Updates on Hardy Heron

Now that I have reinstalled the Ubuntu Hardy Heron, I have had a chance to see some of the new, lesser-known updates.

For one thing, the graphics have been changed slightly.  The login screen has been changed, with a light hue added around the logo, rather than the white outline used earlier, and the login box is raised rather than inset into the screen.

The OpenOffice logos have been changed as well, which is something that has been discussed for a while on the Ubuntu wiki.  The complaints were made stating that the OpenOffice logos looked too similar.  Now, they have been reworked, and use different colors, such as blue, green, orange, and red for the different applications.

The default theme for Ubuntu has also been changed, back to the default “Human” theme, which has been in use since the release of Ubuntu 6.06 LTS.  It includes minor improvements with icons.  Thankfully, the new theme used in the beta release is still installed, along with another theme for Ubuntu, all based on the “Human” theme.  The themes are “Human,” “Human-Clearlooks,” and “Human-Murrine,” all of which use their own backengine providing a different appearance for each.  The brown-ish color is still in use, although for the clearlooks and murrine-based themes, a dark-orange color is used.

Several applications have also been updated.  For instance, OpenOffice 2.4 is now installed.  Firefox 3 Beta 5 is also installed, which has been said to already be ready for release, according to Mozilla reagarding the previous beta 4 release.  Beta 5 includes various features such as the “Home” button reappearing in the navigation bar.  Integration with the system also work well, due to the GTK engine in the Linux version.

Ubuntu 8.04 looks like it will be the best release ever for Ubuntu.  With the added features and the LTS label, it will be perfect for those looking for a stable system, from individuals, to businesses, to governments.