It’s not yet confirmed as the final decision to be taken after feedback with Ubuntu community. As per developers, Chormium ‘more popular’ than Firefox, as well as more performant. Even if Chromium becomes default browser in Ubuntu 13.10, Firefox will be available to install through Ubuntu Software Center.

For users of 10.04 LTS, a direct upgrade to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, the platform’s latest long-term support release, is available from the Update Manager. Canonical says it highly recommends users upgrade their systems. Please refer the information at Ubuntu documentation pages  on how to perform distribution upgrades for all versions of Ubuntu.

He also explained the reason behind choosing this particular name in his own words “The salamander is one of nature’s most magical creatures; they are a strong indicator of a pristine environment, which is a fitting way to describe the new world emerging around Ubuntu Touch – new applications, a new SDK, a gorgeous clean interface. Salamanders [swim] in clear, clean upstreams – which is exactly what’s forming around Ubuntu’s mobile ecosystem. It’s a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the tremendous community that has joined the effort to create a single unified experience from phone to PC, with tons of crisp and stylish core apps made by people from all over the world who want to build something fast, fresh and free” . The development codename of an Ubuntu release takes the form “Adjective Animal” from the release Dapper DRAKE (Ubuntu 6.06).

Unity has been improved a lot in Ubuntu 13.04 and it’s now a LOT faster than in Ubuntu 12.10. The latest release of Ubuntu is incorporated with new features like:
More polished Unity 7 shell
New kernel
New versions of preinstalled applications
New window switching feature
New Unity-style shutdown dialogs
New icons for Nautilus, Ubuntu Software Center, Software Updater, Workspace Switcher (which now displays the active workspace) and a new Ubuntu Dash Icon

The memory usage has been be greatly reduced in Ubuntu 13.04. MTP support by default so you shouldn’t have any issues accessing Android 4.0 devices that don’t support USB Mass Storage.

With Ubuntu 13.04, Wubi, the Ubuntu downloader / installer for Windows, has been discontinued. So, you need to install Ubuntu in separate partition if you wish too use it with Windows. Also, with Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail, the maintenance period has been reduced from 18 months to 9 months.

Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) comes with the below mentioned default packages: Firefox 20.0, Thunderbird 17.0.5, Nautilus 3.6.3, LibreOfice 4.0.2, Empathy 3.6.4, Totem (Videos) 3.6.3, Gedit 3.6.2, Deja Dup Backup Tool 26.0, Rhythmbox 2.98, GNOME Contacts 3.6.2, Brasero 3.6.1, Transmission 2.77, Remmina 1.0.0, Ubuntu Software Center 5.6.0 and GNOME Control Center 3.6.3, on top of Compiz 0.9.9~daily13.04.18.1, Unity 7.0.0daily13.04.18 and GTK 3.6.4.

You can take preview or virtual tour of Ubuntu 13.04 at http://www.ubuntu.com/tour/en/ . You can download the release image of Ubuntu 13.04 at:

A bug report was filed by Matthieu James, Ubuntu’s icon maker caused the button background swirl spin clockwise as there are cultural and historical dispositions favoring this procession. In most cultures, the clockwise movement is considered as being ‘good’, ‘positive’, and, in some cases, ‘holy’.

Starting from Ubuntu Raring Ringtail release, Canonical has decided to stop offering their non LTS operating system releases on a disc. However, LTS releases will be offered on a disc and available for purchase on Canonical store. Until next LTS release, Canonical store and LoCo teams will offer a retail copy of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

Ubuntu Raring Ringtail Touch Images (Only for tablets and mobile devices) are now available for testing on the isotracker . There are 4 product listings representing each of the officially supported devices; grouper (nexus 7), maguro (galaxy nexus), mako (nexus 4), and manta (nexus 10). You can help by installing the new images following the installation instructions , and then reporting your results on the isotracker  . The Ubuntu Touch Developer Preview is intended to be used for development and evaluation purposes only. It is an experimental development snapshot that can potentially brick your device. It does not provide all of the features and services of a retail phone and cannot replace your current handset. Refer the Ubuntu Wiki page  for more details.

