The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the final beta release of Ubuntu
13.04 Desktop, Server, Cloud, and Core products.

Codenamed "Raring Ringtail", 13.04 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of
integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a
high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at
work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs.

Together with Ubuntu 13.04, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu and Ubuntu
Studio also reached Final Beta status today. We also welcome two new
flavors, Ubuntu Gnome and UbuntuKylin, which are participating in the Ubuntu
release process for the first time this cycle.


Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, and Cloud Images
---------------------------------------

Some of the new features available in Ubuntu 13.04 Final Beta are:

* Raring Final Beta includes the 3.8.0-16.26 Ubuntu Linux kernel which
is based on the v3.8.5 upstream Linux kernel.

* Unity has been updated to version 6.12.

Please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RaringRingtail/TechnicalOverview for
details.


Kubuntu
-------

* KDE SC 4.10.2
* Muon Suite 2
* Homerun, Oxygen Font, Krita
* Slick new look for the installer

Please see https://wiki.kubuntu.org/RaringRingtail/Beta2/Kubuntu for
details.


Edubuntu
--------

For details on what has changed in Edubuntu 13.04, please refer to
http://www.edubuntu.org .


Xubuntu
-------

New features in Xubuntu Beta 2 include:

* Documentation is updated to 13.04
* New version of Catfish (0.6.1) is included and fixes a lot of bugs
* More updates for the Greybird theme

For more details on what has changed in Xubuntu 13.04, please refer to
http://xubuntu.org/news/raring-beta2/ .


Lubuntu
-------

For information about the changes in Lubuntu 13.04, please go to
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu .


Ubuntu Studio
-------------

Ubuntu Studio has had many bug fixes applied since Beta 1. When compared to
12.10, it has a rewritten icon theme, new wallpapers, new ubiquity, some new
applications, an updated -lowlatency kernel and much more.

See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RaringRingtail/Beta2/UbuntuStudio for the
release notes.


Ubuntu GNOME
------------

* In coordination with the Ubuntu Desktop Team, we have decided to stick
with GNOME 3.6 for Ubuntu 13.04. For an overview of what's new in GNOME
3.6, please see https://help.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.6/
* For more information about the GNOME3 PPAs which offer an early look at
GNOME 3.8, please see
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RaringRingtail/TechnicalOverview
* Default apps have changed since Ubuntu GNOME Remix 12.10.
- Firefox instead of GNOME Web (Epiphany)
- Ubuntu Software Center and Update Manager instead of GNOME
Software (gnome-packagekit)
- LibreOffice instead of Abiword and Gnumeric
- The other apps are still available for install; they just aren't
included in the default install.


UbuntuKylin
-----------

UbuntuKylin has had several bug fixes applied to chinese-calendar and
indicator-china-weather, fctix has been made the default and the theme has
been improved since Beta 1. For more information about UbuntuKylin 13.04,
please see:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuKylin/1304-beta-2-ReleaseNote


About Ubuntu
------------

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for clients, servers and
clouds, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases. A
tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and
an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and
hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information
about support, visit http://www.ubuntu.com/support .

If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways
you can participate at: http://www.ubuntu.com/community/participate .

Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions really help us to
improve this and future releases of Ubuntu. Instructions can be
found at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs .


To Get Ubuntu 13.04 Final Beta
------------------------------

To upgrade to the Ubuntu 13.04 Final Beta from Ubuntu 12.10, follow
these instructions:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RaringUpgrades

Or, download Ubuntu 13.04 Beta images from a location near you:

http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/download (Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server) .

In addition they can be found at the following links:

http://releases.ubuntu.com/13.04/ (Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server)
http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/13.04/beta-2/
(Ubuntu Cloud Images)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/13.04/beta-2/
(Ubuntu community-supported images)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-core/releases/13.04/beta-2/ (Ubuntu Core)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/netboot/13.04/ (Ubuntu Netboot)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/13.04/beta-2/ (Kubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/13.04/beta-2/ (Edubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/13.04/beta-2/
(Ubuntu Studio)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/13.04/beta-2/ (Lubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/13.04/beta-2/ (Xubuntu)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntukylin/releases/13.04/beta-2/ (UbuntuKylin)


The final version of Ubuntu 13.04 is expected to be released
on April 25, 2013.


More Information
----------------

You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this beta release on our
website, IRC channel and wiki.

To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu's
very low volume announcement list at:

http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce