The beta and the wait is over. Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) has been released and is available for immediate download (release notes). Ubuntu Linux 7.04 features the latest Linux kernel, the latest version of the Gnome desktop environment, and bundled software including Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Evolution, OpenOffice.org, Gaim/Pidgin, The Gimp, and Rhythmbox. The new distribution also brings a few major new enhancements over its predecessor, including a Windows migration tool that fetches data like bookmarks and IM contacts from a Windows installation, a wizard that automatically installs video codecs, an automatic wireless network selection/roaming tool, and improved support for closed source drivers.

I've noticed that the distribution servers are being hammered. Here is a review of Feisty Fawn. Reader LinuxScribe sends us to LinuxPlanet for the story on a pleasant Java surprise in the release.

There's actually very little to complain about in Feisty Fawn and a whole lot to get excited about. Some minor grievances I had with Ubuntu would be with the default brown color scheme in Ubuntu could use a refresh or upgrade. Even with that stated, it's very easy to change the default look so it's not a huge issue. Also, I would have preferred if Feisty did not use UUID in /etc/fstab. For most normal users they probably won't even notice this change so, again, it's not a huge issue. If you do have to manually mount a drive, typing in "sudo mount UUID=3ac3eb4b-e1f4-4de9-90a1-076a7ae1e725" is needlessly difficult. Finally, since Feisty is all about guification, I would have preferred to have a NFS gui manager to mount remote drives from the local network. Besides those minor complaints, I was just impressed with how well everything else in Feisty Fawn worked.

Everything I could have possibly wanted for everyday computing tasks were readily available and easily configurable. From Feisty's new migration assistant in their installer, to the new Restricted Drivers Manager, to the ease of setting up Beryl or Compiz things went so smoothly that I was amazed. This would be the first Linux distro that I have encountered where I would think even my mother could use! Compared to Windows, Feisty's installation was on par with XP or Vista. The minimal amount of steps needed to configure Feisty after installation was a whole lot easier than in Windows. Once the configuration is done, Feisty Fawn is just a pleasure to use. Very well done Ubuntu!

This tutorial shows how to set up a Ubuntu Feisty Fawn (Ubuntu 7.04) based server that offers all services needed by ISPs and hosters: Apache web server (SSL-capable), Postfix mail server with SMTP-AUTH and TLS, BIND DNS server, Proftpd FTP server, MySQL server, Courier POP3/IMAP, Quota, Firewall, etc.