The Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat is set to release next Sunday, 10.10.10. The Release candidate was released on 1st October. I spent some time working on the Release Candidate release and it is pretty exciting.

Whats New ?

The new look Installer is intelligently designed to save time. The partition in which Ubuntu is to be installed is to be selected first and afterwards, as you fill in your user details, copying of files runs in the background. There are options to download updates as installation proceeds and to install plug-ins to play different multimedia formats right at the beginning.

Check the new Installer in the below images :

• Preparing to Install the Ubuntu 10.10 :

• Allocate Drive Space :

• Keyboard Layout :

• Login Details :

• Select your Location

• Welcome Screen

The Sound Indicator can now be integrated with different media players . Rhythmbox is by default integrated to the indicator. Despite volume control, basic play back can also be done using the applet. It displays the album art as well and honors gnome themes.

The Software Center now has a “paid app” section. It also includes a cool slide-show of new and featured softwares. The software center  handles the local deb file installations and not gdebi. Another useful feature is that Software Center now displays in which menu the application shortcut resides.

Shotwell replaces F-Spot as the default photo manager. It allows basic image manipulation facilities and lets you upload photos to various Social Network sites and Picasa.

Ubuntu One syncing facility has been extended to mobile phone contacts. The Ubuntu One Music store also lets you stream the purchased songs in Android Mobile phones.

New Font, “The Ubuntu Font” developed by Dalton Maag debuts in Meerkat.

Gnome 2.32, Evolution 2.30, Gwibber 2.30 are all notable upgrades too.

The Netbook interface Unity is truly rocking. It has been designed in a sleek manner for efficient utilization of the vertical space in Netbooks. The Window menus and control buttons integrate into the top panel making it the only element other than the contents that occupy vertical space. A side dock handles all the launchers and files and apps are accessed from a click and search facility. The design is elegant and can be installed in Desktop Editions as well.

• The Netbook Inerface – Unity

• Main menu in Unity

• Apps Menu in Unity

• Files Browser In Unity

• Workspaces in Unity

Hopefully, you will like this complete preview of  Ubuntu 10.10 MavericK Meerkat . Stay tuned for more updates on Ubuntu 10.10 and linux related stuff .