Showing posts with label Wily Werewolf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wily Werewolf. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf Beta 1 Flavors Released
The first beta for the Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf flavors (Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu GNOME, Ubuntu MATE, Lubuntu and Ubuntu Kylin) was released today. Let's take a quick look at what's new!
Kubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf Beta 1
Kubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf Beta 1 ships with Plasma 5.4 beta (5.3.95) and KDE Applications 15.08 beta (but the final 15.08 version is already available in the Proposed repository) which includes changes such as:
- a new Audio Volume applet that works directly with PulseAudio;
- a new fullscreen Application Dashboard alternative launcher;
- over 1400 new icons;
- KRunner now remembers your previous searches;
- the Networks applet is now able to display network traffic graphs;
- much improved high DPI support;
- smaller memory footprint;
- a new, much faster desktop search backend;
- new additions to the KDE Frameworks 5-based applications list, including Dolphin, the Kontact Suite, Ark, Picmi and more.
More information and download links
Xubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf Beta 1
Changes in Xubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf beta 1:
- LibreOffice Calc and Writer have replaced Gnumeric and Abiword;
- a new theme for LibreOffice, libreoffice-style-elementary, is now installed by default;
- updated packages:
- xfdesktop4 4.12.2 (changes since 4.12.0, available in Vivid):
- reinitialize background when reloading desktop;
- monitor the wallpaper file for changes;
- add a xfconf settings to center the text on xfdesktop icons;
- allow dragging desktop launchers to the panel;
- preserve order when moving multiple icons;
- Thunar 1.6.10 (changes since 1.6.6, available in Vivid):
- new tabs and windows inherit the history of the origin view;
- history is preserved across view changes;
- remember the last used application when opening files;
- Catfish 1.3.0:
- the toolbar has been replaced with a Gtk HeaderBar;
- the sidebar has been cleaned up and now clearly indicates selected options;
- the file type and modification date dialogs were replaced with Popover widgets;
- Gmusicbrowser 1.1.14:
- added support for Gstreamer 1.x;
- added an Equalizer Preset widget to change presets;
- WhiskerMenu 1.5.0:
- added a profile picture and command which allows editing it via Mugshot;
- added option to set background opacity;
- customizable limit for recently used;
- many other Xfce components were updated with mostly bug fixes - this includes Xfce Power Manager, Xfce Weather Plugin, Xfburn and more.
You'll find a screenshots with some of these changes below:
Also, Xfce Panel Switch, a layout manager for the Xfce Panel, is now available in the official repositories but it's not installed by default in Xubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf beta 1.
More information | download
Ubuntu MATE 15.10 Wily Werewolf Beta 1
Ubuntu MATE 15.10 Wily Werewolf ships with a combination of MATE 1.8 and 1.10 and it includes the following changes:
- MATE 1.10 changes:
- Caja now has an extension manager so plugins can be enabled/disabled at run-time;
improved multi-monitor support;
libmatemixer, an audio mixer library for MATE desktop, has been introduced with MATE 1.10;
CSD and pop-over support; - Mate Welcome was updated with various UI improvements, software categories and new applications on the Software page such as AppGrid, Chromium, Disks, Hardinfo, SpiderOakONE, Ubuntu Software Center (which as you probably know, is no longer installed by default in Ubuntu
- MATE 15.10) and VeraCrypt;
- MATE Tweak has gained support for two new panel layouts: Fedora and Mageia;
- Deja Dup is now integrated with Caja.
There are some MATE packages which are still at version 1.8, like Atril, MATE Panel, MATE Control Center, MATE Power Manager, Engrampa, MATE Applets, MATE Faenza Icon Theme, MATE Sensors Applet and MATE User Share.
More information and download links
Ubuntu GNOME 15.10 Wily Werewolf Beta 1
Ubuntu GNOME 15.10 Wily Werewolf ships with GNOME 3.16 for the most part and it includes the following changes:
- GNOME 3.16 includes some important changes, like:
- a new notification system which has replaced the old Message Tray. The notification history can now be accessed from the date/time menu (Top Bar);
- legacy "tray" icons are now displayed in a "drawer" that used autohide at the bottom left corner of the screen;
- the Activities Overview, login/lock screen, system menus and others have received an updated design (including monochrome icons for the applications menu);
- improved scrollbars, which are now only displayed when needed;
- Redesigned GNOME Image Viewer, which now uses header bars;
- many other changes - you can read all about it (including a video) HERE;
- GNOME Getting Started Guide is now included by default and runs on first login;
- Shotwell has been replaced with GNOME Photos;
- GNOME Music is now installed by default (Rhythmbox continues to be installed by default as well).
