The other day I came across the newest version of Ubuntu, i.e. 5.10 has been released by Canonical Ltd, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu. Ubuntu launched in October 2004. Its commercial sponsor, Canonical Ltd. is based in Europe, with employees throughout Europe, North America, South America and Australia. In fact, Canonical Ltd. is a private company founded by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth with the aimed to develop and promote softwares in a open-source environment. If you’re interested in this version 5.10, you can download it by clicking here. For some Ubuntu users that prefer to buy the DVD instead of waiting few hours in download the version 5.10, they simply can visit Amazon to buy the Ubuntu 6.10 (PC Edition) at $9.99 or Kubuntu 6.10 (PC Edition) at the same price as well. To avoid confusion, Kubuntu is another project undertook by Canonical Ltd, but the operating system is based on K Desktop Environment (KDE).

Until today, Ubuntu has developed several versions since its first inception. It has grew from a non-support model to the supported version as you can see on the download page. Ubuntu has developed the Long-Term Support (LTS) software model since version 6.06, which provides security updates for 5 years on the server and 3 years on the desktop edition after its officially release in the market. The series of Ubuntu products were favorably received by the users. Most recently, they also made a big leap forward by launching the global partner program in an attempt in gaining a foothold in the global software market. There are several partnerships such as software partners, hardware partners, system builder/OEM partners, and etc. in the program with the purpose to establish a sound network of partners for Ubuntu products throughout the world. This is a strategic move by Ubuntu in achieving the competitive advantage of being scalability and reliability.