an ancient African word meaning humanity to others. It also means I am what I am because of who we all are.

Linux was already established as an enterprise server platform in 2004. But free software was still not a part of everyday life for most computer users. That's why Mark Shuttleworth gathered a small team of developers from one of the most established Linux projects Debian - and set out to create an easy-to-use Linux desktop, Ubuntu. The vision for Ubuntu is part social and part economic: free software, available free of charge to everybody on the same terms, and funded through a portfolio of services provided by Canonical.

Ubuntu releases are also given code names, using an adjective and an animal with the same first letter With the exception of the first two releases, code names are in alphabetical order, allowing a quick determination of which release is newer. Names are occasionally chosen so that animal appearance or habits reflects some new feature.

Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty Warthog)

Ubuntu 4.10 The Warty Warthog

Simple and fast Installation
Ubuntu comes on one single CD, with thousands of extra packages available online. The installation is optimized for speed and simplicity. Ubuntu has excellent support for laptops and can also be setup in a minimalist server configuration.

GNOME 2.8
Ubuntu was the first distribution to ship Gnome 2.8, on the day of the 2.8 release. Ubuntu is a great way to try out Gnome 2.8 if you have not already experienced its speed and simplicity. Date Released : October 20, 2004

Firefox 0.9 (with security patches) First class productivity software XFree86 4.3 with improved hardware support

Ubuntu 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog)

Ubuntu 5.04 Hoary Hedgehog

GNOME 2.10 X.org 6.8.2 Kick start compatibility for automatic installations Several new desktop package-management tools to make it even easier to stay up to date An ultra-fast boot process, with optimized into process and special optimizations for the hot plug system Improved hardware support on a range of platforms -- laptops in particular gain improved suspend/hibernation support and processor frequency scaling

Date Released : October 2004

Unified and improved hardware detection between the install and live CDs, which gives us live CDs on PowerPC and amd64 A range of improvements related to internationalization, translations, and different keyboard layouts, including a new smart keyboard selector that guesses your keyboard based on key presses A load of new Ubuntu-specific documentation Instant messaging, desktop publishing, office productivity, with vorbis playback and Python 2.4 ready out of the box Enhancements to the hardware abstraction layer to provide you with BIOS, CPU, memory and LSB data (infrastructure for the upcoming hardware database) Enhanced proactive security due to privilege minimization of many processes which previously ran as root. This work reduces the impact of many potential security vulnerabilities

Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger)

Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger

GNOME 2.12.1 OpenOfficeorg 2.0 beta 2 X.org 6.8.2 with wider hardware support An enhanced tool for easily installing new applications (see Add Applications on the Applications menu) A new tool which makes it easy to install support for multiple languages (Language Selector) Editable GNOME menus with SMEG (Simple Menu Editor for GNOME) Applications are now linked into the Launchpad infrastructure (new entries on the Help menus for translation and support)

Date Released : October 12, 2005

Support for writing audio CDs (Serpentine) Graphical boot process with progress bar (USplash) New documentation (Ubuntu 5.10 Starter Guide) Language packs with updates from the Rosetta translation platform, which makes contribution of translations easy for everybody

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake)

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS Dapper Drake

Ubuntu 6.06 LTS introduces functionality that simplifies common Linux server deployment processes. For system administrators setting up large numbers of web, mail and related servers, Ubuntu 6.06 LTS offers the fastest and most consistent path to deployment, combined with the availability of global commercial support where needed.
The Server Edition of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS includes a unique mechanism to set up a standardized, certified, and supported LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) server with a single command. The feature greatly reduces the setup time for companies providing hosted LAMP services, as well as making it easier for organizations to set up and maintain their own LAMPstandardized servers. Canonical Ltd. Also provides technical support for the full suite of components in the LAMP stack.

Date Released : June 1, 2006

On the Desktop CD A new, very fast, graphical installer based on the Live CD Faster system startup and login Simplified menu organization Graphical shutdown process Easy access to power management settings with GNOME Power Manager Improved support for video playback Optional Network Manager for convenient roaming between different wireless and wired networks GNOME 2.14.1, OpenOffice.org 2.0.2, X.org 7.0 On the Server
New kernels targeted at server platforms. The server kernels are tuned differently than the desktop kernels (providing better performance for server applications).

