The Ubuntu developers have announced their first pre-release of what will become Ununtu 9.10, Karmic Koala Alpha.

The next Ubuntu should see improved video performance, along with updates to the underlying Linux and open-source infrastructure. A change in the video architecture has been revealed as the Ubuntu development team released alpha code for the next, planned edition: Ubuntu 9.10, codenamed Karmic Koala.

Next month Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty Jackelope, hits an FTP or torrent site near you. With its feature set pretty much frozen the masterminds at Canonical are looking to the future with Ubuntu 9.10 – Karmic Koala, I kid you not – being touted as cloud-centric.

Linux has a much better chance of succeeding on personal computers, if it starts from a position of strength, not weakness. Two areas of strength for Linux are mobile and servers. The mobile Linux market, however, remains somewhat fragmented, making it difficult to mount a near-term desktop challenge.

For the Karmic Koala, the development team will focus their efforts on the “first impressions,” which means that they plan to change the old brown desktop with a whole new look and the current Usplash with a smooth and flicker-free boot splash, such as Red Hat’s Plymouth. Also, the boot times will decrease even more [...]

If all this cloud talk sounds nebulous (his pun, not mine) then Shuttleworth promises to reveal the full feature set at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in May in sunny Barcelona.

Ubuntu has managed alliances with two companies which make money doing what they do. Amazon makes money in cloud computing, Dell is still profitable.

As we try to figure out the future of the cloud, one thing is assured: developers will drive both deployment and consumption approaches. As is common to so many other major software shifts, developers lead, regardless of what vendors want the market to look like.

Mark Shuttleworth: “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce the *Karmic Koala*, the newest member of our alliterative menagerie.”