First look at Gutsy Gibbon
I installed the beta of 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon on the move. Three days later, I’ve finally managed to have a first look at what’s new. The improvements this time are more apparent. There are newer releases of OpenOffice, GIMP and the Firefox browser, amongst many others. The inclusion of Gnome 2.2 is welcome, providing a number of usability enhancements. It’s also important to remember that this is still in beta, so there is a chance that some things are not entirely stable or completed.
The installation of Gutsy is as expected with most Linux distributions nowadays: minimal fuss and effort. Entry of basic information only. The only time to take care is when partitioning disks: the default is still a reformat of the entire primary hard drive. The installation is quick and ensures all important Internet and productivity applications are installed. The default desktop look is the chocolate brown swirl, not everybody’s cup of tea.
There are obviously many updates and enhancements, so there’s no way I have a chance of covering all of them. Instead, I take the approach of looking at those that interest me and are possibly the most important if you simply want to get on with your mission.
Bluetooth has been a bit of an issue in Linux, at least if the user is not in the mood to install multiple packages and fiddle with a multitude of configuration files. All newer distributions focus rather much energy on this fact and Gutsy Gibbon is no exception. Switching my nx8220‘s Bluetooth/WLAN button to on immediately registers the Bluetooth adapter and indicates Bluetooth availability in the taskbar. So far, so good. With a reciprocal connection on my E90, there is a connection and recognition – click on the image for a larger view.
The device is recognized and indicated as available:
So, about the beta status: obviously not entirely worked-out yet. There was no way of actually transferring files or initiating a useful connection. Hopefully something that is still undergoing some bug fixing and development work. A great effort, but not really working yet…
In contrast to the Bluetooth connection, the Network Manager seems to finally be a useful tool to connect to wireless and wired networks. With the nx8220 in proximity of my wireless home network, there was little issue in discovering and connecting to that network after entering the required WEP key parameters. This is a real benefit for notebook users who often switch between networks, The Network Manager icon in the taskbar is even capable of indicating signal strength. This is a great development and seems to work far better than under previous versions.
Google Search is all well and good, but Gutsy includes an all-improved Deskbar Applet pre-installed to permit searching across Documents,Contacts and other content. Maybe not as refined and extensive as Google‘s offering, this is still a welcome addition and does make starting out from scratch a lot easier.
A first for a desktop distribution is the automatic activation of desktop effects for systems with a capable graphics subsystem using Compiz Fusion. The necessary drivers are pre-installed and the selection of desktop effects levels easily made from the Visual Effects dialog. Hardcore users will want to add Beryl for flashy effects. On the nx8220 there is no issue launching advanced effects with the built-in ATI graphics adapter.
Of minor importance to me is the updated release of Evolution. This Email client is certainly gaining ground on other, more simplistic alternatives, but I still prefer Thunderbird. In any case, Evolution is capable of connecting to Exchange servers and integrates nicely with the new features in Gnome 2.2. Click on the image for a larger view
Gnome 2.2 is the centrepiece of the desktop, unless you choose to run KDE. In any event, Gnome is the default, so you’ll see it at least once 
There are far too many features to cover here. I suggest you research details here. Click on the image for a larger view
Overall, this is a really impressive distribution, given the fact that there are so many new developments and additions. The ones described above are really just the tip of the iceberg, never mind the fact that so many enhancements have been made to auxiliary packages such as Pidgin, OpenOffice and many others. There’s a full description of features here.
With the only problem area I have experienced being the Bluetooth module, there is no reason to believe that Gutsy Gibbon won’t be a major success. If you are still in the Twilight Zone considering the jump to Linux, there’s no better time than now. Give it a try – you’ll be pleased you did.
