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Ubuntu 10.10 almost ready for you

Oct 07, 2010  By Susan Linton
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Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat 10.10 Release Candidate

Canonical announced the availability of the only release candidate and the last developmental release before the Meerkat goes gold. Ubuntu 10.10 is due for release on October 10. Design has been the watchword around Canonical this cycle, resulting in lots of cosmetic changes. Will they be celebrated or spurned?

Most folks will probably notice the new theme first. The new wallpaper update came after negative reactions to the one shipped in the last beta. This updated version has been well-received. It's a precursor to dynamically morphing wallpaper planned for a release or two down the road. The default theme has received some attention since last release and comes in light and dark versions. The installer has gotten some user-friendly graphical updates, shortened installation time, and a new slideshow as well.

The Ubuntu Software Center has gotten lots of updates and changes since 10.04.  It is much prettier now with attractive backgrounds, and it has also added things like application menu location, more user-friendly application descriptions, plugin support for things like OneConf integration, application microblogging support, a history tab, and a paid software category and button. Support for direct handling of Debian package format (.deb) has also been recently added. Additionally, a new Extras repository has been added to house brand new applications not included in the current release as well as "What's New" and "Featured" categories.

Canonical has been working on a few fonts for their operating systems for the past few months, and they have received lots of positive feedback.  the new Ubuntu font is being advertised as a Libre font and released under a temporary Ubuntu Font Licence. It's an attractive font and easy on the eyes, with several distinguishing characteristics. The new Ubuntu font will be set as default, and the new default size has been increased to 11.

The volume slider has been replaced by a full featured Sound Menu. It will adjust your sound volume, and it will feature application controls as well. For example, when Rhythmbox is opened, it will now appear in the Sound Menu as well as a rewind, fast forward, and play buttons along with music track information and, of course, the volume slider. This feature has been quite popular with bloggers.

Application and system decisions are final at this point. For example, Shotwell is the new image manager replacing F-Spot while Firefox, Rhythmbox, Evolution, and OpenOffice.org have survived. Btfs has been scrapped leaving Ext4 as the default filesystem, Upstart has seen some tweaks, and i686 is the lowest CPU denominator.

______________________

Susan Linton is a Linux writer and the owner of tuxmachines.org.

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10.10

PeterK's picture
Submitted by PeterK (not verified) on Mon, 12/13/2010 - 07:53.

I had to post my experience ans I've been really disgusted by some of the above posts. Seems like these NOOBS scour pages just to post their hate and discontent. Shame.

I've been using Linux since RH 3, prior to that sco open server, as linux wasn't stable enough to run on anything.

I've been a ubuntu user since version 6.

I recently purchased a user ubn t61 from ebay, added 4 gb ram and a 500 gb 7200rpm drive.
I loaded 10.10 64 bit and just help on...Wow is all I can say.

This os rocks. I also run vmware workstation, as I develop servers for my production environment, and I run xp 64on it to get my Windowz work done. XP 64 run equally as fast.

Upgrade to 10.10, and dont worry about it. Just read the HCL to make sure your pc can handle it.

Cheers!

Peter

bugs

Poltiser's picture
Submitted by Poltiser (not verified) on Tue, 10/26/2010 - 23:56.

10.10 full of bugs, rough, 10.04 LST is more stable. My hardware - first time in 5 years even my HP 3670 scanner works...
ha!
If you want to install what you want, choose mini CD. It does the job better than official release. Dual boot with W7 - no problem and with burg on board it even looks nice!
I wonder what they keep for next release?

the latest version of the

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 10/19/2010 - 01:18.

the latest version of the horrid suckfest.

10.10 may have some nice stuff ..but if you use one of the spins

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 10/13/2010 - 02:32.

..stick with the 10.04 LTS and find a PPA with the latest and greatest. If you are doing graphics, video and audio and don't care about latency then 10.10 will work wonders. There is rumblings about making the next LTS 11.04 with a lowlatency kernel ..I sure wish I knew that they weren't going to put it in 10.10 I sure would have saved alot of time in downloads, upgrades and configuration...

sexy...

jonny rocket's picture
Submitted by jonny rocket (not verified) on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 12:14.

10.10 is sexy. super nice font and appearance.

Ubuntu 10.10 sucks because it

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/11/2010 - 03:03.

Ubuntu 10.10 sucks because it has binary blobs in it.

Unity

kaddy's picture
Submitted by kaddy (not verified) on Sat, 10/09/2010 - 21:42.

Unity is Garbage..... if Canonical had any sense at all... they would hold back on Unity until it is ready. Here is my Overview/Review of Unity....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upVWR0SEB-8&feature=sub

will work fine, such as

martyrsoul_'s picture
Submitted by martyrsoul_ on Fri, 10/08/2010 - 14:51.

Later however, when I think our job easier, such as comfortable and hassle-free we will

More than just cosmetic

Paul Joseph's picture
Submitted by Paul Joseph (not verified) on Fri, 10/08/2010 - 07:29.

Dear Long-time Linux user

I'm sure you may have your favorite Distro and as you have admitted that you 'don't currently run Ubuntu', even then you must realize that this version has more than just cosmetic improvements. To cite just one example: My 'assembled PC' with integrated Intel audio requires special Windows installation to run the headphones Jack in the front of the CPU (the back headphones works with both Windows & Ubuntu). Ubuntu 10.10.10 Beta LiveCD showed me that the front headphones work just fine with 10.10.10 Beta. This is a huge convenience for me and I do not call this improvement in functionality 'cosmetic'.

Please try it with an open mind and don't dismiss this without even trying. Hope you enjoy this great OS!

Best regards,
Paul

I believe...

Justin Ryan's picture
Submitted by Justin Ryan on Fri, 10/08/2010 - 14:55.

...you meant to "dear" somebody else.

---------------
[W]hen I read this I found it hard to believe that the most significant changes in six months of work are cosmetic. A quick Google search yielded this:

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2010-September/000138....

That sounds like more than cosmetic changes to me.
(Emphasis mine.)
---------------

That sounds an awful lot like a) making the point that the changes are more than cosmetic, and b) actually having researched the work that's been done. Perhaps you meant to comment on the article's position instead?

Justin Ryan is a Contributing Editor for Linux Journal.

I don't currently run Ubuntu

Long-time Linux user's picture
Submitted by Long-time Linux user (not verified) on Thu, 10/07/2010 - 16:27.

I don't currently run Ubuntu (though I have in the past) but when I read this I found it hard to believe that the most significant changes in six months of work are cosmetic. A quick Google search yielded this:

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2010-September/000138....

That sounds like more than cosmetic changes to me.

Please don't treat your readers like idiots, I expect better from your publication.

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