Installing Ubuntu on a PC will soon be as easy as baking pancakes. You dont have to go through the whole partition process anymore but you just install it via Windows.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardyHeron/ [...] =umenu.png

Very interesting, might make it a lot simpler for those who are wanting to take the plunge into Linux but feel over whelmed by the process.

Yeah indeed, the installation process will never be the same. It's a big step forward.
Now the granny's can install linux as well.

This is actually a Debian inovation and not something specific to Ubuntu. Much as I love Ubuntu it does sometimes steal the thunder of the hard working Debian developers.

The way I look at it, if your a Debian developer, your essentially apart of the Ubuntu family. Any glory given to Ubuntu, Debian can share as well, even if not in a direct way.

Debian is a bit like the grandparents in the family ;-) Sometimes forgotten, but still loved

At the end all Linux distro's will own this candy so it doesn't really matter who inovated it but it's sure nice to know Debian did a good job at it. Stealing is kinda a big word in an open source community though.

Btw, Ubuntu is an African word for Humanity and has an African miljonair as an owner who is putting a lot of money into the development.

Please don't get me wrong. Steal the thunder was more a turn of phrase than an accusation against Shuttleworth and his merry crew. One of the good things that Ubuntu has brought to Debian is a much more intense release schedule which has to be a good thing. I just think sometimes the open nature of Linux makes it hard to see where the real innovation is taking place.

Just as a very open question to everybody - Where do you feel the most Linux innovation is taking place? I guess it depends on your areas of interest but I'd be interested in what people are considering to be the most ground breaking ideas / technical advances.

Well, let's say that Linux is doing a great overal job when it comes to innovative interface desktop solutions that are very flexible to work with. Compiz Fusion is a great addon example. It just blows Vista and MAC OSX right out of the sky if you ask me. Even more funny is that you don't need powerfull hardware to see all the smooth eyecandy. These effects run smooth on an EEE PC 701 for example.
Example video of Compiz Fusion;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ImW0-MgR8I

I'd agree with that, but which set of developers is making the biggest advances. Debian? Gentoo? Fedora / Redhat... etc...

Well, that all depends on what you wanna do with the OS.
Personally I think Ubuntu and Suse are the overal leading distributions atm who are making the biggest Advances. Still there are exceptions offcourse.
For example, if you are into networking there will be no better thing than Backtrack 3. It was developed out of Debian that went Knoppix that later turned into whoppix and finally Backtrack 3 if I remember correctly.

I would have to say the Ubuntu team is making the greatest contribution to the Linux world. Not because they are bringing advances in code etc, but they have really pushed Linux into the public domain. In the last 3 years, I would say that 90+% of new linux users are using Ubuntu. Why? Because the Ubuntu team has pushed forward and made Linux into a simple, easy to use package for the average person. Making it simple enough to use, but not making it dumbed down that the advanced user feels restricted.

This isn't to say all the other distro's arn't doing so, but Ubuntu is at the forefront, pushing Linux into the public domain like no other. Hell, they got Dell to prepackage Linux. That's a historic event!

Totally forgot to post this... Been playing with the Ubuntu 8.04 Alpha6 release. Looking goooooood!

Sounds nice! I'll check it out soon.