Beta 2 Version of Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail features:

• New shutdown and session exit dialogs
• Faster, more efficient Unity
• New interface animations
• Scroll-switching of open windows from Unity Launcher

Download:

Beta 2 Version of Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail images can be downloaded from the Ubuntu website download page and the link is provided below. Please note that this is the beta version of Ubuntu and not recommended for production machines.

The Setting

Indiaplaza plays a senior role in the online arena as it was launched in the year 1999. Indiatimes is a junior when compared to Indiaplaza as it was established in the year 2005. Though a late entrant, indiatimes started off with an advantage as it is part of Times group. Indiaplaza has a wide range of collections to offer in various categories including books, apparels, electronic gadgets, cameras, mobiles, accessories and a lot more. Indiatimes shopping offers include apparels, electronic items, home appliances, fashion, movies, music and games.

Product Range – Indiatimes Sets The Clock Going In Its Favor

In spite of making its online presence at a later stage, Indiatimes provides an impressive collection of products on almost all categories. Be it apparels or accessories, camera or home appliances, Indiatimes offers a wide range of collections to its customers. The difference in product range is obvious in electronic appliances, computers, sports goods, toys and apparels. It stores a variety of famous brands as well. Hence, indiatimes scores in the first round.

Price Factor – Both Fare Well

There does not seem to be a great deal to differentiate both with regard to prices of products. Both the sites offer products for competitive rates and it would be difficult to make a comparative study on the prices offered by these sites for two reasons. The first reason is the brands they deal with as both sites offer different brands of the products and the rates differ according to brands. Though a rose is a rose by any name, there are certain values associated with brand names. The second reason could be related to quality. While at the outset, we find Indiatimes offering various products for low prices, we find that it could be due to the quality of the product. If a product’s quality is similar to that of the product sold by Indiaplaza, the rate is almost the same. This is evident in apparels.

Customer Service – Indiatimes Responds

This is one area where most online stores fail miserably. A customer expects to be attended to appropriately and no one can find fault with the expectation. Going by the reviews, we see many customers promising never to return to these sites for their future needs. The only ray of hope is the response indiatimes provides to the reviews. It is prompt in replying to customers’ woes when it comes on print in online media. It could have taken more care to address the problem earlier without allowing the customer to seek online media to voice his depression. That said, at least indiatimes responds. As far as Indiaplaza is concerned, the customers who give reviews are just left at that without taking the concern to address their complaints. This will definitely have a negative impact.

There is one area where both perform equally well. That is in the business of offering deals and coupons. Although Indiaplaza offers more deals than coupons (fixed discount bargain where coupon is not required); Indiatimes shopping gives coupon codes which are much more preferred by customers. However, going by the way things are, it seems that indiatimes is fast approaching the winning line in its race with Indiaplaza. However, online game is not over with one opponent and at one time. An online store needs to keep running in the race to stay ahead. By improving its quality in customer service and paying more attention to detail, the possibilities are that indiatimes will continue to lead.

The collaboration between Canonical and the Chinese entities comes as a consequence of Chinese government’s five-year plan to promote the usage of open-source software in China. As a result, Ubuntu Kylin 13.04 will include Chinese input methods, dedicated weather indicator, ability to search through Chinese music directly from the Dash.

In India, our Govt offices still using Windows XP which has been dead already. When Indian Government will awake and adopt Open Source operating systems which are much secure and cheaper than MicroSoft crap?

The Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail community wallpapers have been chosen and revealed. They haven’t yet landed in Ubuntu 13.04 but you can download them at

The pack comes with 13 gorgeous wallpapers, most of which are beautiful nature pictures and of course, there’s also a cool ringtail wallpaper.

CNET awarded Ubuntu Touch as best mobile software. The judgement was made by nine-strong judging team from CNET’s global offices.

Mozilla’s Firefox OS has chosen as runner-up in this contest. As described by CNET’s post, Ubuntu touch feels more like the complete package at this point with its slick, elegant interface that makes use of every side of the screen and puts your content and contacts front and center, minimizing the time spent hopping back to a home screen. The complete story can be read at CNET blog post.