Unveiled last September by Mark Shuttleworth, the creator of Canonical Ltd., the next version of the Ubuntu operating system is now available for download in alpha.

Ubuntu 9.04 – called Jaunty Jackalope – Shuttleworth wants to maximize the time to start the system and integrate web softwares. In the end, it could result in a version specially optimized for Netbooks and MID including compatibility for ARM processors.

Four versions of the Alpha are available for download: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Ubuntu Studio.