The Dapper Drake beta

Just upgraded to Ubuntu 6.06 beta. It's easier to install than Windows (didn't fully reinstall, b/c upgrading from the Badger release). The previous Ubuntu release still required you to go through a text dialog mode, but this time, they seem serious to have you boot directly into a graphical mode.

So the gang at Canonical delayed the release of Dapper Drake from April to somewhere in June to make the distro more user-friendly. So far, so good. I'm indeed happy about my glossier windows, although I'm still wondering if anything fancy like MacOS' dock (which has been more than two or three years old, and nothing of that sort was seen on either Windows or Linux) will ever arise - considering that eye candy means lifestyle improvement, and which is what I think pushes the need for computer upgrades (just look at Windows Vista).

To be satisfied completely, it will take Adobe to release a version of Flash that works on 64-bit OSes. I don't really need 3-D desktops (as much as people working on command-line environments didn't think they need a *mouse*), and surely, I've seen some beta-ish apps for Linux that do that and which I don't want to touch with a 10-meter pole for the sake of my system's stability.

Ubuntu Linux is a really cool idea, and free installation CDs shipped to anyone, anywhere around the world should be the alternative to Windows (or pirating Windows - if MS really becomes tight about this, like some sort of online registration system, people may flock to free alternatives).