I am sitting around listening to some Jethro Tull and throught I’d have a quick look at Ibex.

The latest version of Ubuntu was released yesterday... 8.10 or Intrepid Ibex.

I downloaded the ISO and booted my PC from the live CD option to have a look. Well I was expecting... more.

Very first impression: Geez someone knocked over a coffee cup on the desktop.
I quickly realised this was a stylised Ibex, after which the product version is named.

I can’t see a lot of new stuff, actually the only thing that jumped out at me was the USB install option.


Firefox 3.03 is in there, but OpenOffice.org 3.0 didn’t make the cut. Ibex is running version 2.4. There is nothing wrong with that, but given Firefox 3.0beta made the cut for Hardy Heron (which is what I’m currently running), I would have thought OOo3.0 to have made it in. Perhaps there was insufficient time for testing or some such thing.

The Ubuntu site does say that most of the new goodies are behind the scenes and include new wireless abilities and 3G support.

The latest GNOME 2.24 is being used, but there are no new or additional themes.

An interesting feature is the “Guest Session” where another person can use your Ubuntu PC as a guest while keeping all your secrets... well, secret.

On the whole though, I’m not really tempted to upgrade my Hardy Heron install to Intrepid Ibex. I might hold off and wait to see what others are saying about it. One never knows, there may be a killer app hidden in the large intestine of Ibex that will tempt me to neuralise Heron.

Tags: Linux, ubuntu