Ubuntu 8.103

Following my previous post, finally I got the new Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex on my Dell XPS M1530 laptop. The verdict: Pure Awesomeness. The installation is very quick and simple (it just that it took me a while to write this post). Almost everything works out of the box. The driver support is better. The OS itself I feel more stable, hard as a rock. And of course, more features.

Hardware

Wifi: Works right of the box. It has more features for you to configure your networking, such as wired connection, wireless, mobile broadband, VPN and DSL. It automatically reconnects upon waking up after hibernation. I had some issues about the nm-applet keyring keeps on asking me for admin’s password after reboot, but the solution is very simple. I will have another post for this one later.

Nvidia Graphic Card: Works like a charm! Better than Hardy, where I had a few problem installing the driver the first time. The proprietary Nvidia accelerated graphics driver version 177 is very easy to install. All you have to do is activate it.
NOTE: Please do system update (can be via Update Manager) before activating, otherwise it just doesn’t seem to install the driver.

Webcam: Works in Ekiga, but not in Cheese unless I select 176×144 resolution.

Trackpad/Touchpad: It’s working, but with BIOS A09, I had to change the /boot/grub/menu.lst like what I’ve mentioned in my post here.

Sound and Mic: Working fine.

Bluetooth: No problem.

Thumb print Reader: Never tested before.

DVD Player, USB, Printer, HDMI, SD/MMC Card Reader: No in-depth test yet.

Software

VLC: Works with brand new cool interface.

Nautilus: Comes with new tabbed interface.

VMWare 1.0.7: Need patches to successfully install it. Perhaps I will post more detailed information later, but for the time being, please refer to this UbuntuForum.

New DarkRoom Theme: Beautiful looking theme, but it renders some text unreadable. Gonna wait for the fix.

Screenlets 0.1.2: Works.
Dropbox: Okay.
Google Reader Notifier: Still notifying.
VPNC: No problem.

Conclusion
Like previous release of Ubuntu, it never disappointed me. Looks like it’s here to stay!