Codenamed Hardy Heron, Ubuntu 8.04 final will be released in the next two weeks from Canonical. I highly recommend everyone download the final live-cd image when it’s released (or the beta now if you’re feeling particularly apt).

In case you haven’t heard, Ubuntu can be trialed without making a new partition – it runs from a native Windows partition without deleting or modifying your old operating system. You simply reboot and the Windows bootloader will show a “Ubuntu” boot option next to your Windows O/S. While I’m not sure how this feature (named “Wubi” by the way), is worse (or better) than a native install on your typical linux partition, it does offer a best-of-both-worlds scenario for the weekend gamer and the weekday warrior.

With the latest improvements in convenient installation, the quickest integration of cutting-edge features any modern O/S has ever provided, and the prospects of learning about linux, there’s no reason not to install Ubuntu at this point.  There’s something to this free, opensource movement, and you’d be hurting yourself by not at least peeking in to see what it is all about.