The beta for the upcoming release of Ubuntu is now available. The full version of Lucid Lynx will be available sometime in April, and will be a long-term support release. This will be the first LTS release since 8.04, which will be two years old when the new version is released. The new version will feature several improvements to stability, but will feature a visual upgrade as well. Gone are the days of the default brown color scheme, the new one looking much more vibrant in my opinion. Also to be included are a new panel notification area interface, as well as social networking tools.