Ubuntu is the ultimate free operating system for Linux users widely revered for it's ease of use and powerful features.

The latest version of Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" is packed with new features aimed at strengthening its position as the most popular of Linux flavours. The Gnome graphical environment has been upgraded for better performance plus it simply looks better than ever. Other improvements include fast user switching, desktop search, better support for video in Firefox and improved security and encryption. The significant thing with this release is that it's a LTS (Long Term Support) release which means there will be at least 5 years of support instead of the usual 18 months for Ubuntu releases. There's much more to be excited about though such as the fact that Firefox 3 beta is the default web browser, you can install Ubuntu from within Windows using Wubi, there's a new BitTorrent Client, new VNC client and virtualization software has now been built into the kernel.

All in all, this is one of the most exciting Ubuntu releases yet and if you haven't yet discovered what it's all about, then you're in for a real treat.