) release. Pre-release versions of Jaunty are NOT encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or for anyone not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent, breakage. Pre-release versions of Jaunty ARE recommended for Kubuntu developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs. Please do not use this in a production environment with data or workflows that you cannot do without.

New or Improved In Alpha 6

The Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 6 CD release includes a brand new desktop as well as many fixes and new applications. For this release, we are exploring some desktop additions and updates to many common applications as well as bug fixes to some annoyances you may have encountered. We are also progressing with our migration of KDE3 applications and dependencies to KDE4.

With every new pre-release, updates are documented, allowing you to thoroughly test your Kubuntu installation. Remember that all of these features are part of a pre-release version of Kubuntu and may still have issues. We ask that you, for any problems you come across, file a bug if one has yet to be filed for your problem.

• https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+filebug

Qt 4.5

Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 6 ships with latest Qt, version 4.5. Qt Software, formerly known as Trolltech, license QT 4.5 under the LGPL beneath the GPL which will guarantee growing interests of commercial developers. Qt 4.5 brings a faster overall desktop experience, though as it is still very new it has not been extensively tested. You can help by finding new rough edges and bugs that occur with Qt 4.5.

KDE 4.2.1

KDE has recently released version 4.2.1, a bugfix and maintenance release of their amazing desktop environment. Many bugfixes and improvements to Kmail, Okular, Khtml and Kopete are some of the highlights of this release. For complete details 0n KDE 4.2.1, please consult http://kde.org/announcements/announce-4.2.1.php .

KPackageKit

Alpha 6 brings us a new software manager , KPackageKit. the KDE front-end to packagekit. It is installed by default, alongside Adept Installer and Adept Manager. Please try it out and report any bugs!

Ubiquity

The installer got massive improvements. Among various miscellaneous changes is an improved timezone map and the frontend was ported to PyKDE4, giving us a better KDE4 look and feel.

Quassel

Quassel is a new IRC client that is now the default for Kubuntu Jaunty. It is feature-complete, but It still needs testing so that we can identify bugs and get them fixed.

While Quassel is a split client-core application, in Kubuntu the standalone version is installed. In version 0.4 a new setup wizard makes it very easy to set up

Amarok 2.0.2

Alpha 6 contains the recently-released Amarok 2.0.2, the second bugfix/enhancement release in the Amarok2 series including integration of online services such as Last.fm, LibriVox, Jamendo, Magnatune and more.

Amarok 2 is now installed by default, and version 1.4 is no longer available from Kubuntu. Please test it, and alert the Kubuntu developers to regressions by filing bug reports.

New KDE 4 Network-Manager Plasma Widget

Alpha 6 contains the new plasma-widget-network-manager. Please file bugs against this new plasma widget if you encounter regressions from the older knetworkmanager applet.

KTorrent 3.2

KTorrent has been updated to version 3.2. The 3.2 release brings a modest amount of new features, a heaping of bugfixes and fixes for memory leaks. It also brings a new KTorrent plasmoid to grace your desktop with.

Kdebluetooth 0.3

Kdebluetooth has been updated and is back (fixing the major bluetooth issues in Kubuntu 8.10), but needs work and lots of testing as well. Please give it a try and help out by filing bug reports.

choqoK

Micro blogging is very popular in the FOSS world. ChoqoK, a client for KDE4, was releases in version 0.4 and is now available for installation in Jaunty from the Universe repository. It now has support for direct messages and of course for identi.ca.

Kubuntu Documentation

We have reintroduced Kubuntu Documentation in the hopes that people use KHelpCenter. We need volunteers to help update the information from KDE 3- to KDE 4-based applications.

If you are interested in helping out, please contact:

• Richard Johnson

Known Issues

• Kmail sieve functionality is buggy and causes CPU hang. You shouldn't use it at the moment.

Feedback

We want to hear what you think about the current Alpha 6 release of Kubuntu 9.04, the Jaunty Jackalope. We want to know if it Rocks, if it is just OK, or if 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!