There are both low-end, and "big iron" server kernels. The low-end server kernel is generic, and should work on the same equipment that the desktop kernel runs on. The high-end server kernel is geared towards systems with greater than 8 CPUs (ES7000 / Summit / BIGSMP). Turn-key LAMP installation for this common deployment scenario Improved support for clusters and SANs Numerous thin client enhancements, including faster client startup, graphical boot process, reduced memory requirements, and sound device support Installation and Upgrades Ubuntu can now be installed to USB devices, such as removable hard drives and flash memory, using the text-mode installer A new upgrade tool is available, for simple, clean and reliable upgrades from one Ubuntu release to the next, starting with Ubuntu 5.10 The alternate installer now runs in a single stage, rebooting straight into the complete system. This makes it faster, simpler, and more reliable.

Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft)

Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft

On the Desktop GNOME 2.16 OpenOffice.org 2.0.4 RC 2 X.org 7.1 On the Server Task selection for easier installation of mail servers, web servers, etc. A pre-release of the upcoming LTSP 5.0 with support for local devices, printers on thin clients as well as language and session selection from the LTSP login manager, network swapping, ether boot support out of the box and many more additions and improvements like network swap support that reduce the minimal requirements for thin clients to 32MB memory.

Date Released : October 2006

Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn)

Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn

System Requirements The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 7.04 is 256MB of memory. With only the minimum amount of memory available, the installation process will take longer than normal, but will complete successfully, and the system will perform adequately once installed.
Desktop highlights

Date Released : April 19, 2007

Windows migration tool: The new migration tool recognizes Internet Explorer bookmarks, Firefox favorites, desktop wallpaper, AOL IM contacts, and Yahoo IM contacts, and imports them into Ubuntu during installation. This offers easier and faster migration for new users of Ubuntu and individuals wanting to run a dual-boot system.

Easy-to-install codec wizards: A new guided wizard for installing codecs not shipped with Ubuntu gives users a safe way of installing codecs they can legally use to view multimedia content. Plug and play network sharing with Avahi: This new feature allows users to automatically discover and join a wireless network and share music, find printers and more. Server highlights Virtualization support: On x86 systems with the Intel VT or AMD-V extensions, Kernel-based Virtual Machine support (KVM) allows users to run multiple virtual machines running unmodified Linux. Each virtual machine has private virtualized hardware: a network card, disk, graphics adapter, and so on. We have also added VMI support, which provides optimized performance under VMWare.

Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)

Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon

System Requirements The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 7.10 is 384MB of memory for desktop CDs, and 256MB for other installation methods. (Note that some of your system's memory may be unavailable due to being used for the graphics card.) With only the minimum amount of memory available, the installation process will take longer than normal, but will complete successfully, and the system will perform adequately once installed. Low-memory systems may be able to use the desktop CD to install by adding the only-ubiquity boot option to run just the installer rather than the whole desktop.

Date Released : October 18, 2007

Desktop highlights Compiz Fusion: This innovative compositing window manager enables 3D desktop effects that let users work with, and see, their desktops in completely new ways. Printer installation: In GNOME, printers are automatically configured for use as soon as they are connected. Free Flash support with Gnash: Ubuntu 7.10 leads the pack with a preview of this Flash browser plugin. Although still actively in development and not yet fully supported by Ubuntu, Gnash gives a glimpse into the future of free Flash, bringing partial Flash support to 64bit desktop systems. Automated Firefox plugin installation: Beyond the addition of Gnash, Firefox in Ubuntu now supports automatic installation of popular plugins through the standard Ubuntu package repositories, for a richer webbrowsing experience with the integrated security support of the rest of the Ubuntu system.

Server highlights AppArmor: This easy-to-deploy kernel technology limits the resources an application is allowed to access and can be used to provide an added layer of protection against undiscovered security vulnerabilities in applications. Pre-configured installation options: Mail Server, Print Server, Database Server, and File Server options join existing LAMP and DNS options for pre-configured installations, easing the deployment of common server configurations.

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron)

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Hardy Heron

System Requirements The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 8.04 is 384MB of memory for desktop CDs, and 256MB for other installation methods. (Note that some of your system's memory may be unavailable due to being used for the graphics card.) With only the minimum amount of memory available, the installation process will take longer than normal, but will complete successfully, and the system will perform adequately once installed. Low-memory systems may be able to use the desktop CD to install by selecting "Install Ubuntu" from the boot menu to run just the installer, rather than the whole desktop started by selecting "Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer".

