IBM today announced that it will offer an integrated Open Collaboration Client Solution with support for Ubuntu, a Linux-based operating system from Canonical Ltd. that is especially popular for desktops, laptops and thin clients. Showing strong momentum around its IBM Lotus Notes 8 and IBM Lotus Symphony-based Open Collaboration Client Solution, IBM also announced a new agreement working with Red Hat targeting small and medium-sized enterprises, and momentum in the Open Collaboration Client Solution powered by SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell that was announced in August 2007. The announcements were made at the opening of Lotusphere in Orlando.

The latest release 7.10 of Ubuntu for desktop and server is available today for download. This release brings together the best of free and open source Linux software delivered on a stable, easy to use and learn platform. Read the press release or download it now.

While Gutsy Gibbon remains in Alpha testing, the ambitious developers of the Ubuntu distribution of Linux have already laid out plans for the next version. Dubbed 'Hardy Heron', developers hope to have the entire distribution released by April 2008. Jono Bacon, Ubuntu Community Manager, is asking fans of one of the easiest Linux distributions around to help the developers by sending in ideas of what they want to see in Hardy Heron.

If anyone has any ideas for Hardy Heron, please send them to the Ubuntu development team.

While the final version of 'Gutsy Gibbon' is not expected until late October at the earliest, the latest alpha shows some very nice new features. The most notable is a polished interface with which users can choose graphics drivers, install dual monitors, and set the default resolution. Gibbon will also have a special version of Firefox, which boasts a "plug-in finder wizard compatible with the software download mechanism apt, as well as with an integrated extensions manager." The printer management system also is getting an upgrade, as is the Gnome window management system. The beta Gnome 2.20 features a nicer desktop search, fast user switching, and a new security framework.

If you feel like testing the latest version of Ubuntu, get the latest version (Tribe 5) here.

Dell plans to expand its Ubuntu PC and notebook offerings due to continued demand Dell has seen for the Ubuntu products, said Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu creator. Shuttleworth also founded Canonical, the company responsible for offering support for Ubuntu Linux users.

What's been announced to date is not the full extent of what we will see over the next couple of weeks and months,

There are additional offerings in the pipeline,

Shuttleworth said during an interview. Dell spokeswoman Anne Camden did not make an official statement about future products, but did say that Dell is happy with the response the company has received for Linux. Even though most of the products sold were likely to previous fans of Linux and open source technology, some first time customers also made purchases. Dell currently offers five products which run the Ubuntu operating system.

Canonical Ltd, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, today announced it has signed an agreement with TraiCen Computer Training & Consulting to deliver 'Ubuntu Certified Professional' (UCP) training in Germany. TraiCen will deliver official courses in Muenster from August 2007.

Two five day courses, Ubuntu Professional Courses 1 & 2, will assist System Administrators to pass the required LPI 101, LPI 102 and the Ubuntu 199 exams, and achieve the Ubuntu Certified Professional certification. These courses are the first in a series of classroom and e-learning courses scheduled for launch throughout 2007.

It's been no secret that Dell has been planning to offer Linux as an option of some of its PCs to please customers, but until now there's been no strong indication of which distribution it is likely to choose. Red Hat and SUSE were strong contenders because Dell already certifies some of its models to work with those distributions, but now it seems the PC manufacturer has opted to go with Ubuntu Linux. 'Feisty Fawn' (the newest version of Ubuntu) should be available to Dell customers from the end of May on both desktop and notebook models, although Dell has not specified which systems will and won't offer Linux as an extra. Buyers will also be able to chose to purchase optional support if they wish, although Dell has not revealed whether Linux itself will be free or require a charge (it is possible the basic models will be shipped with Ubuntu by default and customers may have to pay to upgrade to Windows).