Ubuntu provides both long-term and short-term support releases. Long-term support releases (LTS), such as Ubuntu 10.14, are released every two years. Short-term releases, such as Ubuntu 10.04, are provided every six months between the LTS versions. They are designed to make available the latest applications and support for the newest hardware. Each has its own nickname, like Maverick Meerkat for the 10.10 release. The long-term support releases are supported for three years for desktops and five years for servers, whereas short-term support releases are supported for 18 months. In addition, Canonical provides limited commercial support for companies that purchase it.
Installing Ubuntu is easy to do. A core set of applications are installed, and you can add to them as you wish. Following installation, additional software can be downloaded from online repositories. There are only a few install screens, which move quickly through default partitioning, user setup, and time settings. Hardware components such as graphics cards and network connections are configured and detected automatically. With the new Ubuntu Software Center (installed by default on all systems), you can find and install additional software with the click of a button.
The Ubuntu distribution of Linux is available online at numerous sites. Ubuntu maintains its own site for the desktop edition at http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/ where you can download the current release of Ubuntu Linux
