Today I installed the beta version of the upcoming Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 on my Asus EEE PC. So why illustrate this post with a picture of a foam hand with the word "goal" written on it? Well, as you may or may not know I like to attend ice hockey matches from time to time and whenever a goal is scored is is fun to wave around this foam hand in celebration. When I had a look the new Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 today I had a similar feeling of excitement! This is a real winner.

The Netbook Remix interface has been radically redesigned, and not only looks good, but makes very efficient use of the available screen space, with a noticable improvement over the old Netbook Remix interface. The panel of folders that used to be on the right hand side has been merged with the panel on the left, which has released a lot of space.

There have been other major changes too. The new Ubuntu Software Centre simplifies (even further) the process of installing new applications on Ubuntu systems; providing an experience a little bit like the App Store on the iPhone/iTouch. There is also an option to encrypt the home directory (the user's files) on the system from the graphical installer, which could be a really useful option for netbooks and could protect your data if your computer is lost or stolen.

Ubuntu 9.10 will be released in its final state on October 29th and I'll be blogging about the new release and the features it brings right here. Also on the horizon are the Kubuntu Netbook Remix and the Ubuntu Moblin Remix, both of which will be seeing their first release and expand the options for netbook users in new directions. It looks like Karmic (the codename for 9.10) is going to be very interesting for netbook owners). The release will also be greeted with a number of worldwide parties, have a look at: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KarmicReleaseParties for one in your area.