Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Alpha 2 Released

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" Alpha 2 is now available for testing. This second development release incorporates many package updates and other changes to this next Ubuntu Long-Term Support release.

Kate Stewart of Canonical announced Precise Pangolin Alpha 2 in this mailing list message. Precise Pangolin Alpha 2 has the Linux 3.2.2 kernel, Upstart 1.4, the Unity 5.0 desktop, LibreOffice 3.5 Beta 2, and lots of other updated packages.

On the ARM side, this is the first release that has images of the ARM hard-float support, which can offer faster performance in many areas.

Additional details about this new release can be found on the technical overview Wiki page.

Some of the other items mentioned there is switching back to Rhythmbox as the default music player, some power tweaks, Ubuntu One enhancements, and more. For Ubuntu Server they have upgraded their OpenStack base, more Juju charms, and significant work on some bare metal deployment support.

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is due for a final release in April.