The first alpha release of Ubuntu 8.04 (codenamed Hardy Heron) was scheduled to be released today, but the official release has been pushed back until tomorrow. However, a preliminary CD image of this first alpha release for Ubuntu 8.04 LTS has surfaced today on the Internet.

Ubuntu 8.04 alpha 4 was officially released today and is now available for testing. This alpha offers an early look at some of the features that will be included in the final 8.04 release, which is scheduled for April. Codenamed Hardy Heron, Ubuntu 8.04 will be the second long-term support (LTS) release, which means that it will be supported on the desktop for three years and on the server for five years.

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 am delighted to have the pleasure of announcing the Hardy Heron (Ubuntu 8.04), the next version of Ubuntu that will succeed Gutsy Gibbon (Ubuntu 7.10, due for release in October 2007). [This] release will proudly wear the badge of Long Term Support (LTS)..."

Hardy Heron, the next release from the Ubuntu Linux team, isn't due until April 2008, but already the early alpha releases are filled with significant changes and improvements.

If you've flirted with the idea of switching your desktop operating system to Linux but never took the leap, the time is now. This week's release of Hardy Heron, an Ubuntu release that will be supported until 2011, offers a freer, more productive space for work and play than ever before.

We all know that Gutsy (Ubuntu 7.10) is released, a version that everyone is waiting for, but today you'll be informed about the release dates of Ubuntu 8.04, codename Hardy Heron.

While Ubuntu 8.04 final will not be available until April, virt-manager and libvirt are already in the Hardy Heron repository and is one of the features for the Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha 4 release, which is due out tomorrow. This is not the first time emerging Red Hat technologies are appearing in Ubuntu, but in Ubuntu 7.10 was system-config-printer and the Fedora-spawned IcedTea project for Java support via Sun's OpenJDK.

Welcome to the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter, Issue 87 for the weeks April 13th - April 19th, 2008.