The next iteration of Ubuntu, version 9.04 codenamed Jaunty Jackalope, is set to arrive on April 23, supplanting the former 8.04 and 8.10 versions with a host of new features and the latest 2.6.28.8 kernel. While this new version may be desirable for its feature set alone, it will also spice things up with an additional ISA added to the mix. In addition to the previously supported i386 (32-bit x86) and AMD64 (64-bit x86) ISAs, Ubuntu 9.04 will now natively include an ARM installation for ARM-based MIDs and low-end netbooks operating on the ARMv5EL and ARMv6EL-VFP architectures.

Why ARM? There is currently a battle taking place at the low-end. Intel has moved extremely fast with its low-power, high-performing Atom CPU, one which delivers more performance at a given clock speed than the original Pentium 4s did. Still, the battle at the low-end is in performance and battery life, with a heavy bent on battery life. With ARM, the technology is so pervasive that it has seen a tremendous amount of optimization. In fact, individuals can go to the ARM website and custom build their own CPUs in any quantity they want, thanks to the design efforts validating all of the available options.

ARM-based products often provide commensurate levels of performance, when compared to VIA C7M or Nano CPUs, or Intel’s Atom, and often times with greater battery life.

ARM-based CPUs–first introduced in 1985–are now the most prolific CPUs in the world. Over one billion new mobile phones are sold each year, and 98% of them use at least one ARM-based CPU on the inside. They are also found in iPods, hard drives, routers, and all kinds of low-power, high-speed computational devices. There are clocked versions, and clockless versions, which do not use anything other than standby power — unless there is work to be done.

The “ARM6 Family” (ARMv3 architecture, the current version is ARMv6 and ARMv7) and later implementations are 32-bit RISC-based (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architectures (RISC means they have a limited instruction set, but do every thing they do very efficiently. x86, on the other hand, is a CISC instruction set (Complex Instruction Set Computer) that has been optimized internally to execute RISC-like micro-ops).

ARM’s ISA design allows for some extremely powerful features on individual instructions, making it very easy to write code for. It also includes a thumb instruction set, allowing for a very small number of bytes per opcode, resulting in more processing power using less instruction cache. These equate to lower power consumption, more software utility, and a significant increase in battery life.

Since Ubuntu is based on Linux, and since Linux is based on a multi-architecture design methodology, the port of Ubuntu 9.04 to ARM is a natural progression. It also brings the full power of Ubuntu’s modern operating system features to bear on a market which, to date, has seen some unofficial or custom Linux ports at the low-end netbook or MID product range, including Google’s Android OS, but with this native Ubuntu port users can implement the same OS on their portable device, their netbook, notebook, desktop and even server.

The first ARM Ubuntu port was demonstrated back in April, 2008. It was a custom ARM port that demonstrated the OS booting and showing some of the popular applications running, such as the GIMP (like a free, very scaled down version of Photoshop). At the time, there were still some issues with certain applications not running, such as Java, Mono, and the G77 Fortran compiler. Since then, however, these quirks have been worked out and the ARM version should be as stable as the i386 and AMD64 versions.

The OS is available for i386, AMD64 and ARM-based beta testing right now, prior to its April 23, 2009 release. As always, this version of Linux will be free to everybody to use on any device that it can be ported to. There are no hidden fees, and source code is available for nearly every application written for Ubuntu, and more generally the Debian branch of Linux which includes a very easy-to-use package manager for the searching, locating, installation and removal of software, including required sub-packages or components to make a given application work correctly.

Ubuntu has been dubbed “Linux for human beings”, and that name is largely due to its easy-to-use package manager, as well as the attention given to its graphical user interface, traditional Windows-like access to data through the Gnome desktop, and the approach it has toward being a community operating system. Out of the box, there are support channels on IRC and various forums which help new users migrate from Windows to Ubuntu.

{ad}The i386 and AMD64 downloads will fill up a CDR, and the installation itself will consume about 2 GB of disk space. However, it can be installed to a 4GB USB drive with room to spare, allowing you to boot into Ubuntu from the USB drive only when it’s installed. The CD also comes with a test-drive mode which allows you to boot into Ubuntu without changing anything on your hard drive. And Ubuntu 8.x and later can read and write to all FAT32 and NTFS file systems used by Windows.

If you’ve ever considered giving an alternate OS a try, even on your ARM-based MID or netbook, now may be the time.

See Ubuntu’s 9.04 beta page with download instructions, and look here specifically for the ARM version.