That means we're just a few steps away from the widely anticipated final version, which is due on Oct. 13. One more beta version will make an appearance before that point--it's scheduled to be released on Sept. 22--but in the meantime, this first beta release offers a good feel for what Oneiric Ocelot will be like.

It's not intended for production use, of course, but you can the new beta version from the Ubuntu site and play with it to your heart's content. Here's a quick rundown of some of the changes and key features you'll find.

1. A Smaller DVD Image

In response to community feedback over the last few cycles, the DVD image of Ubuntu 11.10 has been slimmed down to a more manageable size of 1.5GB. Included in the new image are all the language packs as well as applications including Inkscape, GIMP, PiTiVi and . Those no longer included on the DVD are still available from the archive, the Ubuntu developers note. The traditional CD image, meanwhile, is still available as well.

2. Ubuntu Core