1-800-UBUNTU

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I've been planning a review of Xubuntu for quite some time now, so the release of 9.10 provided a good opportunity.  Since Xubuntu has a reputation for running well on older hardware, I decided I'd give it a real test and install it on a boat anchor that I still had in the closet -- A 650MHz Pentium III clone with 384MB of ram and 2-13GB hard drives.  This just barely meets the suggested (not absolute) minimum hardware requirements specified by the Xubuntu team.

The installation to a dedicated partition went without a hitch.  I was pleasantly surprised by the results -- performance was actually more than acceptable for a second or third PC.  Firefox and Thunderbird both loaded in about 3 seconds, and web browsing was almost as fast as my primary PC.

I updated my Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope to 9.10 Karmic Koala on the day of release, and have experienced only a few minor glitches.  The update process went well, but the computer locked up while shutting down for the system restart after the update.  That didn't exactly give me a warm fuzzy feeling, but there seem to be no ill effects.  I had problems with Ubunto One right of the bat.  I had already been running the Ubuntu One beta in my 9.04 install, and when I updated I could no longer connect -- I would get a "Capabilities Mismatch" error with the Ubuntu One Server.  A quick look at the Ubuntu forums revealed this had already been reported and fixed and an update released.  I applied the update with no effect.  After manually uninstalling the Ubuntu One files using Synaptic Package Manager and reinstalling them, everything worked fine.  It seems that if you were already running Ubuntu One in 9,04, the update will not get installed -- you have to manually re-install the Ubuntu One files to get the update.

Ubuntu One

Apply the available updates as soon as you upgrade or install 9.10 and you shouldn't have any problems with Ubuntu One.  If you already had Ubuntu One installed, you'll have to do the reinstall manually.  The service works very well -- it immediately syncs any file placed in the Ubuntu One folder on your PC.  The Tomboy notes synchronization worked well, too.  To set this up, right-click on the Tomboy Notes icon in the notification area (upper-right corner) and choose Preferences.

Note - Please see this important update about Flash 10 support

A default upgrade or fresh install of Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala does not install the Adobe Flash plugin for Firefox.  Here's how to enable it:

Adding Flash support using Synaptic Package Manager:

Click on System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager.  Enter your administrative password.  In the search bar, type in "flash plugin nonfree".  In the resulting list, click on "flashplugin-nonfree" and choose Mark for installation.  Now click on Apply in the toolbar and click the Apply button in the dialog that comes up.  Wait for the plugin to install.  Close Synaptic Package Manager and restrart Firefox -- Flash support should now be enabled in your browser.

What's next?

If you have a question, a problem installing Flash support or an opinion, please feel free to leave a comment below.  For more Ubuntu help, visit our forums or subscribe to our RSS feed.