Here is the quick summary of what I like (some dislikes) in Ubuntu 9.10.
- Webcam video quality is very good. Video quality was bad in the last 2 versions of Ubuntu, but it’s back to normal.
- Pulse audio works with multiple sound devices without installing new packages.
- Skype 2.1 beta sound and video worked very good (It didn’t work in the previous version of Ubuntu).
- Empathy IM provides voice and video chat with GTalk, MSN users which is good. Empathy refused to start after a day or two. Not sure why, but I had to reinstall Ubuntu for a different problem and Empathy is working fine. Will watch it for few days.
- Boot process is faster than Ubuntu 9.04.
- Login process is longer than Ubuntu 9.04. I think they moved some stuff from boot to login time.
- Shutdown is lightning fast.
- Boot logo doesn’t show any progress bar, so you won’t know how far the boot process has progressed. It boots pretty fast, so it may not be a big deal.
- New icon theme is very good. It shows thumbnails inside each directory’s icon if there are files present.
- Banshee didn’t recognize my iPod.
I will write more about my experience as I use it. Based on my experience in the past couple of days, I would say Ubuntu has improved a lot in terms of hardware support and usability. Continue the good work.