14 DAY TRIAL // A new Ubuntu Touch RTM version has been released and the developers have implemented a number of important fixes, not to mention all the improvements that have been made to the backend.
The Ubuntu Touch RTM stable images don't arrive all that often. Only six have been launched so far and each new version is sensibly better than the previous one. The current release is no exception, although it seems to have a longer and more complex changelog than its predecessor.
Long gone are the days when a Mir update would break Ubuntu, but now all sorts of smaller problems are cropping up. In fact, all landings have been suspended before this new update was released, in an effort to track down and correct all the major bugs. Some problems still remain, but none of them should be an inconvenience.
This is just the RTM branch, not the final version
Ubuntu Touch is still a work in progress, but from the looks of it, the developers are homing in the final version. It shouldn't take too long now and we might get it in a month or so. That would be a fair assessment, if Meizu's plan to launch an Ubuntu phone in December holds.
"Good news! As per earlier announcement we promoted a new image to the ubuntu-rtm/14.09 channel! Please enjoy image #6 (previously known as #140 for krillin, #118 for mako and #112 for x86). Because of those we plan on promoting another image as soon as possible if those issues get fixed. But no worries - no freezes required this time. The landing gates will remain opened until the next serious promotion! Once again big thanks to everyone involved!" said Canonical's Łukasz Zemczak.
There are still a few minor issues, which will be corrected very soon. For example, the user metrics that could be found on the lock screen are no longer changing with a double tap, the media hug might strain the CPU in certain situations, and the Unity 8 environment might crash from time to time.
On the upside, Ubuntu Touch should be much more stable now, the video playback now works properly in landscape mode, the Unity 8 desktop has been updated, and a lot of critical changes have been made.
Users can test Ubuntu Touch RTM on Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 devices, and the official website has a comprehensive wiki that details the installation.
