Upgrade to 12.10 or stick to the stable 12.04 LTS?

[Paqman]

LTS is also supposedly more stable

"Stable" is one of those words that's used to mean so many things it's almost meaningless.

In the context of an Ubuntu LTS what "stable" means is "doesn't need to be updated for a long time". It doesn't necessarily imply that there are less bugs (although they do test it a little more before release). Towards the end of a five-year cycle keeping an old LTS desktop working well could actually be a lot more work than a newer version.

The advantage of LTS is that it allows you to set up a machine that doesn't need to be messed about with for a long time. IMO that's less useful to most desktop users than it is on a server or an "appliance-like" machine such as an HTPC. It's designed to appeal mostly to enterprise users who want to know that if they throw a large chunk of money at something they can rely on it for a decent chunk of time.

[vasa1]

Backed up everything and did a clean install of Lubuntu QQ beta 2.

[Docaltmed]

As always, staff and server stick with the LTS.

Me, I like to play around...12.10 for me.

[Welly Wu]

I learned another hard lesson last night. Stick to the defaults as closely as possible. I had to re-install Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit LTS using the Alternative Install ISO file and I setup full disk encryption. I also upgraded to Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit Beta 2. It's quite nice. I like the new look and feel and the new features are nifty. There are some known bugs that still need to get fixed, but it's working pretty well for me so far. Ubuntu Unity is quite usable and it is features richer now. I thought that it would be much slower and less responsive, but it feels quite snappy and it is responsive. I like the tighter integration with social media and Ubuntu One. It's easier now. The Unity Launcher can be further configured to meet my specific needs. I have not tried out the Amazon search feature yet, but I am highly enthused because I am a big Amazon customer. Otherwise, not a whole lot of other new features have been added which I think that I can find to be useful right away.

I decided to upgrade to a non LTS pre-release version because I realized that I am not an enterprise user and I value new features and cutting edge software more than stability and long term service.

I am not going to add any more PPAs. I only have the official System76 PPA so that I can install the driver for my System76 Lemur Ultra Thin (lemu4) notebook PC when Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit is officially released on October 18th, 2012. That's it. I ran into a lot of problems with my previous installation by adding way too many PPAs and going overboard with customization. I am really going to try hard to stick to the defaults as much as possible with very few and minor modifications or tweaks on my part. I want to be able to upgrade to future Ubuntu releases smoothly.

It's really nice. I am looking forward to the final stable release version next Thursday.

[Welly Wu]

What makes Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit worth the upgrade for me:

1. Amazon searches are integrated into Ubuntu Unity. This makes shopping a lot easier for me especially for music CDs.

2. More social media accounts available and Ubuntu Unity desktop web apps integration. This makes a more seamless web browsing experience that is tied into the operating system itself. Web sites feel like desktop apps now.

3. A richer Ubuntu Unity experience that can be customized to meet my needs and preferences. More lenses make searching for apps and data more cogent. Previews make apps stand out. Faster performance makes it more responsive.

4. Ubuntu Software Center is faster and there are more software applications to search for and to install

5. Ubuntu One permits granular file sharing with more users and I can add specific folders or files to my personal cloud. This makes cloud integration and synchronization easier and more complete.

6. Cleaner and more modern look and feel. There are fewer icons and buttons to click and there are more features that are better organized into each button so I can scroll and select the specific function that I want to execute.

7. Faster speed and better performance overall. Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit is smoother and it is more fluid and responsive. This translates to a better Ubuntu user experience especially on modern PC hardware.

There are also some minuses to consider:

1. Less stability and reliability. More software applications crash more frequently and randomly with Beta 2 release.

2. No killer new features that are must haves.

3. 18 months of support.

4. Nautilus crashes more frequently especially during large and extended file transfers.

5. Ubuntu Unity launcher has more buttons to click with desktop web apps integration. This makes adding, organizing, and scrolling through the launcher more cumbersome.

6. Dash has more lenses that have redundancy and overlap of features. There is a finer level of organization with more lenses, but each one needs more features or greater refinements to improve usefulness.

7. Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit breaks compatibility with third party software applications like VM Ware Workstation 9.x 64 bit and Codeweavers CrossOver for Linux 64 bit. I am getting more bugs while trying to install guest virtual machines or Microsoft Windows software applications.

Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit is a nice upgrade to have, but it is not a must have. It's entirely optional. If you don't use social media or Ubuntu One that much, then it's not worth the upgrade at all. If you need long term service and support, then forget it.

If you purchase a new PC with UEFI and Secure Boot technologies, then Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit becomes almost mandatory if you plan to install it alongside Microsoft Windows 8 in a dual-boot configuration. Good luck on making those two new operating systems work together in harmony.

Bottom line: it's optional, but it's nice to have if you run Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit in a guest virtual machine or in a dual-boot configuration.

[Welly Wu]

Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit Beta 2 has a known bug: the Unity Greeter does not allow me to change desktop environments. This is being worked on right now and a patch or update should be pushed out to fix this problem by the time that the Release Candidate is available this Thursday. It's only four more days so it's not a big problem for me. I just thought that I would mention it to others trying out Beta 2.

[eggsbenedict]

Although I've been using Ubuntu since version 09.10, I still consider myself very new to the tech. Mainly because I don't wander too far away from what the system offers OTB, and if need be, the community support forms are incredibly helpful when I do stray.

Anyway, I, too, am having trouble deciding on if I should upgrade. Right now, I'm leaning toward not. On my netbook, I use unity 2d, and I am worried about hardware requirements to run 12.10 smoothly. In this respect, I've largely grown apprehensive about future ubuntu releases because of the aforementioned graphical requirements. If my 2010 HP laptop came with windows 7 installed and ran without a hitch, why can't Ubuntu 3d run just as well?

As this computer becomes more obsolete in the future, I may go to xubuntu or lubuntu, but 2d works for me right now, and I've gotten tweaked it to the point where it runs flawlessly AND looks great.

[Welly Wu]

Another thing that I noticed is that the Handbrake PPA is not updated for Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit Beta 2. I need this PPA to install Handbrake to rip, encode, and compress DVD-Videos that I own. I guess that I will have to wait until the official release date to check back again.

[Welly Wu]

I learned yet another hard lesson tonight: don't go crazy with the security on a Beta 2 or a release. I installed ninja and locked out my administrator account. I had to re-install everything from scratch again and I just got done finishing that task.

I am really sticking to the defaults now.

[nothingspecial]

Nothing ... special

huh, what ?