"The beaver told the rabbit as they stared at the Hoover Dam: No, I didn't build it myself, but it's based on an idea of mine". -- Charles Hard Townes The first beta of the Bionic Beaver (to become 18.04) has now been released, and is available for download! This milestone features images for Kubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu MATE, and Xubuntu. Pre-releases of the Bionic Beaver are *not* encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. They are, however, recommended for Ubuntu flavour developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs as we work towards getting this release ready. Beta 1 includes some software updates that are ready for broader testing. However, it is quite an early set of images, so you should expect some bugs. While these Beta 1 images have been tested and do work, except as noted in the release notes, Ubuntu developers are continuing to improve the Bionic Beaver. In particular, once newer daily images are available, system installation bugs identified in the Beta 1 installer should be verified against the current daily image before being reported in Launchpad. Using an obsolete image to re-report bugs that have already been fixed wastes your time and the time of developers who are busy trying to make 18.04 the best Ubuntu release yet. Always ensure your system is up to date before reporting bugs. [Kubuntu] Kubuntu is the KDE-based flavour of Ubuntu. It uses the KDE Plasma desktop and includes a wide selection of tools from the KDE project. The Kubuntu 18.04 Beta 1 images can be downloaded from: * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/18.04/beta-1/ More information about Kubuntu 18.04 Beta 1 can be found here: * https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BionicBeaver/Beta1/Kubuntu [Ubuntu Budgie] Ubuntu Budgie is the Budgie Desktop based flavour of Ubuntu. Combines the simplicity and elegance of the Budgie interface to produce a traditional desktop orientated distro with a modern paradigm. The Ubuntu Budgie 18.04 Beta 1 images can be downloaded from: * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/releases/18.04/beta-1/ More information about Ubuntu Budgie 18.04 Beta 1 can be found here: * https://ubuntubudgie.org/blog/2018/03/08/18-04-release-notes [Ubuntu Kylin] Ubuntu Kylin is a flavour of Ubuntu that is more suitable for Chinese users. The Ubuntu Kylin 18.04 Beta 1 images can be downloaded from: * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntukylin/releases/18.04/beta-1/ More information about Ubuntu Kylin 18.04 Beta 1 can be found here: * http://www.ubuntukylin.com/index.php [Ubuntu MATE] Ubuntu MATE is the MATE Desktop based flavour of Ubuntu. It is ideal for those who want the most out of their computers and prefer​_ a traditional desktop metaphor. The Ubuntu MATE 18.04 Beta 1 images can be downloaded from: * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/18.04/beta-1/ More information about Ubuntu MATE 18.04 Beta 1 can be found here: * https://ubuntu-mate.org/blog/ubuntu-mate-bionic-beta1/ [Xubuntu] Xubuntu is the Xfce Desktop based flavour of Ubuntu. It is perfect for those who want the most out of their desktops, laptops and netbooks with a modern look. It works well on older hardware too. The Xubuntu 18.04 Beta 1images can be downloaded from: * http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/18.04/beta-1/ More information about Xubuntu 18.04 Beta 1 can be found here: * https://wiki.xubuntu.org/releases/18.04/release-notes If you're interested in following the changes as we further develop the Bionic Beaver, we suggest that you subscribe to the ubuntu-devel-announce list. This is a low-traffic list (a few posts a week) carrying announcements of approved specifications, policy changes, beta releases and other exciting events. * http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-announce A big thank you to the developers and testers for their efforts to pull together this Beta release! On behalf of Ubuntu Release Team, Dustin Krysak https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-announce/2018-March/001238.html
Originally posted to the Ubuntu Release mailing list on Fri Mar 9 19:51:58 UTC 2018 by Dustin Krysak, on behalf of the Ubuntu Release Team