Mark Shuttleworth announced Ubuntu 9.10, officially codenamed Karmic Koala, today at The Fridge. He also outlined the major focus during its development which will be detailed during the the Ubuntu Developer Summit that will take place in Barcelona this May 25-29.

For the server, Ubuntu hopes to expand the use of free software with cloud computing, namely Amazon’s EC2. The idea is to deploy applications into the cloud easily with the help of “ready-to-run appliances”. Combined with continuing to build on the Eucalyptus project, which would enable one build to a cloud for their own network, Koala is definitely aiming high.

On the desktop side, look, feel and boot speed continue to be the underlying themes. They are considering a change to the graphical boot sequence from the current Usplash with something like Red Hat’s Plymouth. A redesign of the desktop to a new, non-brown look is also being considered.

For further details and the full announcement, click here.

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