Ubuntu 12.04

15 New Photo Wallpapers Chosen for Ubuntu 12.04

 

From a pool of thousands, 15 photographic wallpapers have been chosen for inclusion in Ubuntu12.04

As with previous releases, the submissions were picked through an open contest run on social networking site Flickr.

The default wallpaper for Ubuntu 12.04, which will, once again, be an iterative update to the current ‘purple salad’ wallpaper, is expected to land ahead of Ubuntu 12.04 Beta 2 next week.

Download Ubuntu 12.04 Wallpapers

A .zip file containing the wallpaper set can be downloaded using the button below.

Download Ubuntu 12.04 Wallpapers

Unity 5.8 Lands in Ubuntu 12.04

Unity 5.8 landed in Ubuntu 12.04 this weekend – but what’s new and what’s improved? Let’s take a quick gander… 

The Music Lens has added support for Rhythmbox:

The Dash now tells you when it can’t find a file, app or folder related to a search: -

The HUD now adapts to your Launcher auto-hide and icon-size settings:

 

 

Ubuntu 12.04 CD to Give WUBI The Boot

 

There are many ways to install Ubuntu on a computer, some of which are simpler and easier than others.

WUBI (Windows Ubuntu Installer) is an example of the easy approach. It offers the Ubuntu curious a relatively safe way to install Ubuntu on their PC from withinWindows – negating the need for disk partitioning and adding an easy way to ‘uninstall it’ through Windows ‘Add or Remove’ feature.

Current Behaviour

Currently, when a user inserts an Ubuntu CD or USB image into a computer running Windows, a window pops up with a set of options. Once of these is to proceed with installing the OS under Windows. The following simple-screen is then presented.

But changes to way the way the tool is provided in Ubuntu 12.04 are now being discussed.

Disabling Installation

Canonical’s Rick Spencer, in a mail to the Ubuntu Development mailing list, proposes disabling the ‘install’ feature when an Ubuntu 12.04 USB or CD is inserted into a computer running Windows.

This change, he argues, would be of overall benefit to Ubuntu users and Windows users: -

1. We will be able to do maintenance and enhancements to wubi outside of the Ubuntu development cycle.
2. Significant reduciton of QA work for an already over-streched QA team.
3. Better overall 12.04 quality, and less stress at release time.
4. We won’t get stuck with a poor (or worse) user experience on the CD since is a good chance that wubi will not work properly with Windows 8.

I am proposing these changes to the plan because:

1. The key use case for wubi is being able to download and run the installer on Windows, not installing from the ISO.
2. Wubi is difficult to test, so has been difficult to assure that it will meet the quality standards we have set for 12.04.
3. There are no developers treating wubi as their top priorities. This combined with the QA difficulties has historically caused late breaking changes that add stress at release time and frequentily invalidate already executed ISO testing.
4. Most significantly, Windows is changing it’s boot system with Windows 8, and it’s not clear how wubi will work with Windows 8, if at all.

Ubuntu 12.04 Multi-Monitor Launcher Behaviour Decided

 

 

 

We recently ran a poll in conjunction with the Ubuntu Design Team to seek out your preferred option for the default Unity launcher behaviour for multi-monitor usage in Ubuntu 12.04.

Almost 13,000 of you voted in that poll, and, based on those results, a decision on the default behaviour has been decided by the Ubuntu Design Team.

By default only one launcher on one monitor will be in use in Multi-Monitor set-ups. An option to enable the launcher on every monitor attached will also be available, so if the default set-up isn’t to your tastes you won’t be left crying.

Work on landing the code for the new multi-monitor behaviour is now underway.