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I'm ready to migrate to Ubuntu but when I went to the download section I read "The latest version of the Ubuntu operating system for desktop PCs and laptops, Ubuntu 15.04 comes with nine months of security and maintenance updates" What that means? Is this a trial version? why only 9 months?

Like I said in the beginning of my post I'm ready to migrate, but not if it's only for 9 months.

I apologise in advance if this is a stupid question or it's obvious for you, but I don't know anything about ubuntu, so I'd be glad if somebody could clarify that for me.

alexdhil
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  • What version do you actually have ? Update to 14.04, it is the Long Term Supported version it will receive security and maintenance updates until April 2019. – hg8 Aug 06 '15 at 14:26
  • He wanted to install 15.04. 14.04 is a good option but some software may not be the latest, since it focuses on stability and support rather than bleeding-edge. – roadmr Aug 06 '15 at 14:27
  • This version comes with updates for nine months, after which you are supposed to upgrade to a newer version, which comes out every six months. Your version will not stop functioning though (like with a "trial version" of some software). Every two years, an LTS (long term support) version comes out, which will be supported for much longer. The most recent LTS version is 14.04, as @hg8 points out. – Jos Aug 06 '15 at 14:28
  • Better go for Long Term Support (LTS) version of ubuntu as said in first comment you can use 14.04 you don't need to worry till 2019 – Prashant Chikhalkar Aug 06 '15 at 14:29
  • @roadmr Well alexdhil said he just read that 15.04 was the latest version. I am not sure he wants 15.04 ? – hg8 Aug 06 '15 at 14:29
  • It depends on what he wants. I would hate to see him install 14.04 and then complain that he can't find the latest software :) 15.04 is a perfectly fine release and as I mention in my answer, upgrading once 15.10 comes out is really easy so for a desktop user who wants to stay current, 15.04 (or any current stable release) is still a good bet. – roadmr Aug 06 '15 at 14:32
  • @roadmr You are right indeed, Ubuntu 15.04 comes with a load of useful changes and updating is pretty simple after all. – hg8 Aug 06 '15 at 14:36
  • Go for LTS every time!! – Arronical Aug 06 '15 at 15:01
  • Install 15.04, and then in December and in June, run 'sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get do-release-upgrade' to update it – Daniel Aug 06 '15 at 15:19

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It's not a trial version. The reason why it's only supported for 9 months is this: A new Ubuntu release comes every 6 months anyway. So after a new release comes out, people who want the latest release of Ubuntu should have upgraded anyway, so old versions are only supported for 3 additional months.

Please don't be afraid to use the newest Ubuntu release: when a new one comes out in October (which will be 15.10), you can upgrade your 15.04 installation very easily and keep synchronized with the latest Ubuntu release.

If you don't want to update every 6-9 months, then as hg8 mentioned, your best option is to use the LTS (Long-Term Support) releases. These are released every 2 years (the last was 14.04, the next one will be 16.04) and are supported and receive security updates for 5 years.

Read more here (under Management of Relases).

roadmr
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  • Thanks roadmr, so what I understand from that is that no matter which version I choose after the 9 month or 2 years I could upgrade to the next version and Ubuntu will continue to be free. When I saw dates I thought about trial, because I come from the windows world I'm not used to that much technical info :) Thank you so much for your answer – alexdhil Aug 07 '15 at 15:22
  • Yes: "Ubuntu is free. Always has been and always will be. From the operating system to security updates, storage to software.". http://www.ubuntu.com/about/ – roadmr Aug 07 '15 at 16:28
  • Like I said before I come from a windows world so it's a different mind set, thanks for all your answers :) It's great to have free options I don't really like the way that windows is taking, so I guess I'll be joining this great community from now on :) – alexdhil Aug 08 '15 at 22:36