Ubuntu 8.10 introduced several new features improvements to mobile computing and desktop scalability, increased flexibility for Internet connectivity, an Ubuntu Live USB creator and a guest account which allowed others to use a computer allowing very limited user rights (e.g. accessing the Internet, using software and checking e-mail. The guest account had its own home folder and nothing done on it was stored permanently on the computer's hard disk. Intrepid Ibex also included an encrypted private directory for users, the inclusion of Dynamic Kernel Module Support, a tool that allows kernel drivers to be automatically rebuilt when new kernels are released and support for creating USB flash drive images

Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)

Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope

jaunty introduces the Computer Janitor, a new administration utility meant to help clean up orphaned packages. Although there are no orphans on the LiveCD or in a new installation, this tool will help maintain old installations that have been around for awhile and have been upgraded a few times.

Appearance upgrades
The notification system in Ubuntu has also been improved. Instead of the beige balloons that pop up when you connect to a network, are notified of updates, etc. Jaunty will have attractive black boxes that appear briefly to display the message. Some of this functionality is already present in Alpha 5, as was shown when a service crashed during our test.

The login screen in Jaunty has been changed considerably from previous releases. The tired brown theme has been replaced with a sleek black color scheme. Some new colors (including a nice rich purple) have been used in the login screen design, and we can only speculate on the other ways that additional colors could be used

jaunty also has the ability to improve font sizing by defaulting to your monitor's actual capabilities instead of forcing the old 96 DPI setting used in previous versions. Ultimately, this will deliver better text rendering.

New features included faster boot time integration of web services and applications into the desktop interface. Because of that, they named it after mythical animal Jacklope. So far it is the only release named after a mythical animal. It had a new us plash screen, a new login screen and also support for both Wacom (hot plugging) and netbooks. It also included a new notification system, Notify OSD,[76] and themes. It marked the first time that all of Ubuntu's core development moved to the Bazaar distributed revision control system.

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

System Requirements The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 9.10 is 256 MB of memory. Note that some of your system's memory may be unavailable due to being used by the graphics card. If your computer has only the minimum amount of memory, the installation process will take longer than normal, but will complete successfully, and the system will perform adequately once installed. Systems with less memory may be able to select "Install Ubuntu" from the boot menu to run just the installer, rather than the whole desktop, or may be able to use the alternate install CD.

The boot process looks very different from previous versions, especially since the old progress bar has been replaced with one that just moves from left to right while providing very little useful boot progress information. However, the boot process is still extremely fast compared to many other distros and you always have the option of disabling the boot splash screen if you want to see detailed boot information.

Additionally, the installation process now automatically sets your system time from an online time server and now includes a slideshow to introduce you to the features of Ubuntu as the system installs. And for the first time, Ubuntu now allows you to encrypt your home directory out of the box by providing a new option for it during the setup process.

A New Linux Kernel and GNOME

Ubuntu 9.04 comes with Linux kernel 2.6.31 and GNOME 2.28. There are lots of other under-thehood changes that may not be immediately obvious. HAL (hardware extraction layer) is in the process of being deprecated, so this functionality is now handled by DeviceKit and Udev AppArmor security software has been improved, and GRUB 2 is now the default bootloader for new installations. Existing installations will continue to use legacy GRUB since replacing the bootloader is risky business From 9.10 onward, ext4 will be the new default filesystem in new installations instead of ext3. Existing ext3-based installations will remain unchanged if you decide to upgrade from 9.04 since changing the filesystem would require a complete reformat.

New Utilites
9.10 also implements Ubuntu One and IBus (Intelligent Input Bus). Ubuntu One is a cloud computing solution from Canonical that offers 2GB of online storage for free and 50GB for US$10 per month. In addition to that, Ubuntu One allows you to synchronize your documents on the online service between one or more computers. Some Linux purists may not like a proprietary utility like Ubuntu One, but using it is entirely optional. IBus is a framework that makes it easier to work with different languages other than English. Ubuntu's old Add/Remove programs tool has been replaced with the Ubuntu Software Center, (previously called Ubuntu Software Store) a tool that splits available software into categories and provides detailed information about each program you may want to install.

