Ubuntu 10.04, aka Lucid Lynx, is the result of years of continuous work from the open source community and Ubuntu corporate sponsor Canonical. A new version of Ubuntu is released every 6 months, but version 10.04 is a special “long term support” (LTS) release which will be supported for an extended period on both desktops and servers. Lucid Lynx also brings us an incredible amount of changes in both the look and functionality of Ubuntu. Here is a list of the most noticeable changes and new features that you’ll find in desktop edition of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.
Brave New User Interface Design
With version 10.04, the Ubuntu design team has abandoned the traditional brown and orange of past releases and started using a new color pallet based on purple, red and orange. Canonical also introduced new logos and design ideas for future websites and marketing materials. The design team seems to have taken Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth seriously when he said that “Pretty” should be a feature of the Linux desktop. While many of these changes have been controversial, Lucid Lynx represents a revolutionary leap forward in the “look and feel” of Ubuntu.
New Themes
Ubuntu 10.04 brings us two new themes – Ambiance and Radiance. Gone is the old Humanity theme that we’ve all come to know and associate with Ubuntu. The default Ambiance theme is a dark theme which may be quite a change for some users, but after using it for a few weeks, we think it’s a great default theme for Ubuntu. Radiance is almost identical but is a very light theme focused on shades light brown.
Window Controls Moved to the Left
Probably the most controversial change in Lucid revolves around the placement of the window controls on the left side of the window. Despite all the controversy, Mark Shuttleworth decided that the buttons would be moved to the left and be in the same order as the window controls found in Mac OS X. This change may be slightly uncomfortable for some who are accustomed to Windows, but we think it won’t be a huge stumbling block for most.
New Icons
Along with the new themes have come new icons. The old orange icons have been updated with redder tones, brown has been replaced with purple. In general, we think this is a nice improvement.
New Startup and Login Screens
Gone is the black startup screen with a white Ubuntu logo. The new startup screen features the new Ubuntu logo and a purple and red color scheme.
Thankfully, the login screen has also been updated. The new login screen features a much lighter color pallet and new Ubuntu logo.
New Desktop Backgrounds
The default desktop background (wallpaper) has been updated and it’s … purple! We thought that the default desktop background for 9.10 was about as ugly as they come, and we’re happy to see it replaced. The new desktop background is nice, but if purple is not your thing, Ubuntu has included a great selection of community contributed backgrounds to choose from.
Notification area icons and menus
All of the icons in the top-right of the default Ubuntu desktop have been updated and are now monochrome (similar to OS X). The way most of the menus work has also been changed in an attempt to make the functionality more uniform across applications.
Installer Updates
The new installer CD no longer displays a text-based screen at startup. Instead, it boots into a full graphical environment before asking if you want to “try” or “install” Ubuntu. The installer wizard is pretty much the same, only with small visible changes. Once the installation process has started, however, you’ll be treated to a fabulous new slide show, a tour of sorts, that tells you about all the features of Ubuntu.
Improved Startup Speed
With version 10.04, Ubuntu has moved to a new startup process called Plymouth. This new system, earlier used in other Linux distributions, makes Ubuntu boot much faster. It is also responsible for displaying the pretty new graphical startup screen. Many people are reporting amazingly fast boot times, your results may vary.
New Default Applications
Simple Scan
Canonical developers have written a brand new scanning application in an attempt to make scanning, well, simple! If your scanner works with Ubuntu (still a big question), scanning documents is now extremely simple. Simple Scan has only the most necessary and most used features, but if you need more features, you can always install XSane.
PiTiVi Movie Editor
Ubuntu 10.04 now includes PiTiVi, a simple movie editor, by default. Normally, this would be a sign that an application has reached a good level of stability, but in the case of PiTiVi, it’s far from the truth. While we can foresee a great future for PiTiVi, we have found it to be incredibly buggy and probably not worthy of inclusion in an LTS release. However, if you’re willing to put up with a lot of crashes and bugs, you can make some simple movies with PiTiVi.