Here are a few screenshots with some of these changes:
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| GNOME Photos |
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| New GTK 3.6 scrollbars |
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| GNOME Image Viewer |
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| Notification history / events and calendar |
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| GNOME Music |
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| Legacy tray icons |
While GTK and GNOME Shell was updated to version 3.16 (3.16.3 for GNOME Shell and 3.16.6 for GTK) and so were many GNOME apps, older versions are still used for some applications, like Files (still at version 3.14.2) and Gedit (the ancient 3.10.4 version is still used)
More information and download links
Lubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf Beta 1
Like the previous version, Lubuntu 15.10 Beta 1 ships with only bug fixes, as LXQt is still in development and not used by default yet.
More information | download
Ubuntu Kylin 15.10 Wily Werewolf Beta 1
Since alpha 2, Ubuntu Kylin (Ubuntu variant for Chinese users) 15.10 Wily Werewolf has only received various bug fixes.
All the Ubuntu 15.10 beta 1 flavors include Xorg server 1.17.2, Mesa 10.6.3 and the 4.1.0-3.3 Ubuntu Linux Kernel, based on the upstream 4.1.3 Linux kernel.
Up next in the Wily Werewolf release schedule: Final Beta (September 24th), in which the main Ubuntu flavor (w/ Unity) should also take part.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf Final Beta Available For Download
Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf final beta (beta 2 for the flavors) was released last night, bringing updated applications (including most GNOME 3.16.x apps), GNOME's overlay scrollbars by default for GTK3 applications and of course, numerous bug fixes.
Changes in Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf final beta
There are very few visual changes in this release, at least as far as Unity is concerned. While even Ubuntu 14.04, which is a LTS, got some major Unity changes, such as LIM, a new lockscreen, minimize on click and much more, there's not much to say about Unity in Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf final beta.
There are of course quite a few bug fixes, the replacement of Unity's overlay scrollbars with the new GNOME overlay scrollbars for GTK3 applications, along with few minor changes that are worth mentioning but that's about it.
Unity's overlay scrollbars were announced back in March 2011 and were used by default starting with Ubuntu 11.04, being designed to maximize screen real estate.
GNOME's overlay scrollbars share this goal and thus, Unity's overlay scrollbars became redundant and were replaced, "to minimize the maintenance effort", said Will Cooke, Ubuntu Desktop Manager.
The new GNOME overlay scrollbars are only displayed when they are needed: there's no scrollbar by default but a small scrollbar is displayed when the pointer is moved and a larger scrollbar is displayed when the user wants to interact with it:
GNOME's overlay scrollbars are only used for GTK3 applications. Unity's overlay scrollbars continue to be used in Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf final beta for GTK2 applications (and Dash continues to use this scrollbar style).
A side effect of not using Unity's GTK3 overlay scrollbars any more is a fix for an old bug that was causing some parts of GTK3 applications (mostly CSD apps) to be transparent.
And speaking of client-side decorations, applications using this look better in Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf (they now have a shadow, etc.), but there's still an annoying visual bug: the upper window corners are not rounded and instead, there are a few black pixels:
Other Unity changes include:
- new dconf setting to control the delay to show the menu when pressing the Alt key;
- dragging an app from Dash to the Desktop should now work properly;
- added option to enable and disable Unity low graphics mode on the fly in CCSM or via gsettings;
- fixed issues with "Always on Top" windows and Dash / HUD.
A complete Unity changelog can be found HERE.
Applications / packages
Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf final beta has transitioned to GCC 5 and it ships with GNOME 3.16 for the most part - this includes GTK+ as well as applications like Totem (3.16.4), GNOME System Monitor (3.16.0), Disks (3.16.2), Image Viewer (3.16.3), Evince (3.16.1), Terminal (3.16.2) and so on, while a few important apps are still at behind and this includes Nautilus (3.14.2) and Gedit (3.10.4).
From the GNOME 3.16 apps, the most notable UI changes are for GNOME's Image Viewer (Eye of GNOME), which now uses client-side decorations but under Unity, it was patched to use a traditional titlebar.
Unfortunately, it looks like someone forgot to also patch the app to use a traditional menu and because Eye of Gnome's GMenu doesn't show up, you can't access the app's preferences. Furthermore, there are some theming issues with the next/previous and rotate buttons as you can see in the screenshot below:
Nautilus also received some significant changes in GNOME 3.16, but like I said, Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf continues to use Nautilus 3.14.
