Ubuntu 12.04 LTS aims to conquer the enterprise desktop

• Aimed at the enterprise desktop, the new Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is the only operating system to combine a free, open-source platform with five years of guaranteed updates and the option of commercial support.
• Thanks to Unity, its unique GUI, plus native office apps and support for leading desktop virtualization solutions, it enables users to work more productively on the latest PCs, laptops and thin clients.

Canonical today launches Ubuntu 12.04 LTS for the desktop. It marks the fourth long-term support (LTS) release of the world’s favourite free operating system, with maintenance updates guaranteed for five years.

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS includes support for desktop virtualisation from Citrix and VMware, alongside Microsoft RDP 7.1. This means enterprise users now have a three-way choice for office productivity: remote delivery of desktop applications, browser-based cloud solutions like Google Docs or the native, Microsoft-compatible LibreOffice suite that comes pre-installed. For organisations faced with expensive upgrades to Windows 7, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS represents a far more cost-effective alternative.

“For large enterprise deployments with long-term planning processes, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is our best desktop yet,” said Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical. “Thanks to our expanded hardware partnerships, we’ll make regular updates to support new PCs from certified partners like Dell, HP and Lenovo. And we’ll support even more companies that make the switch to Ubuntu on their desktops.”

New to those upgrading from the last LTS release will be Unity, Ubuntu’s unique user interface. Following many hours of user testing, it has been refined even further, to improve day-to-day productivity for novices and experts alike.

“The migration of all existing users from Ubuntu 10.04 to the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS release is something we are looking forward to rolling out and reaping the benefits of the improved ease of use and additional functionality built-in to the Unity-based desktop” – Pawel Zieba, Senior IT Innovation Consultant at Capgemini BPO.

Canonical provides optional commercial support for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS in the form of Ubuntu Advantage. The programme gives enterprise customers a choice of two levels of support, alongside access to the time-saving administration tool, Landscape, which includes audit, compliance and ongoing management features for large desktop deployments. Unlike other Linux distributions, Ubuntu customers have the choice to include their entire deployment in the support agreement, or just a subset they select.

Thanks to Canonical’s close relationships with the top OEMs, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is already certified to run on over 20 laptops and desktops, with many more to follow in the weeks to come.
Rigorous policies have been implemented to optimise key parts of the code in the last two years. As a result, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is more robust than ever, booting even faster than its predecessor and extending laptop battery life significantly.

• Download Ubuntu 12.04 LTS today at: www.ubuntu.com/download
• Take the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS tour at: www.ubuntu.com/tour
• Learn what’s new in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS at: www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/whats-new
• See key Ubuntu 12.04 LTS features and screenshots at: www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/features
• See a list of certified machines at www.ubuntu.com/certification