Social From the Start
One of the major themes for Lucid is the inclusion of tools for interaction with social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. The idea is to include tools which are integrated into the default desktop install that will let people connect to their favorite social services right out-of-the-box. There are many changes in Lucid which will help you interact with your social networks, here are three that we found especially useful.
Gwibber
Gwibber is a microblogging client with support for Twitter, Identi.ca, StatusNet, Facebook, Flickr, Digg, FriendFeed, and Qaiku. You can use gwibber to interact with all of your social networks and view them from within one window on your desktop. We found gwibber very useful for following multiple social networks and accounts simultaneously. Gwibber provides a rich experience and you might even noticed things that you missed when relying on the social networking websites alone.
Gwibber also provides a programming interface that allows other Ubuntu applications to easily add social networking features. This makes it easier for application developers to build apps that interact with sites like Twitter. It also provides a unified account management system across multiple applications. One application that already takes advantage of these new features is the “Me Menu.”
Me Menu
Brand new in Ubuntu 10.04 is the Me Menu. This new menu is your one-stop place for quick interaction with your social networks and chat accounts. You can quickly update your Twitter or Facebook status right from the Me Menu. This eliminates the need to launch Firefox and load Facebook or Twitter if you just want to send off a quick status update. Chat status settings have also been moved into the Me Menu. Finally, the Me Menu provides quick access to settings for your social networks, chat accounts and Ubuntu One.
We’re excited to see the inclusion of the Me Menu in Ubuntu, and look forward to seeing it continue to develop in future releases.
Facebook Chat
Empathy, the default chat client for Ubuntu, has been updated with multiple new features. The most interesting new feature is the ability to use Facebook chat. In the past, chatting with Facebook users required keeping Facebook open in Firefox. This can prove very resource intensive and also requires keeping an eye on Firefox in order not to miss any incoming messages.
Now that you can add your Facebook account to Empathy (along with chat accounts like IRC, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo! and MSN), all of your chatting activity can take place in one application. Empathy also provides great desktop integration, providing visual and audio feedback when new messages arrive. We find that this integration greatly improves our ability to get work done while still staying in touch with our Facebook and other chat friends.
iPhone and iPod Touch Support
Lucid also comes with limited support for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This functionality has been missing from Linux all together until just recently (due to Apple’s incredible restrictions and secrecy about their devices). You can browse the contents of your iPhone right within the Nautilus file manager. Even better, Rhythmbox allows you to drag and drop music to and from your iPhone or iPod Touch. Now, the only time you would need iTunes is to do a firmware upgrade. Of course, most older iPods are also supported in Ubuntu as well.
Ubuntu One Updates
Canonical’s “cloud” storage and synchronization service, Ubuntu One, has also received a lot of updates and new features. There is now an Ubuntu One preferences application that allows you to configure many of the Ubuntu One services (some functions still require visiting the Ubuntu One website).
It is now possible to sync any folder in your home folder between computers (not just the Ubuntu One folder). For example, you could share a folder called “Work Documents” between your home and work computers and the folders will always be in sync. Files can also easily be published online and automatically given a short url that you can share with friends.
Firefox bookmark syncing and Evolution contact syncing has also been included with this new release. Taking things even further, if you’re a paying Ubuntu One subscriber, you can now sync your mobile phone contacts with Ubuntu One. This includes support for syncing with iPhones.
Ubuntu One Music Store
Canonical is also rolling out the Ubuntu One Music Store with the release of Lucid Lynx. The music store is integrated into the Rhythmbox music player much like Apple’s iTunes store is integrated into iTunes. The store offers music from major record labels in a DRM-free MP3 format. Music is automatically downloaded to your Ubuntu One folder and synced with your other computers and backed up to the cloud. While this is a convenient option for buying music, it’s yet to be seen if people will choose this option over existing music shops like Amazon. Hopefully, this will provide a nice revenue stream for Canonical and be useful to users as well.
