Many new users of Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 LTS are finding that the Live CD boots to a "black screen of death", as it's been dubbed.  

If they happen to have the right ATI or NVIDEA video hardware, they could see nothing but a black screen after the OS boots.   And the fix is NOT easy.   ( See my experience logged here, http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=9317844&postcount=88 )

But what the heck happened!? Did Canonical fail bigtime due to a forced 6-month release schedule rushing the product out the door?

Perhaps the thinking was/is that fixes can always be done afterward...  and continuously... HOWEVER, if the darn OS won't BOOT... from the LiveCD... You've got SERIOUS problems on your hands.

How can anyone recommend to their friends an OS which won't even boot (black screen of death) from the LiveCD...???

I think Canonical is going to have no choice but to do an interim update of their LiveCD ISO image asap... BEFORE the next release in October. We cannot have a LiveCD that won't boot... for 6 months... No way. Not acceptable. What happened to the quality control testing? This is an enormous fail. If they don't test ANYTHING else... They need to test that the darn LiveCD boots correctly on every known PC / video combination they can possibly come up with.

Everything else can be fixed with updates... But BOOTING is a total deal-breaker. Nothing works if you can't boot it, and install it, and then boot the installation.

I'm running a business where I am recommending Ubuntu to everyone. This is embarrassing, to say the least. I'm just going to have to tell people that they're going to have to have US install it for them. This process is nothing that any ordinary user should EVER be forced to even hear about... much less, attempt on their own.

Not to mention the fact that Canonical labeled this release an LTS release... meaning "Long Term Support". That means that it's supposed to be around for a very long time. But there's no way it can be... not in its current form.

I hope Canonical's quality control team has learned a valuable lesson from all of this.

And we, the users, might want to learn from this too. I've always said, the safest place to be is.... six months BEHIND...