The first beta of Ubuntu 11.04, also called Natty Narwhal, was released today. This is the first semi-stable 11.x version that Ubuntu enthusiasts can work with.

The feature set is impressive, it certainly provides an impetus for Ubuntu adventurers to upgrade from the previous version 10.10.

The revolutionary, Ubuntu 9.10, also called Karmic Koala, will reach end-of-life by April 29, an Ubuntu community representative said today.

This comes as Ubuntu 11.04, also called Natty Narwhal, approaches its first beta release on March 31. The final 11.04 version will be released on April 28.

IDC is projecting Google's Android OS to have a 39.5 percent market share in 2011, growing to 45.4 percent market share in 2015.

It's a surprise to see Symbian expected to have 20.5 percent market share this year. That maybe due to the el-cheapo candybar phones (or non-smartphones) bought by folks in developing countries. iOS will have a 15.7 percent market share this year, while Blackberry will have a 14.9 percent market share.

Are you a student and want to earn a stipend for writing open-source code? The Google's stupendously successful Summer of Code 2011 program pays student developers to write code for open-source software projects.

Google pays a stipend of $5500 for writing code -- $5000 to you, and $500 to the mentoring organization. Google opens up applications on March 28, ending 10 days later, on April 8.

Ubuntu's technical board has rejected the idea of enabling the installation of Adobe Flash by default. It comes as part of a new ruling by the board disabling installation of non-free software by default.

On March 31, users will be able to download the much hyped beta version of Ubuntu code-named Natty Narwhal, which is version 11.04. One of the improvements will be an updated and faster Linux kernel. The Linux kernel  2.6.38, will help Natty's beta be faster than alpha versions.

The new kernel would " ...would provide our users the best support for new hardware, driver updates, and bug fixes," explained an Ubuntu Kernel Team member in rather complicated English in a forum entry. .

Microsoft earlier this week sued (PDF) Barnes and Noble, which uses the Android OS in its Nook e-reader. Microsoft is alleging that B&N violates patents filed dating back in 1998, including patents related to capturing, editing and remote retrieval of documents. The patents under dispute are listed on Geekwire's site.

Ubuntu credits its origins to Debian, the parent distribution. Ubuntu CTO is now find a way to link back Ubuntu to Debian with DEX -- a way to coordinate patches and updates between the two distros.

Earlier this week, Ubuntu's Netbook Remix edition was cut, and the distro shaved down to two editions for PCs and servers. But Canonical keeps talking about building and pushing the OS into the cloud. But without a mobile version, how far will Ubuntu really go in the cloud?

Canonical has nixed Ubuntu Netbook Remix from it's plans, and it will not appear starting version 11.04, which is also Natty Narwhal. So we say goodbye to an experiment that lasted a few distros at the time netbooks were the "in-thing."

The core around Ubuntu Netbook Remix will now be integrated an edition called Ubuntu Desktop edition for laptops, Ubuntu said in a blog entry on March 9.