Ubuntu follows a 6-month release cycle, denoted by the version number, so ...

7.04 = April 07
7.10 = October 07

The next will be 8.04, as noted above, in April ...

There has been 1 exception to this rule - there was no 6.04 rather,
due to a decision to make that release an LTS (Long Term Support)
release, it was put back a couple of months to ensure it's stability -
this was 6.06.

The Hardy Heron is the next release

Hardy Alpha 3 was 10/01/08
Hardy Alpha 4 should be 31/01/08
Hardy 'Feature Freeze' (final release features) should be 14/02/08
Hardy Alpha 5 should be 21/02/08
Hardy Alpha 6 should be 03/03/08
8.04 Beta should be 13/03/08
8.04 RC (release candidate) due 17/04/08
Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron due 24/04/08

They are the dates I have seen, but as noted, they are subject to
change depending on what the testing throws up!

Hope that clears things up for you.

... and I was hoping for a horny hamster ...

... but seriously folks ...

does anybody know whay they started out with random random letters,
then suddenly decided to start doing it alphabetically, part way
through the alphabet? (was it dapper drake? my memory's getting a bit
fuzzy ...

"random letters" - did you mean random numbers? now explained and i believe the
names came from a debian convention of calling each release by a name
quasi-phoenetic alphabet style.

No, I was referring to the fact that they started out with "W" (Warty
Warthog), followed by "H" (Hoary Hedgehog), then "B" (Breezy Badger),
then "D" (Dapper Drake), then decided to go alphabetical (Edgy Eft,
Feisty Fawn, Gutsy Gibbon, Hardy Heron (back to "H" again) ... Just
wondering if anyone knew why it started off seemingly random, then
suddenly changed ...

i follow you now. I don't see why they don't sort out their
new version for the LTS - just have it as one of the 6 month releases
rather than late like 6.06. I think they had quite a few after thoughts
once they were established.

i follow you now. I don't see why they don't sort out their
new version for the LTS - just have it as one of the 6 month releases
rather than late like 6.06. I think they had quite a few after thoughts
once they were established.