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)

System Requirements The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS is 256 MB of memory. Note that some of your system's memory may be unavailable due to being used by the graphics card. If your computer has only the minimum amount of memory, the installation process will take longer than normal, but will complete successfully, and the system will perform adequately once installed. Systems with less memory may be able to select "Install Ubuntu" from the boot menu to run just the installer, rather than the whole desktop, or may be able to use the alternate install CD.

New in Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Edition:

Direct upgrade path for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and Ubuntu 9.10 users No need to rip and replace, in-place upgrades Stability and security enhancements for LTS including: Five years of security and maintenance updates free to all users AppArmor security by default on key packages Kernel hardening (memory protection, module loading blocking, address space layout randomization) Uncomplicated Firewall extended to all common services Encrypted Home and Private directories Multiple added or updated applications and packages since 8.04 LTS available as install options, including: CouchDB, Puppet, Eucalyptus, Django 1.1, OpenJDK6, Tomcat 6, MySQL 5.1, ClamAv, SpamAssassin, Samba 3.4, Python 2.6, Nagios 3, Ruby, PowerNap, PHP 5.3, KVM 84, Libvirt 0.7.5, RabbitMQ 1.7

Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat)

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

Hardware Requirements
Heres a list of what youll need to run Ubuntu 10.10: 700 MHz x86 processor 256 MB RAM 3 GB disk space Graphics card capable of 1024 x 768 resolution Sound card Network or Internet connection

Speed Canonical claims a more streamlined boot process and, of course, a sparky new kernel based on 2.6.35 and bringing with it improved hardware support.

Style There's new themes, icons, and default wallpaper as expected, but there's also the introduction of a new system font collection designed specifically for Ubuntu, called the Ubuntu Font Family, that's easy to read and easy on the eyes. It's certainly clean, and reminiscent of the Ubuntu logo font introduced in 10.04. For the netbook edition, a new interface design called Unity aims to make using netbooks simpler and more stylish, too. Features The Software Center gets new sections for Features and What's New (tones of App Store perhaps?), an improved look that's more pleasant to browse, a new package installation history which is definitely welcome, and an interesting new trend: the ability to purchase commercial software. A test package is available, 'Ricks Wallpapers' which users can buy for $1. Proceeds are re-invested into Ubuntu development.

Applications There's nothing we love more than the latest version of, well, anything. Meerkat comes with Gnome 2.32, OpenOffice 3.2.1, Transmission 2.04, and the latest Firefox 3.6.10 among other updates. The photo-manager F-Spot is gone now, replaced by Shotwell. Photos can be directly published to Facebook, Flickr and others, and collections made with F-Spot can be imported.

Cloud Canonical is pushing cloud computing hard with both the Desktop and Server editions of Ubuntu. For the desktop the free 2GB online storage on Ubuntu One for all Ubuntu users has been supplemented by a new, cheaper, pricing structure (upgrade to 20GB for $US2.99) and the addition of both a Windows client (for cross-OS syncing) and both iPhone and Android clients, along with a new streaming service to stream music from your cloud collection to your smartphone.

The first screen you see lets you decide if you want to do an install or boot into the Live CD desktop. This is a very, very slick way of handling it rather than the typical bootsplash menu. Id like to see other distros do something similar.

The boot process is supposed to be faster but, frankly, I did not notice much of a difference. Im somewhat jaded on this though, since I look at so many different distros. Unless a distros boot process is really slow, I dont tend to even notice how long it takes to boot. Your mileage may vary considerably though, depending on your hardware.

Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal)

Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal)

System requirements
Minimum Hardware Requirements 1 GHz Pentium or better processor (such as Dual Core, Core 2 Duo, i3, i5,i7 ) 384 MB of primary memory (RAM) although, at-least 512 MB is recommended 5 GB of hard drive space but it would be better if you have more than 10GB (unless you are installing Ubuntu 11.04 , for testing or any specific purpose) Either a CD/DVD drive or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port (or both) a Graphics Card if you want to use the Unity in 3D Mode, which is the default mode of Ubuntu 11.04, although its optional because you can still use Gnome 2.* efficiently by turning off the compiz or desktop effects which consumes a lot of resources A monitor (CRT, LCD-TFT, LCD-LED or whatever) capable of displaying output at Resolution (Min) : 800600 Internet Connection is not necessary but its recommended

