The Saucy Salamander and Ubuntu Touch To Be Released Shortly

The Saucy Salamander or the Ubuntu 13.10 is due to be released on October 17, regarded as one of the most awaited of OS for the desktop users. The new version of Ubuntu is said to be packed with features just what the desktop users have been counting on for. The good news just doesn't stop there as there is also report that Ubuntu Touch, a version for smartphones for its corporate side, also going to be released.

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Overall Canonical has been creating waves with their entry, and it has also been doing good with the server versions that are already in production. The Ubuntu Touch however will be one of the most awaited of mobile OS which is currently ruled by Android and some part by the iOS.

The initial tests for Ubuntu Touch seems to be going good for its base models like the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4. But however the developer notes suggest that there is a hardware talk issue with the Asus Nexus 7, but however the OS is said to be doing good for Galaxy Nexus 10 tablet.

Developer tools are coming along nicely; the GUI Toolkit is making it easier for app developers. Jono Bacon, Ubuntu's community leader, wrote on September 20: "We are finalizing much of the core infrastructure (SDK, docs, knowledge, support, publishing) I really want to focus more and more on widening the awareness of Ubuntu as a powerful and fun developer platform." To help with this, Ubuntu has recently updated its developers' Web site.

The Ubuntu Saucy Salamander will be based on Linux kernel 3.11 and will include Firefox 24, LibreOffice 4.1, Thunderbird for mail client and Rhythmbox for Music player along with few more of the default apps.

The most highlighted feature however is the new graphics stack included with the version and a new built-in search options known as smart scopes. The version 13.10 will also have Mir which replaces X windows system, making it work smoother and better on graphics side. Canonical also believes that Mir will help the OS to work seamlessly over smartphones and tablets alike.

Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical and Ubuntu's founder, is happy with the Mir graphics stack. Others, led by Red Hat, prefer Wayland as an X Window replacement. Even Kubuntu, an Ubuntu spinoff that uses KDE for its desktop, will be using Wayland instead of Mir.

Mir won't be 100-percent ready for Ubuntu 13.10. Instead, it will use Xmir. This is a stack where X and Unity 7, the Ubuntu desktop, will run on top of the Mir system compositor by default, with a fallback of running X if there's no hardware that the Mir drivers can support. Intel, for one, will not be supporting Xmir.

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The technicality will not be affecting the end users, but the developers for Ubuntu and game creators will have to watch out for the technology. The discussions are still hot on what will follow the X windows system, although it seems to be Wayland that seems to be gaining more rhythm. A leading game developer for Linux, Valve, seems to have opted not to go with either and continues with X windows, for its upcoming Steam OS.

Smart Scopes, formerly known as Lens, will finally ship. When Lens was first introduced, it integrated Amazon search results with local Unity Dash search results. Many users regarded this as an invasion of their privacy. Shuttleworth defended this commercial search when it was introduced in 2012, but it eventually was pulled as a mandatory feature and it became optional.

Since then, other operating systems, such as Microsoft's forthcoming Windows 8.1, have also integrated Internet search with local search. In this release, Canonical will be extending Ubuntu's Dash searches as well.

So it will be a great thing to see it search over internet, facebook, google drive, yelp and other services, it may not be a feature everyone will want for. But this doesn't mean that the enthusiasts will be let down as the new release is already getting high hits.

We will be also eager to see the new Ubuntu Touch in action.

Inputs From Zdnet and Ubuntu

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- Unknown Updated at: Saturday, September 28, 2013