DRAFT - under development

Introduction

The Ubuntu developers are moving quickly to bring you the absolute latest and greatest software the Open Source community has to offer. The Natty Narwhal Alpha 1 Release of Ubuntu 11.04, bringing with it new features for the next version of Ubuntu.

Get Ubuntu 11.04

Upgrading from Ubuntu 10.10

to be updated

To upgrade from Ubuntu 10.10 on a desktop system, press Alt+F2 and type in "update-manager -d" (without the quotes) into the command box. Update Manager should open up and tell you: New distribution release '11.04' is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.

To upgrade from Ubuntu 10.10 on a server system: install the update-manager-core package if it is not already installed; launch the upgrade tool with the command sudo do-release-upgrade -d; and follow the on-screen instructions. Note that the server upgrade is now more robust and will utilize gnu screen and automatically re-attach in case of e.g. dropped connection problems.

To upgrade from Kubuntu 10.10 follow the instructions at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NattyUpgrades/Kubuntu

Download Release Candidate

Get it while it's hot. The following link will direct you to a download location near you:

• http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/download (Ubuntu Desktop, Server, and Netbook)
  

initial look at Natty Additional ISOs and torrents are also available at:

• http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/natty/alpha-1/ (Ubuntu Server for UEC and EC2)
  http://releases.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/natty/alpha-1/ (Kubuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/natty/alpha-1/ (Xubuntu)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/natty/a1pha-1/ (Edubuntu DVD)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/natty/alpha-1/ (Ubuntu Studio)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-netbook/ports/releases/natty/alpha-1/ (Ubuntu ARM)
  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/natty/alpha-1/ (Mythbuntu)
  

New features in Natty

Please see the Natty blueprint list for details.

Please test and report any bugs you find:

• http://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs

Updated Packages

Right now, we've got a few too many packages, so our images are too big to fit on CD.

As with every new release, packages--applications and software of all kinds--are being updated at a rapid pace. Many of these packages came from an automatic sync from Debian's Unstable branch.

For a list of all packages being accepted for 11.04 Natty Narwhal, please subscribe to natty-changes:

• https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/natty-changes

Ubuntu Desktop Edition

• There are two kinds of session in gdm: Ubuntu Desktop will run unity by default and the Ubuntu Classic Session will run gnome-panel
• Unity is the default in the Ubuntu Desktop session. This shell has specific graphic card needs. In alpha1, gnome-panel (the previous panel) isn't launched in the gnome session if you don't run the default windowmanager. This is notably the case of an upgraded machine with "no effect" selected in gnome-appearance-properties.

For those, you can try to reboot and choose in gdm the "Ubuntu Classic Session".

• The gnome-panel ran from the Ubuntu classic session can have applets crashing at start with compiz enabled. One solution is use metacity meanwhile.

Ubuntu Netbook Edition

• There is none Ubuntu Netbook Edition right now as it's merged with the Ubuntu Desktop Edition. Only an armel spin exists since Natty.

Kubuntu

• not shipping armel

Xubuntu

Edubuntu

Ubuntu Studio

Mythbuntu

Ubuntu Server Cloud images

Installation

Linux kernel 2.6.37-rc3

Alpha 1 includes the 2.6.37-rc3 kernel which is based on the latest mainline release candidate kernel. This is a major update from the v2.6.35 in Maverick. The kernel is expected to roll forward over time to v2.6.38 for release.

This kernel update includes the initial versions of FANOTIFY, KMS+KDB integration, a number of desktop related responsiveness improvements, AppArmour (upstream!), a lot of debugging tool updates, and updates for the virtualisation which should improve performance there.

In addition the kernel is testing out further responsiveness tweaks which are showing promise.

Known issues

As is to be expected at this VERY early stage of the release process, there are known bugs that users may run into with the Natty Alpha 1 Release. The ones we know about at this point (and some of the workarounds), are documented here so you don't need to spend time reporting these bugs again:

Graphics and Display

• ...

Networking & WiFi

• Some users report that the wireless connection fails when switching to a virtual console. (656757)

Common Desktop applications

• OpenOffice may crash Unity, aka "compiz.real crashed when OpenOffice freeze with SIGSEGV in eventLoop()". The problem is being fixed as alpha-1 is being wrapped, but progress on the resolution can be followed in the bug report (526642).

• CouchDB is not working in alpha-1, and so desktopcouch is affected. This shows up as CouchDataBase call hangs (682866).

Input devices

• ...

Boot, installation and post-install

• ...

Ubuntu server edition

• ...

Issues affecting other Ubuntu flavors

• Kubuntu
  • ...
• Ubuntu Netbook:
  • ...
• Ubuntu ARM
  • ...

For a listing of more known issues, please refer to the Natty Narwhal bug tracker in Launchpad.

Reporting bugs

It should come as no surprise that this alpha 1 release of Natty Narwhal contains other bugs. Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions will help fix bugs and improve future releases. Please report bugs using the tools provided.

If you want to help out with bugs, the Bug Squad is always looking for help.

Participate in Ubuntu

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

• http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate/

More information

You can find out more about Ubuntu on the Ubuntu website and Ubuntu wiki.

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