They expect to have the latest GNOME but the release date of GNOME 2.3/3
could be a problem since Ubuntu moved up its release date (and KDE 4.5 for
Kubuntu). The GNOME shell should be included with 10.10. It will have kernel
2.6.34.x. The UNE (netbook) version will have Chromium as its default
browser; GNOME version will still have Firefox, but KDE may have Rekonq
instead of Konqueror. F-Spot is to be replaced by Shotwell. There is some
talk of including Midori (lightweight Webkit browser written in C) as well
as or instead of Chromium, if it does not pan out. It all depends on how
Chromium tests. You may see support for Brtfs and perhaps even see it as the
default file system, replacing ext4. You may also see the much talked about
Windicators making their debut on the vacated right side of the window bar.
There is also talk of full setting backups to Ubuntu One. Look for some
subtle theme changes including new icons and darkening the orange.

I personally would like to see Mono removed to make room for more
applications. Tomboy and Gbrainy are the only two Mono apps and not worth
the wasted space since Tomboy is mostly used by power users who can easily
install it. Also Gnote is Mono free and a drop in replacement for Tomboy, as
that is what it was forked from.

I would also like to see Ubuntu implement delta packages like Fedora's
Presto in which only packages changes are downloaded which would save lots
of bandwidth and save much time. This is one way that Fedora is leading the
pack and with so much focus on green initiatives, it makes much sense.

So far the Alpha 1 does not look much different from 10.04, but that should
change with Alpha 2.

My prediction is that Ubuntu users will baulk at GNOME 3. My experience is
that they are more set in their ways than KDE users and many of them refused
to accept KDE 4 and stuck with KDE 3.5 as long as they could. GNOME 3 is a
radical departure from current GNOME. See:
www.workswithu.com/.../

I plan on sticking with 10.04 fer a while, anyways :)
I think its better than any release yet

That's what many people are saying and because it is LTS it makes sense for
people who want stability. For those of us who want the latest and greatest
then we have the option to upgrade when 101010 comes. The *buntus are onto
something by having the best of both.

Me too, if security updates keep on coming, then why upgrae at all? Can't we
simply update the kernel to allow newer softwares to work or would be need to
upgrade everything?

One of the problems is that if you stick with stock 10.04 then the world
will pass you by. If a new OOO, GIMP or new kernel comes out then you will
not get it. The solution is to enable backports which many users do not do.

I installed Debian 5 recently and the kernel is so old (2 years old) that my
Wacom Bamboo tablet did not work without editing xorg.conf. In Ubuntu 10.04
it just works because the latest kernel includes drivers for it. We forget
that it is a moving target. The kernel keeps on getting better. As it
improves life gets easier. The cost of stability is to get left behind. I
always install the latest version of Ubuntu (since 2005) and have never
experienced a single problem that caused me to lose data or inconvenienced
me.

I just find that I have better things to do with my time than installing a new
version of my OS. Every 18 months is fine with me.

The second-last time I installed a new version, it was onto a new hard drive.
The last time, it was onto a whole new computer!

Sometimes I download a new version and run it from a flash drive. If I see
something so wonderful I absolutely must upgrade, I will.

please explain "enable backports". What does it actually do?

Backports allow users to keep a stable base of an older version of Ubuntu
but be able to install newer versions of supported applications.

Say for example you are still a Hardy user which has one more year of
support. You got OpenOffice 2.x when you installed Hardy. Then it would
never allow you to upgrade to OOO 3.x. However if you enable the backports
then you can install 3.2 in Hardy 8.04. So you get the best of both worlds.
You get the stability that you need but can take advantage of improvements
to applications.

You can use the backports selectively allowing you to upgrade some
applications by browsing the list of applications online and downloading the
deb or generically to upgrade many packages by adding a line to your sources
in Synaptic.

See: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuBackports

This is not any use to Lucid until Maverick comes out on 101010. But if you
are using Karmic or earlier then you can take advantage of backports.