So far there have been six alpha releases of the forthcoming Ubuntu 9.04, due for final release next month, and late yesterday the one and only beta release was made available for download. From this point forward there's a release candidate in mid-April, before the final release is made on the 23rd.

With this beta release everything should be shaping up nicely, and (theoretically) the work from this point onwards should be bug-fixing and polish.

My previous blog posting about Firefox and Google Chrome kicked up quite a dust storm, and more than a few readers demanded that I explain myself. So here goes:

What exactly is it about Firefox that I find so objectionable?

Everybody has a version of Windows that's their favorite. What version it is depends a lot on your age. Some of my older colleagues swore blind that Windows 95 was the pinnacle of computer science, at least when it was released. I remember hearing a certain phrase over and over again in the late 90s: "Microsoft have got it just right with
95."

For others, Windows 98 is their favorite. This was effectively Windows 95 Mark II, of course. For some desperately misguided souls, Windows Me tops their list.

UPDATE: Because this post generated a fair amount of controversy, and more than a few readers demanded an explanation, Keir Thomas has written a follow-up further explaining why he thinks Firefox has jumped the shark.

I recently caved in to my inner geek and bought a Mini 9. This is the cheap netbook from Dell that runs Ubuntu (although WinXP is an option). It took Dell a month to get it to me, and although the price dropped significantly during that time they refused to give me a refund. So when the Mini 9 eventually arrived I was grumpy, and not inclined to see it in a good light. But I'll be damned if the little thing hasn't stolen my heart. It's everything you might expect from a miniature notebook. You've probably read the various Mini 9 reviews by now, and there's not much I can add (apart from pointing out that the Mini 9 is surprisingly sluggish -- it's a 1.6GHz processor in name only, and feels like it's running at half that speed).

A special Dell remix of Ubuntu came installed on the model I ordered. I had fun playing around with this, but it was a painful experience at times. I initially categorized the problems I experienced as bugs, but that's incorrect. It's more that the operating system is unfinished. Don't get me wrong. It works OK. It's functional. You can web browse, and IM, and word process just fine. But there was no final polish before the car left the showroom.

Symantec Corp. Tuesday announced Version 7.0 of its Altiris client and server management suite. The upgrade, the first released since Symantec's acquisition of Altiris almost two years ago, includes new features for remotely deploying and managing Mac and Linux desktop PCs and, on the server side, improved performance monitoring of physical and virtual machines.

A new native Mac OS X agent enables Altiris 7 to automatically discover, catalog and inventory software on Mac desktops, and deliver that software from a central console or allow users to download it themselves.

The neglected Linux.com domain is about to get a facelift courtesy of the Linux Foundation, which said Tuesday it will take over the site and jazz up its content.

SourceForge, which previously maintained Linux.com, stopped publishing original content to it in January. The Linux Foundation will now provide that content, as well as host the site and provide general oversight. SourceForge will continue to sell Linux.com's advertising.