Ubuntu has just officially released the latest version of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy Heron) yesterday!

As the new version can be downloaded off from the website for users who want a fresh, new installation, current Ubuntu users may not want to do so. However, it is relatively easy to perform an distribution upgrade using the instruction listed here, but there is also an alternative solution, via the command line upgrade.

However, do note that command line upgrade is not recommended and it may result in apt crashing and manual problem fixing.

(find out more on how to upgrade your version of Ubuntu...)

The procedure is relatively easy; almost using the similar step to that of performing a network upgrade.

1. Have the following packages, i.e. ubuntu-minimal and ubuntu-standard installed.
   

   sudo apt-get install ubuntu-minimal ubuntu-standard

2. Select and install the appropriate desktop package, e.g. ubuntu-desktop or kubuntu-desktop.
   

   sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

3. Edit your /etc/apt/sources.list as root and change every occurrence to hardy. For example,
   

   sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

4. Perform the upgrade.
   

   sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

5. To ensure everything is properly installed, run the following commands.
   

   sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

   sudo apt-get -f install

   sudo dpkg --configure -a

6. Reboot the system for all changes to take effect.

Hope that helps you achieve an alternative upgrade solution to Ubuntu Hardy Heron.