It's not in a documented release state yet, but here is an Ubuntu 7.10
Gutsy desktop AMI with NoMachine NX Free Server installed, ready for
folks to fool around with.

  ami-b86a8fd1
  alestic/ubuntu-7.10-gutsy-desktop-20080406.manifest.xml

ssh to the instance and create a system+NX user (choose your own
USERNAME and remember the password you enter):

  /usr/NX/bin/nxserver --system --useradd USERNAME

On your local computer, install and run an NX Client from
  http://www.nomachine.com/download-client-linux.php

For the Ubuntu client, I used this:

  curl -O http://64.34.161.181/download/3.1.0/Linux/nxclient_3.1.0-6_i386.deb
  sudo dpkg -i /tmp/nxclient_3.1.0-6_i386.deb

  /usr/NX/bin/nxclient --wizard

Point it to the external hostname of your instance and use the
username/password from above.  Choose the Gnome desktop.

The desktop AMI is *much* larger than the Ubuntu base install AMIs and
takes longer to instantiate.  I would only recommend using it if you
absolutely need to have some desktop features.

Expect the above testing AMI to be replaced by a newer version.  Do
not depend on its existence.

Note: If you are reading this in an archive any time after April 2008,
please look for a more up to date version of the AMI and documentation
here:

  http://ec2gutsy-desktop.notlong.com

--
Eric Hammond
http://www.anvilon.com

Wow, you're right about the performance of NX.  It's much better than any
VNC connection I've been able to get.  I'm using the NX client for MacOS
which requires X11 to be running and it's still so responsive you really
forget that you are talking to a remote machine.  The kind of neat (or kind
of sad, depending on how you look at it 8^) ) thing is that because the EC2
instance's connection is so much better than my home cable modem and because
the NX protocol is so efficient, I actually have a better web browsing
experience on the NX desktop than I do on my Mac.  Weird.

Anyway, thanks a lot for this, Eric.  The setup instructions worked
flawlessly.

Mitch