A few days ago, I decided to give the Ubuntu 13.04 ‘Raring Ringtail’ Beta version a test. I downloaded the Daily Build and installed it successfully. The first thing I have got to share with you all is there are many things to put in mind whenever you’re using any program/system in beta. Do not set too much expectation or you will be let down or frustrated. I was doing some work related word processing using the new LibreOffice Writer and my first experience was terrible. I had many crashes, so I talked to one of the Linux/Unix maniacs who told me they’re not facing any troubles so far. Then I wondered what it was that I was doing wrong. And then I concluded he had downloaded it a day or two after me. So he was working with a different Daily Build. So I jumped on update manager and updated my Daily Build to the latest.
I was running a smooth, quick and powerful system again. It wasn’t just the LibreOffice issue, but you could get something like a random compiz crash or random screen flickering which was quite a pain and is something I’ve never experienced with such a stable OS as Ubuntu. But after updating and with the new Linux kernel, I’ve had the best end-user experience on a very easy to use operating system.
I even had some of my family members who can be easily categorized/classed by geeks like us as computer illiterates using Ubuntu discovering the Software-Center.
Also, joining an overseas call on Skype, which has delivered an awesome experience even better than the main house PC with Windows 7 on the same connection as Ubuntu, we got such a stable and smooth call (audio/video).
Special thanks to my colleague, Chris Jones, who was also testing the Daily Builds of Ubuntu 13.04 and has provided some screenshots for us. Unixmen will cover the release of Ubuntu 13.04 ‘Raring Ringtail’ and have a full review on the release date of April 25.
