Ultimate Edition: Not so ultimate
Ultimate Edition (UE) 1.8 is a remaster of Ubuntu Hardy Heron with custom software repositories and a distinctive theme. Its claim to fame over pure Ubuntu is convenience, due to preloaded updates and software. While the name might suggest that it is a huge upgrade over its progenitor, in reality its developers have not made many improvements besides application install scripts. Due to a distracting theme, a poorly built user interface, and an incredible lack of the convenience it claims to have, Ultimate Edition falls painfully short of ultimate.
I downloaded the 1.3GB UE DVD image, burned it, and booted up to the live DVD environment. It pleased me to see that the 1440×900 native resolution of my monitor was used correctly, and initially UE’s theme of white on black with some blue seemed to work well. However, a few minutes of use was enough to show me how wrong my first impression of the theme really was.