Updated Ubuntu Software Center
The Ubuntu Software Center is the main way for desktop users to find and install new software in Ubuntu. In Lucid, the Ubuntu Software Center has received an incredible amount of attention. Many features have been added, such as easy access to 3rd party PPA repositories, bigger application preview screenshots, the addition of “Featured Applications,” and the devision of applications into sub-categories for easier browsing. The Ubuntu Software Center also features a nice graphical overhaul with many usability and application discoverability improvements.
Nautilus Changes
Along with the release of GNOME 2.30 (the last release before GNOME 3), we’ve seen some changes in the Nautilus file manager. Some features have been removed and the interface has seen many minor enhancements. The most interesting and useful new feature is “split view mode” which allows you to display the contents of two different folders within the same window. This feature is especially helpful when trying to organize or compare two folders at the same time.
What is your favorite new feature?
This article just highlights some of the biggest changes in Ubuntu 10.04, but there are hundreds of other updates, fixes and new features. What updates did we forget to mention? What new features do you like the most … or perhaps dislike the most? Let us know in the comments below!
What about Netbook Remix – what’s that looking like in 10.04?
If you don’t like the controls in the new left side position for Radiance and Ambiance, you can download slightly modified versions of those themes entitled Radiance_R and Ambiance_R. I have modified these thems and posted them on Gnome-Look.org for people who would like to use them.
Here are the links to the themes.
Ambiance_R (Ambiance Right Side)
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Ambiance_R+%28Ambiance+Right+Side%29?content=123927
Radiance_R (Radiance Right Side)
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Radiance_R+%28Radiance+Right+Side%29?content=123931
I hope you find these beneficial and enjoy them.
- Jack Thomas
Use virutalbox to install windows and itunes. When theres a new firmware for your iphone just open virtualbox plug in your ipod and boom.
“iPhone and iPod Touch Support … Now, the only time you would need iTunes is to do a firmware upgrade. Of course, most older iPods are also supported in Ubuntu as well.”
That is, of course, assuming that iPhone users want to do all the the syncing, organizing and regular updating of all their apps manually on the phone itself. But even if that were acceptable, what would you propose I do about those, on average, 3-5 firmware updates per year? Should I keep a dual-boot Windows system and waste that space on my computer for no other reason than being able to perform an update every 2-3 months? Or should I go over and exploit my Mac-owning friends every time I want to update my phone? The truth is that, no matter how you look at it, being an iPhone user precludes the option of being an exclusive Linux user, so long as you want to make optimal use of all the iPhone’s functions. That apparently hasn’t changed with Lucid Lynx and, frankly, this is a huge letdown for me. I would love to finally be able to move over entirely to Ubuntu, but I’m not willing to give up or at least constrain my iPhone experience to do so. And since this is the sole reason I haven’t made the switch yet, I was really hoping for some kind of solution with LL (preferably some script capable of running a Windows or Mac version of iTunes *reliably* on a Linux system). I’m truly disappointed that that has not happened.
Nestor, you may be truly disappointed, but what on earth are Ubuntu supposed to do about it? It’s not their fault that Apple won’t release the necessary programming details about their products – this makes it very difficult for open-source programmers to make applications compatible with iPods etc. Blame Apple for this. In the case of Windows, well iPods etc are compatible with this because Apple chose to support this platform. Unfortunately, Apple is not so interested in supporting Linux. Why? I don’t know, ask them. But don’t blame Ubuntu and other Linux distributions…
Nestor, that’s some good feedback. I’ll add some of my own.
Purple eh? So we’re backt to BeOS 4.5? I’m not looking for an Apple wanna-be. I liked the brown background in Karmic. I hated the Karmic login screen and I loved the Jaunty login screen with its slick 3D ray traced symbol.
window buttons on the left? That has to be most braindead decision Shuttleworth’s ever made. There will be far more Windows converts to please that Mac converts. I will need to get those _R themes so I dont puke.
I would like wise like to see FULL support for my Zune on Ubuntu. (Yes, I want Cannonical to spend the money to reverse engineer the protocol). That’s not an unreasonable request IMO.
I’m a little dissapointed too. I want the new technology (faster booting, more device support, more stable kernel) without all the superficial changes.
