Ubuntu 7.10 isn’t a major release and won’t have long term support (LTS) but the development team have added just enough new features to make this upgrade a compelling one for anyone that’s already using Ubuntu and ironed out a few of the creases to make it a little easier for new adopters of the distro.

The newest versions of the Ubuntu Linux open source operating system will debut Thursday with features designed to match the capabilities of more well-known systems, including improved security, virtualization and management capabilities for servers.

Low cost and armies of devoted techies have not been enough. So the people behind Ubuntu—a dialect of Linux— have a new idea: eye candy.

No, community is Ubuntu's capital, and it has invested this capital wisely. Ubuntu inspires the same sort of user passion that Apple does. This is why I think it, and not Novell, will be the biggest challenger to Red Hat's Linux dominance (though I don't see it displacing Red Hat – I suspect there will be a happy harmony between the two). Sun will play as well, but it's hard to bet against Ubuntu's momentum.