Almost 18 months ago, on the 29th of October, 2009, Canonical was proud to announce the release of Ubuntu 9.10, dubbed Karmic Koala, which introduced features such as GNOME 2.28.1, Linux kernel 2.6.31.1, the EXT4 filesystem, the GRUB 2 boot loader, Home encryption, Ubuntu Software Center, XZ compression, Ubuntu One, Empathy Instant Messenger, and much more!
Starting with April 29th, 2011, Canonical will stop “feeding” the Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) operating system with security or critical fixes, and software updates!

Therefore, we strongly recommend upgrading your Ubuntu 9.10 machine(s) to the current version, Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat). Or wait one month for the brand-new and amazing Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal), due for release on April 28th, 2011.

“The supported upgrade path from Ubuntu 9.10 is via Ubuntu 10.04. Instructions and caveats for the upgrade may be found at
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LucidUpgrades.  Ubuntu 10.04 LTS  continues to be actively supported with security updates and select high-impact bug fixes.” - said Kate Stewart in the announcement.

On April 28th, Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) will become the 14th release of the Ubuntu operating system. Don’t forget to visit our website this Thursday, March 31st, for an in-depth article on the Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) Beta 1 release, where we will unveil more of Natty’s new features!