Hardy Heron - Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha4 Released

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Ubuntu 8.04 code-named Hardy Heron Alpha 4 was released February 02 and is officially available for testing.

At this stage it is still considered as unstable so smooth running is virtually impossible.

ISO Download Link:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/hardy/alpha-4/

The release is scheduled late April this year and it is expected to be supported for 3 years and 5 years, for desktop & server respectively.

Some of the hot new features in HH are PulseAudio an open-source audio server with some major and sophisticated mixing capabilities, audio stream transferring etc etc.

Also, a new I/O abstraction layer GIO&GVFS will now be replacing the ‘old’ GnomeVFS. This will bring about some file tranfer features such as pause/continue and single threaded screens instead of spawns.

Another brand new feature is PolicyKit, a granular framework for security priviledge escalation which replaces gksudo. Ubuntu developers aimed to completely eliminate the anachronistic gksudo component by bringing pervasive PolicyKit integration to every corner of the system. Unlike gksudo, which grants elevated root privileges to an entire program, PolicyKit makes it possible to isolate privileged actions and make them accessible to programs through a D-Bus interface. This approach provides a much higher level of security and also gives administrators more flexible control over what operations are accessible to individual users.

PolicyKit still uses password prompts like gksudo, so the difference to end users will be minimal. In some system configuration utilities, like the network settings tool, there are now Unlock buttons which, when clicked, will present the user with a password prompt before making privileged elements of the user interface accessible. PolicyKit also includes an authorization management tool that provides an overview of all the privileged operations exposed through PolicyKit and allows administrators to configure permissions for each individual operation.
- super cool feature 8->

There are a handful of other subtle improvements HH Alpha 4:

- The panel clock applet + weather information and multi-region suport.
- GNOME BitTorrent client was replaced with Transmission (cross platform software),
- Brasero CD burning program
- System Monitor utility with a rich Cairo-based visual display.

One of the significant features planned for 8.04, is a complete visual revamp, with totally new artwork and new GTK theme. However, this new artwork hasn’t begun showing up yet in HH.

Can’t wait to test a stable release

Policy Kit Screenshot | System Monitor Screenshot