Thursday is the scheduled release day for Ubuntu 11.10, to be specific, but today Canonical made the official announcement, complete with key details about what the new version of the free and open source operating system will look like.

I've already covered several of the incremental advances that Ubuntu 11.10, or “Oneiric Ocelot,” has made along the way--as seen at key milestones including the and both and beta releases--not to mention the fun “” project that's been generating some extra excitement.

Late last week, however, I had a chance to chat with Mark Baker, server product manager, and Allison Randal, Ubuntu technical architect, about the upcoming release. From what I can tell, there's plenty to be excited about.

'A Bold But Necessary Step'

On the desktop side, development of Oneiric Ocelot has focused heavily on ease of use, Randal told me.