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Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu 7.10 (project name “Gutsy Gibbon”) were all released this week (10/18). Fluxbuntu will be released next week (10/23). [Update: The release date was for the new Fluxbuntu web site. The new Fluxbuntu distribution will be released in the near future. I’m looking forward to it.]

At the core, they are all the same linux distribution. However they use different window managers to interact (desktop, menus, widgets, etc.) with the users.

• Ubuntu uses Gnome
• Kubuntu uses KDE
• Xubuntu uses Xfce
• Fluxbuntu uses Fluxbox

Gnome and KDE are good desktop environments for newer computers. Xfce and Fluxbox use fewer resources, so they run better on older computers/laptops with slower processors and less memory.

I’ve installed the new Kubuntu on a desktop computer, Xbuntu on a Thinkpad 22e, and tried a Live CD (with a PowerPC version of Ubuntu) on my Mac PowerBook. All of them are well put together and visually stunning.

In fact, right now I’m off-site (at home) supporting some network maintenance that’s happening at work. I’m using all four of the virtual desktops I have configured. I have a spreadsheet open (OpenOffice2.3), I’m looking at email, and accessing a wiki. The only thing I can’t do, is use the corporate SSL-VPN. It relies on ActiveX code that will only work in Internet Explorer.

Some reviews and screenshots after the jump…

• [wired.com] Review: Ubuntu’s New ‘Gutsy Gibbon’ Brings Linux Out of the Jungle
• [lunapark6.com] Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy) Desktop Edition - Review
• [Ubuntu.com] Home » 7.10 More Info
• [Ubuntu.com] Ubuntu 7.10 Screenshots
• [wiki.Fluxbuntu.org] Fluxbuntu 7.10 Screenshots

Here’s a YouTube video that compares Microsoft Vista and Ubuntu desktop eyecandy: