Though the main focus of the upcoming release of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron) is for long term support and bug fixes of existing features, Hardy Heron still packs quite a few notable features to look forward to :
Wubi and umenu
Installation without creating a separate partition for Ubuntu Linux is made easier with Wubi! Inserting Ubuntu CDROM will display a start up application which enables you to install Ubuntu on your windows partition using a loopback device.
After installation, Ubuntu will be added as one of bootable operating system in your Windows boot menu.
Install Ubuntu without the need to repartition, format and hassle.
Fine-grained User Permission Control
Ubuntu Hardy Heron integrates PolicyKit on administrative user interfaces. This allows you to have better control over user access on specific administrative task. For example, you can assign privilege for one user to access network controls but not software installation.
Easy to use host-based firewall
The new Ubuntu release, Hardy Heron also includes ufw (uncomplicated firewall) that is easy to setup and use by end users without bothering network admnistrators.
New default bittorrent downloader
Transmission replaced Gnome Bittorrrent as the default bittorrent downloader in Ubuntu Hardy Heron LTS. Transmission is a lightweight bittorrent client with automatic banning feature and protocol encryption.
Additionally, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS also includes GNOME 2.22 and Firefox 3 Beta, which is better integrated with GNOME desktop environment. I’m looking forward for the next Ubuntu release, due on April 24th, 2008, that is three weeks from now!