10.04 vs 10.10?

[Kocrachon]

So right now I am running on 10.10, but I have a few friends who are swearing to stick with 10.04 for some reason... They have no real argument as why, but I see a lot of people sticking with 10.04. Is there anything in particular that is keeping some of you on 10.04 as oppose to meerkat?

[snowpine]

10.04 is a "long term support" release with 3 years of desktop support and 5 years of server support vs. 18 months for regular releases such as 10.10.

Based on my experience on the forums, it seems to break down roughly 80/20, with 80% using the regular releases (currently 10.10) so they can have the latest software and improvements every 6 months, and 20% using the LTS releases so they have a stable platform for long-term, hassle-free productivity or server use.

If you are happy with 10.10, there is certainly no reason to go back in time 6 months. :)

[wormyblackburny]

Me personally, I would say make the decision based off of your experience level. If you don't mind fixing things that break, go with the latest and greatest. If you want a nice stable platform, stick with the LTS (10.04). I used to wait eagerly for new releases, but ultimately every time I would upgrade my distro I would end up fixing small things. The differences between 8-9 and 9-10 were big, but the difference between 10.04 and 10.10 are not too significant for me to bother with upgrading and potentially breaking my stable os I have put together...

[Frogs Hair]

Doing clean installation of new release every six months gets to be like work with a dual boot . I can't seem to keep from pulling the trigger on the latest release . 10.10 has been the best of three I've tried so far , starting with 9.10. I hope 11.04 works as well for me as 10.10 has.

[Kocrachon]

Mabye I don't quite understand this just yet...

I understand that 10.04 is a stable release, but what is the long term support deal? I thought 10.10 had the exact same support options...

[snowpine]

Mabye I don't quite understand this just yet...

I understand that 10.04 is a stable release, but what is the long term support deal? I thought 10.10 had the exact same support options...

"Support" means the following:

1. The release gets bug fixes and security patches through the Update Manager.
2. You can download and install additional applications through the Software Center.
3. The Ubuntu Wiki and Help pages have up-to-date information to answer your questions.
4. Lots of people are here to help you on these forums. :)
5. Upgrading to a new release is easy.
6. Third-party software developers test their application against that release.

When a release reaches its "end of life" all of the above benefits come to an end. Product lifespan is 18 months for normal releases and 36 months for LTS releases (or 60 months for LTS server). Therefore 10.04 LTS is supported through April 2013, 10.10 through April 2012, 11.04 will be supported April 2011 through Oct. 2012, etc.