Well, it’s been a rather busy semester–three term projects, murder boards, and an FAA checkride (I’m now an instrument-rated helicopter pilot)–and I’ve finally found time during the break here to check out Ubuntu 9.10, lovingly referred to as Karmic Koala.  So far, I’m rather impressed; it’s a major step up from Jaunty Jackalope, and a veritable quantum leap from when I began using Feisty Fawn.  So, all alliteration and Scott Bakula references aside (I have yet to check out Men of a Certain Age on TNT, but I’ve been enjoying Enterprise and QL reruns in my little spare time), here are some of my first thoughts on the new OS.

Ubuntu Software Center:

This is the first big change touted by Canonical, and I’m terribly unimpressed so far.  USC, it seems, is the Ubuntu solution to the application stores pushed by Apple, et al. to provide a location for “one-stop shopping” for all the end users’ software needs.  While the interface is clean and streamlined, it’s terribly lacking in functionality.  Preinstalled software has no option to remove while, instead, only offering to upgrade or link to the publisher’s website.  This has just led me to more terminal use, having to repeatedly type “apt-get remove” or “apt-get purge” even more than previous versions.

While I’m not a fan of the lack of functionality provided by the USC, if the previous “Add/Remove” dialog were simply updated with the new look, I’d be a little more satisfied.  To reiterate, it’s pretty–slick, clean, and streamlined–but severely lacking in functionality I’m accustomed to.

Empathy IM Client:

Call me old-fashioned, but I really like Pidgin.  I like the interface.  I like the support available.  Mostly, I like knowing how to customize Pidgin how I like it without undue hassle.  Empathy is a clean interface, and, in terms of functionality, identical to Pidgin.

OpenOffice.org 3.1:

I’ve not really been able to play with OOo much yet as I haven’t had a need for it, but it looks cleaner than 3.0.  The program opens and runs faster, but that’s about all I’ve been able to tell so far.

Ubuntu One:

Again, I haven’t had a need to check this out yet, but I’m excited about the prospect of automatic synchronization with the Cloud.  I’ll explore this a little bit and get back to you.  My biggest concern is not being able to access documents from my BlackBerry, but I’m going to make sure that it works before getting too involved.

Overall, I’m very impressed with 9.10.  Graphics issues from Jaunty have been resolved.  I was amazed at the boot times and responsiveness I was able to get in GNOME, even when I started running several graphics-intensive applications simultaneously.  With a little tweaking, Karmic is sure to become my favourite distro yet!