Canonical Enhances Its Ubuntu Linux OS With ‘Zesty Zapus’ Release

Canonical, the lead commercial sponsor behind the Ubuntu Linux operating system, is set to issue the Ubuntu 17.04 “Zesty Zapus” release on April 13. This release follows the Ubuntu 16.10 milestone that debuted in October 2016. On the desktop side, Ubuntu 17.04 once again uses the Unity 7 desktop as the default, with a technical preview for the Unity 8 desktop available as an option for users to try. The inclusion of the Unity 8 desktop preview is somewhat bittersweet, as Ubuntu and Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth has publicly ended his firm’s involvement in further developing Unity, instead opting to migrate to the GNOME desktop by April 2018. In this slide show, eWEEK takes a look at some of the highlights of the Ubuntu 17.04 Linux release.

Ubuntu 17.04, also known as “Zesty Zapus,” is a regular release and will be supported for a period of nine months, ending in January 2018.

Ubuntu 17.04 is shipping with the Unity 7 desktop as the default. Ubuntu 17.04 is also available in different editions with other desktop choices, including KDE, LXDE and Xfce.

Ubuntu developers had been working on the Unity 8 desktop, which is included as a technical preview in Ubuntu 17.04. However, It’s a desktop that isn’t likely to fully mature any time soon, as Canonical has decided to cease its development efforts, opting instead to migrate to GNOME by 2018.

Ubuntu 17.04 provides integrated support for Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) Everywhere and Apple AirPrint, giving users a more seamless experience when connecting to printers.

Among the updated applications included with Ubuntu 17.04 is the LibreOffice 5.3 release, providing users with word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications.

The default web browser in Ubuntu 17.04 is the open-source Mozilla Firefox 52.

OpenStack Ocata is available for the server version of Ubuntu 17.04, enabling organizations to run the latest release of the open-source cloud platform.

At the heart of Ubuntu 17.04 is a Linux 4.10 kernel, which Linux creator Linus Torvalds released on Feb. 19.