They just took stock Ubuntu and pre-installed some other free software and made a custom theme.  You know how the first thing you do in a new OS is start to install all the programs *you* like to use rather than whatever came with it?  That's exactly what this is supposed to be - Ubuntu with a lot of that work done for you.  It's a nice idea, as long as you happen to like the same software as the guy who put this together.

I've never tried it personally.  Here's a review of an earlier version from Linux.com:

http://www.linux.com/feature/137106

This one has a little bit more explanation about the idea behind it, along with a list of other, similar Ubuntu custom releases:

http://www.planetoss.com/detail.php?id=19

Note that this is not an official Conical project, but what they are doing here is mostly legal since all the software is available under the GPL or other similar licenses.  It's a little bit like Red Hat and CentOS.

The big thing that is questionable is the way they are using some of the logos.  Usually a project's logos are protected and you have to meet certain requirements to redistribute work with the logos included.  There can be other questions about combining applications with different licenses and redistributing them, but I can't see anyone pressing the issue in this case.

Rad wrote on Apr 7^th, 2009 at 10:27am:

I'm not sure.  I'm currently using about 3.6 GB for my OS/programs, if that helps.

Rad wrote on Apr 7^th, 2009 at 10:27am:

You can have both installed and choose which you want to use when you log in.  In fact, Gnome and KDE are just the most popular two of the many window managers available for Linux.  KDE is a little more "Windows-like" in my experience, but generally is considered to have more features.  I don't like KDE because it *feels* to me like it takes up too much of the screen.  I'm very subjective about it.  I've excited to try KDE 4 once it gets a little more finished, though.  It looks awesome.  

Some people have very strong opinions about window managers, Linus included.  I say use what you like - that's what Linux is about.

Most other window managers have a particular focus - like being fast and light-weight or some other specific goal.  Here are some links to different one's you probably haven't heard of:

http://www.linux.com/articles/37552
http://www.linux.org/apps/all/GUI/Window_Managers.html
http://xwinman.org/

Several of the more popular one's are in the Ubuntu repository, so they should be easy to install.  Just "sudo apt-get install NewWindowManagerName" and then log out and log into the new one.

Rad wrote on Apr 7^th, 2009 at 10:27am:

That's what I like about Linux.com.  They've never sugar-coated anything.  They have no problem picking something apart and ripping it to shreds.  When they like things, you know it must be good.