Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) Beta is available to download from today, with the final version due for release October 18th.

What does Gutsy Gibbon do better then Feisty Fawn? Well the complete outline can be found by CLICKING HERE. The most exciting (for me) is the installation of ‘Compiz‘ as standard for handling 3D Desktop effects. Many of us using Ubuntu have installed this already, but you have to jump through a few hoops to get there. Now with an official supported version, Ubuntu has almost arrived as a genuine option to other mainstream operating systems.

I say “almost”, because there are still a few little problems that need to be solved via the Terminal, which will always scare people off who are not confident in their abilities. Though it is not as bad as it seems, it is still something completely new that needs to be learned.

I have not seen any reference to better mobile/PDA/Smartphone support, so I will wait and see. This is still my ONLY major complaint with Ubuntu. It is really a struggle to sync your data (I still have not got it working!). Though that will never be enough to move me back to Win-Doh’s.

By the way, just in case you are thinking that you will have to wait 5 years for the next latest & greatest version of Ubuntu…how does 6 months sound? Every 6 months we get the latest version of the best OS out there. So the ‘Hardy Heron, Ubuntu 8.04′ will available in April 2008. As an added bonus it will be offered with LTS (Long Term Support) with security support & updates for 5 years. As opposed to 18 months with the standard versions.

It looks like sooner, rather than later, there will very little stopping all computer users coming over to an OS that just works.

Ubuntu, Linux for human beings.