Other default applications shipped with Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf final beta include: Firefox 41.0, Thunderbird 38.2.0, LibreOffice 5.0.1, Rhythmbox 3.2.1, Transmission 2.84, Deja Dup 34, Shotwell 0.22.0, Brasero 3.12.1 and Empathy 3.12.10, on top of Unity 7.3.2 (+dailybuild) and GTK+ 3.16.7.
I should mention that Brasero 3.12.1 and Empathy 3.12.10 are the latest version for both of these apps.
Under the hood, Wily final beta ships with Mesa 11.0.0, Xorg server 1.17.2 and the Ubuntu Linux Kernel 4.2.0-11, based on the upstream 4.2.1 Linux Kernel.
Download Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf final beta
Before downloading it, remember that Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf is in beta, so you may encounter issues!
Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf beta 2 flavors downloads/release notes:
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Ubuntu 15.10 To Ship With Gnome's Overlay Scrollbars By Default
Note: this change initially landed in Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf in July (when I was on holiday), with some theming tweaks following up until recently, and it seems nobody mentioned this, so I decided to write an article about it now.
With Ubuntu 15.10 (currently in development, to be released on October 22), Unity will stop using its original overlay scrollbars for GTK3 apps and switch to Gnome's scrollbars instead.
This change affects GTK3 applications only and currently, the original Unity overlay scrollbars are still used for GTK2 applications (there's no info if this will change until the final release).
This change affects GTK3 applications only and currently, the original Unity overlay scrollbars are still used for GTK2 applications (there's no info if this will change until the final release).
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| Gnome overlay scrollbars under Unity (Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf) |
Unity's overlay scrollbars were announced back in March 2011 and were used by default starting with Ubuntu 11.04, being designed to maximize screen real estate.
In case you're not familiar with Unity's overlay scrollbars, these are the scrollbars you see in GTK apps (they aren't used in Firefox and LibreOffice, among others) under Unity (and not only) when you move your mouse over to the right side of the app:
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| Unity overlay scrollbars |
Gnome's overlay scrollbars have the same goal - maximize screen real estate and remove the useless chrome -, and are displayed only when they are needed: a small scrollbar is displayed when the pointer is moved and a larger scrollbar is displayed when the user wants to interact with it:
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| Gnome (GTK 3.16) overlay scrollbars |
Will Cooke, Ubuntu Desktop Manager says that "upstream Gnome now have some nicely designed ones [overlay scrollbars] of their own, and so to minimize the maintenance effort of the Unity ones we've decided to adopt the Gnome ones for 15.10 onwards". He adds that there are some bugs that need fixing, such as Dash needing an update to look like the Gnome overlay scrollbars and that it's all work in progress.
Besides minimizing the maintenance effort and better usability, a nasty bug should no longer occur thanks to this change: you shouldn't see a black / transparent background under Unity for some GNOME 3 apps, like Handbrake (screenshot), any more because this issue was caused by Unity's overlay scrollbars.
Besides minimizing the maintenance effort and better usability, a nasty bug should no longer occur thanks to this change: you shouldn't see a black / transparent background under Unity for some GNOME 3 apps, like Handbrake (screenshot), any more because this issue was caused by Unity's overlay scrollbars.
Below you can watch a video posted by Will Cooke today, showing Gnome's Overlay scrollbars in Unity (under Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf):
(direct video link)
Xubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf To Get A New Panel Layout Switcher
According to a Launchpad bug report, a new application, called Xfce Panel Switch, should be included by default with Xubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf. The package is currently in the Wily new queue.
Xfce Panel Switch is a layout manager for the Xfce panel which allows users to easily backup, restore, import and export the Xfce panel configuration:
The bug report mentions that the app should also allow switching between one of the included default panel layouts (Xfce, Classic Xubuntu and Xubuntu Trusty) however, there are no predefined panel layouts included yet with the package I tested.
In Xubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf, Xfce Panel Switch should also be accompanied by an Xfce Panel patch that allows launching this app from the Panel preferences:
"The initial testing with our QA team has completed and we have decided to include this for 15.10 if possible. As a new application, Debian Xfce is not yet interested in including this package", mentions the bug report.
Currently, the app is available for testing in the Xfce Panel Switch PPA (without the patched Xfce Panel) for Ubuntu 15.10 and in the Xubuntu Staging PPA (with the patched Xfce Panel) for Xubuntu 15.10 and 15.04.
More info @ Launchpad: bug report | Xfce Panel Switch
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