The Fedora Project has announced the immediate release of Fedora 9, codenamed Sulphur.

The new release features the latest versions of the two desktop environments, GNOME 2.22 and KDE 4.0.3. In addition it also features PackageKit, a new graphical package manager built on top of the yum system, the latest Firefox 3 Beta 5 brower, a new upgrade system for upgrading to new releases of the distro, Upstart as the system startup mechanism and more.

You can read a summary of the changes on the Fedora Wiki here.

You can download the new release from this page, in either BitTorrent or standard HTTP download using a mirror of your choice. There are three variants to download - an Install-only disc, a GNOME Live CD and a KDE-based Live CD.

It’s April, which means that it is the month of a new release of Ubuntu. Hardy Heron (8.04) is going to be the eighth release of the distribution, which has enjoyed enormous popularity in recent times.

I use the KDE variant, Kubuntu as one of my main desktop operating systems, but I haven’t yet tried out the beta of Hardy Heron. I’m putting the standard Ubuntu desktop disc through its paces.

The first thing you notice after booting off the CD is that the boot menu has new options. Instead of just booting into the live CD environment only, you now have the option to boot in and ‘Try without change’, or to jump straight into the installer.

Read the rest of My first impressions of Ubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) Beta

Ulteo is an interesting concept. Rather than being just another Linux distribution, founder Gaël Duval (previously of Mandriva fame), wants to simplify the way you use your computer and your digital life. Apparently.

The way this is done is by combining an online service and a desktop client operating system. Instead of having all your information locally on your PC, much of it can be stored online and then synchronised, so you can access it at your PC, or anywhere you are on any device that can connnect to the internet.

Earlier this month, the project released Beta 1 of the Ulteo Application System - that’s the client bit. It’s based on Ubuntu and features a KDE-based desktop. I thought I would put the release through its paces and give my thoughts on how well this hybrid web-desktop model works and what the future for it might be.

Read the rest of Ulteo Application System Beta 1 - the FOSSwire review