Canonical releases ‘Natty Narwhal’ Ubuntu 11.04 with OpenStack cloud support

Canonical has released a Version 11.04 of its Ubuntu operating system, codenamed Natty Narwhal, which adds a new user interface and additional support for cloud services.

The most noticeable change in the new build is the replacement of the traditional Gnome interface with Unity, a new desktop designed to be used on a variety of screen sizes - including tablets and netbooks.

Touch-screen support has been built in and the Ubuntu Software Centre has been integrated onto the desktop to make customising the system easier.

"This release breaks new ground for Ubuntu by offering a PC experience that is stylish and efficient," said Jane Silber, chief executive of Canonical.

"With this release Ubuntu will recruit an entirely new wave of users to free software. Ubuntu 11.04 is a high watermark for what has been achieved with open source technologies for the everyday computer user."

For enterprises the new version includes preview support for the OpenStack ‘Cactus' release, as well as continuing to support the Eucalyptus standard. The server version of the operating system is also available on Amazon's EC2 cloud service.

Jay Lyman, senior analyst for enterprise software at the 451 Group, told V3.co.uk that this additional support will help cement Ubuntu as a cloud operating system of choice, and that full OpenStack support should be added by the end of the year.

"Ubuntu looms large in cloud computing, and that factor helps the distribution in servers and larger enterprise deployments," he said.

"This may allow Canonical to skip the previous prerequisite for success in the enterprise server market - preinstallation."

While Ubuntu does sell preinstalled on some Dell cloud servers, Lyman pointed out that so many systems administrators and developers use Ubuntu personally that setting it up is very little problem.