Today we released the highly-anticipated Ubuntu 12.04 LTS release after a busy six month development cycle. The release is available in [Desktop](http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop) (see OMG! Ubuntu!’s [great summary](http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/04/ubuntu-12-04-released/?r44b=no)), [Server](http://www.ubuntu.com/download/server), and [Cloud Infrastructure](http://www.ubuntu.com/download/cloud) form. You can also install the desktop easily from Windows by [clicking here](http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/windows-installer).

I am hugely proud of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS; I believe it is the best and bravest release we have ever shipped, and I am delighted to see Ubuntu’s continued progress in delivering a simple, elegant, and powerful Free Software platform for the Desktop, Server, and Cloud.

Aside from the release, the Ubuntu 12.04 cycle was in my mind an evolutionary cycle for us as a project. The focus on quality was firm and unrelenting; initiatives such as gated trunks, acceptance criteria, automated testing, and a strong focus on growing a testing community and widening our manual tests, all contributed to delivering a solid release. Canonical as a company continued to see a lot of growth, as did our community with initiatives such as the Developer Advisory team, application developer focused outreach, and our continued growth of the Juju charming community. I am not only proud of the 12.04 LTS release, but also of these workflow and growth improvements we also made as a community that are not immediately visible in the release. Thank-you to everyone who helped drive this important work.

Thank-you also to everyone of you who has participated in this release, whether you have worked on packages, provided testing, documentation, translations, support, advocacy, or anything else. Ubuntu really is a community effort, and without our wonderful community of contributors and supporters we would be nothing. Thank-you for all of your hard work and fantastic efforts.

After a busy six months let’s all take a few minutes to take a step back and be proud of what we accomplished. Rock and roll. 🙂