ARM and Canonical to bring Ubunto

ARM and Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, have announced that they will bring the full Ubuntu Desktop operating system to the ARMv7 processor architecture to address demand from device manufacturers. They say that the addition of this new operating system will enable new netbooks and hybrid computers, targeting energy-efficient ARM technology-based SoCs, to deliver a rich, always-connected, mobile computing experience, without compromising battery life.

The combination of a commercially supported, optimized Ubuntu distribution for ARM, together with Canonical's ability to tailor solutions to specific ARM technology-based devices and OEM requirements, ensures that highly-optimized systems can be rapidly deployed into the fast growing mobile computing market. ARM's wide partnership with leading semiconductor and device manufacturers strengthens the mobile computing software ecosystem and extends the market reach for Ubuntu-based products.

This version of the Ubuntu Desktop operating system will target the ARMv7 architecture including ARM Cortex-A8 and Cortex-A9 processor-based systems. Canonical's support of a full ARM distribution will strengthen the ARM Linux ecosystem and widen the opportunity to leverage ARM technology into fast-growing markets. This partnership further highlights both ARM and Canonical's support for open source initiatives and leverages contributions from key open source communities including Linux kernel, Debian, GNOME, and Mozilla communities. The Ubuntu ARM distribution for desktops and netbooks will be officially available from April 2009.