Great post lots of good stuff in there. One thing that Ubuntu did not put in was the DVD play back, here is how to do it in 2 easy steps.
http://crackednoodle.com/2010/04/dvd-playback-for-ubuntu-10-04/
Thanks,
Brad
My favorite new feature is those close,maximize minimize on the left.
It really takes me back to the Windows platform where there are fundamental problems that make it completely annoying to use without tweaking every machine you work on.
Dumb move Canonical. Please god help them come to their senses.
Well, I’ve been only playing with the new version for about an hour and I’m liking what I find. The prior version (Karmic) left my machine with all types of problems (like Software Center, Rythmbox, etc. not working at all). This version is working well (so far) and I’m even happy with the odd panel controls on the left. I’ve been an Ubuntu user since 6.04 and this is the nicest release yet!
More iPod support and max, min, close buttons on the left.
If I wanted an Apple machine, I’d buy an Apple machine. So far, no real complaints right now, but reading about that makes me sigh.
Recently updated my net-book, (eeepc 1005HA) and everything seems to work straight away, on 9.04 I had an issue with wireless (fixed with back-ports)
whilst i do understand other peoples issues (i have an iphone and would move over to Ubuntu completely if itunes worked the same as a mac or PC) and having only recently found this OS (despite working in IT for 15+years) I can’t be anything other than grateful for something thats this good and FREE! IMHO its one of the best things since Virtualisation
there are a lot of ‘tyre kickers’ about, but if you just for a moment, STOP and THINK about what your OS options are and what Ubuntu gives you out of the box,/(playing a FLAC file without having to convert it, opening office 2007 files seamlessly are just two of my favorites)
then its an amazing OS
Thank you to everyone involved, its a thumbs up from Me!
I love the idea of the Me Menu. I think it needs to evolve (I’m sure it will).
Also, I love the new Ubuntu one services. I can finally support my OS maker of choice without resorting to buying some silly t-shirt or support I don’t need.
GJ Canonical!
Software center is pretty decent. Seems to be a more user friendly version of Synopsis package manager , But it could have been improved if some rating/ranking of software under categories. I mean if we take DVD burner sws. there can be several of that type.
There is one feature that I really find myself missing in Lucid and longing for from Karmic. Unfortunately, I’m not sure what this feature is called and how to enable it again, if possible. Let’s see if anyone out there can help me out, it would be so appreciated.
Remember in Karmic, you could drag a window to the right and if you dragged it far enough, it would automatically shift the window and your view into the neighboring workspace/desktop? I must be the only person who loved that because when I upgraded from Karmic to Lucid, it was gone in (by default). Now, I need to minimize a window, drag it over, change the workspace I’m looking at, continue to drag the window over. (I know, waa, what work!) But I miss when it was one fluid motion.
Anyone know what I’m talking about and know how to able it again?
I just can’t comprehend how anyone could love that feature ;)
Unfortunately I don’t know how to enable that feature in lucid, try asking ubuntu forums.
I wonder why The appearance and theme is very similar to macintosh?
Using Ubuntu since very recently (9.04). Seen older version screenshots.
i’d say best release of ubuntu to date
One of the things I like is the fact that on the install slide show it has a lot more slides! It would always say “Your installation will finish soon” and it would be still a while before its finished. Now its more timed correctly.
As many have said before: why the buttons on the left? Thank god for Google Chrome…
And again: too bad I still can’t properly use my iPhone on my laptop. As I read the news that Canonical was working on better support I could hardly wait. I think the improvements are great, but I would love to not run Windows anymore just because of Apple’s dickheadness…
Very sleek lay-out as well. Now I look like ultra-geek at the office. I feel like a gamer and I can’t even play games on this machine, imagine. I prefer the dark grey to the light grey though.
Tina D….Right Click desktop, select Change Desktop Background, then select the last tab and use full features.
Only just got Ubuntu and I must say that I’m loving it. I’ve been a windows user since ‘95 and this trumps everything. I’m even liking the left sided buttons. Anyway, I read some where that they had been put there for a reason, as in the next release there will be something on the right hand side, though the article didn’t specify.