New Features Unity is now the default Ubuntu desktop session. The Unity launcher has many new features, including drag and drop re-ordering of launcher icons, full keyboard navigation support, launcher activation through keyboard shortcuts, right-click context menu quick-list and switching between running applications. The Ubuntu One control panel now allows selective syncing, and the launcher icon now displays sync progress. File syncing speed has been improved as well. The Ubuntu Software Center now allows users to "rate & review" installed applications, share reviews via integration with social networking services added into Gwibber, and has other usability improvements. GNOME programs now use a new scrollbar which takes less screen space. Updated Applications Ubuntu 11.04 comes with the latest Firefox 4.0 as the standard web browser. LibreOffice 3.3.2 has replaced OpenOffice.org in 11.04 as the default office suite. Banshee 2.0 has replaced Rhythmbox is the standard music player, and has now been integrated into the sound menu.

Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot)

Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot)

New Features Lenses and interface changes Ubuntu software center 5.0 New arm sub architectures Revised dvd content New app developer site New localized iso tools

Updated Applications
Thunderbird Gwibber GNOME 3.2

You no longer have the option of booting into Ubuntu Classic. Unity and Unity 2D (for lowerpowered machines) are now the only options included by default. If you want something else you can install it from the Software Center.

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin)

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Precise Pangolin

System Requirements The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu 12.04 is 384 MB of memory for Ubuntu Desktop. Note that some of your system's memory may be unavailable due to being used by the graphics card. If your computer has only the minimum amount of memory, the installation process will take longer than normal; however, it will complete successfully, and the system will perform adequately once installed. Systems with less memory may be able to select "Install Ubuntu" from the boot menu to run just the installer, rather than the whole desktop, or may be able to use the alternate install CD.

Shortcut Hints Overlay

Ubuntu 12.04 introduces a keyboard shortcut overlay, a good-looking overlay where keyboard shortcuts are exposed (in order to familiarize users with their usage). The shortcuts are handy categorized in Launcher, Dash, HUD & Menu Bar, Switching, Workspaces and Windows To access the Shortcut Hints Overlay press and hold the Super/Meta/Windows key (releasing the presses Super key will close the overlay)

Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal)

Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal

System Requirements for Ubuntu Studio 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal)

The minimum memory requirement for Ubuntu Studio 12.10 is 768 MB of memory. It is highly recommended that you have 2GB or more memory though so that the system will perform much better.

 New GRUB 2 boot loader Graphics makeover for Ubuntu Greeter and the default theme Remote login/remote desktop access added to Greeter log-in prompt Nautilus file manager sticks at version 3.4 Linux kernel incremented to version 3.5 Unity revs to 6.8.0; Unity 2D is dropped; previews added Software Updater simplified Dash search returns online results from Ubuntu One and Amazon Dash preview New Dash Photo lens; new Gwibber icon New Share Links tab in Ubuntu One Control Panel New centralised management for online accounts New versions for some bundled applications Disk image is now 800MB, so install requires a USB memory or a DVD Menus are reorganised and many previous menu choices consolidated under Dash Python revs to version 3 (with version 2 still supported for now)

Dash lens icons, including the new Gwibber icon (fourth from left) and the new Photo lens icon (sixth from left) Launch icons for the Ubuntu One music store and the Amazon website have been added by default to the Launcher bar:

Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail

Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail

Friends Social networking for 13.04 is now handled by the Friends service, which replaces the backend Gwibber provided in previous Ubuntu releases. There is no transition required, if you have social networking accounts setup in Ubuntu Online Accounts, the Friends service will just work. The Gwibber lens in Unity has been replaced with a Friends lens and works in much the same way. The Gwibber client application is no longer included by default, for similar functionality friends-app can be installed from Software Center.

New icons for Unity 7: the Software Centre icon and Software Updater icon now share an 'A' element and the predominantly orange theme with the existing Ubuntu One and Ubuntu One Music icons.

Tweaks to Unity 7 include a dot to indicate the application instance that has the focus in the applications options list.

Future Release
Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander) On 25 April 2013 Shuttleworth announced that Ubuntu 13.10 would be named Saucy Salamander. This version is scheduled for release on 17 October 2013. Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Mark Shuttleworth announced on 31 October 2011 that by Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu will support smartphones, tablets, TVs and smart screens. However, the TV, tablet, and phone have already been unveiled by Canonical. But the features are not released yet. (April 2013) Ubuntu 14.10 Ubuntu will default to Unity 8 running natively on Mir.