I know that it’s been about three weeks since Hardy Heron was released, but my delayed writing of this review was intentional to a certain extent. Although I was busy with finals and solar car team stuff, I still use Ubuntu for my day-to-day operations. I have taken this long so that the developers have the opportunity to iron out more bugs before it makes a real impression on me.
Background
I have steadily used Ubuntu since Edgy Eft and watched Ubuntu grow over the past year and a half, and my experience spanned across two machines, both of which were Dell Inspirons. Over the course of this year and a half, I have watched Ubuntu gain better networking capabilities, desktop compositing, and a better desktop experience altogether. As for me, I have started taking more chances with my computer and installing betas to test. Starting with 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon), I have started installing the beta versions and reporting bugs to be fixed.
Changelog: My Perspective
- Improved: The computer now has a significantly greater chance of coming back from standby. When it does, it feels faster.
- Improved: Compiz does not freeze as often
- Improved: Wireless seems to connect to networks faster.
- Fixed: Upon resuming, the laptop’s internal speakers would output sound even when the headphone jack is being used.
- New issue: When coming back from standby, the screen would be totally white. Typing in the password will resolve this issue.
- Regression: Wireless LED no longer lights up. This may be caused by the change of drivers (ipw3945 to iwl3945).
Conclusion
Although my desktop almost looks the same from one and a half years ago, I am now convinced that the best changes happen under the hood. Despite the fact that my computer still has some quirks, they are quirks I have learned to work around and make my computer work… for me.
