Ubuntu is one of the most used Linux based desktop operating system and MATE is a premiere desktop environment which is a continuation of GNOME 2. Ubuntu is open source and has quite a few diverse flavors with each having unique desktop environment. Ubuntu MATE is a secure, light weight, elegant, efficient and freely available operating system which is gaining humongous popularity among desktop users.
Ubuntu MATE 15.04 (Vivid) Feature List
Ubuntu MATE 15.04 is available for downloads and this release is based on Ubuntu MATE beta 2 and it is now the official member of Ubuntu family.
- Hardware Partnership with Entroware (UK based Linux hardware manufacturing company founded in 2014) but not limited to Entroware’s products only.
- PowerPC and Raspberry Pi 2 add as supported hardware architectures
- Yuyo a new default theme as been added to Vivid
- Almost all Linux flavors especially all Ubuntu versions had upstart init manager but now it has been switched to systemd
- Totem has been replaced with VLC
- Cheese has been replaced with guvcview
- Client side decoration (CSD) support for all themes
- Fully integrated Comiz support has been added
- Added user interface switching to MATE tweak
- Tilda pull-down terminal has been added
- Ability to change Folder colors
- Updated Linux Kernel 3.19
- Updated MATE desktop 1.8.2
- Updated all preinstalled applications
- Other Mirror improvements and Bug fixes
Installing Ubuntu MATE 15.04 (Vivid)
Download 32-bit Ubuntu MATE 15.04 ISO
Download AMD64 Ubuntu MATE 15.04 ISO
Download PowerPC Ubuntu MATE 15.04 ISO
Download the desired Ubuntu MATE 15.04 bootable image and flash to USB or burn to DVD. System will boot through the bootable media.
Two options will be on offer at first by the installation wizard, either try the operating system without installing or install Ubuntu MATE 15.04. Click “Install Ubuntu MATE” to proceed.
Preparing to install window will check and show the available disk for storage with respect to its requirements. And also checks if the system is connected to internet or not. There are couple of options to install proprietary software and download the updates. If you agree click on the corresponding Check Box otherwise leave it blank and click “Continue” to move forward.
Disk setup will give few options about how to setup and use the hard disk, choose one and click “Install Now”.
Select your location for time zone selection. Once done, click “Continue” to move forward.
Select Keyboard layout according to your needs and “Continue” to proceed.
Fill in your primary information, set a username and a strong super user password.
After gathering all the information the actual installation process begins now.
Congratulations! Ubuntu MATE 15.04 has successfully installed. A restart is required for finalizing installation.
Few Things to do after installing Ubuntu MATE 15.04 (Vivid)
Update system repositories and upgrade software repositories. There may have been few patches released/implemented for newly detected threats or vulnerabilities.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Caja is the default File manager of Ubuntu MATE 15.04, it has couple of very nice addons which can be installed explicitly.
Caja-share it allows to quickly share any folder from Caja-share without root access. Caja-share is SAMBA based therefore it can share folder across all operating systems.
Caja-image-converter helps to resize images using ImageMagick’s convert tool.
Krusader is another very nice file manager which can be installed through any package manager. Use following command to install Krusader through terminal.
sudo apt-get install krusader
Krusader has a very useful split window view which can help in comparisons, synchronizations etc. Furthermore it supports FTP, SAMBA, etc.
MATE-NetBook is a MATE component which compromises of an applet and a daemon to maximize window and move its titles on the panel. It is recommended for netbooks or devices with low resolution display.
MATE-user-share allows to share files via WebDev (cPanel supports WebDev only now) and Avahi is used to announce these shared files on network.
Shotwell is preinstalled with Ubuntu MATE vivid but most of its publishing plug-ins need explicitly installed. These plug-ins are excluded from the ISO due to their dependencies and which can increase the size of ISO file a great deal. Following commands can be used in “Tilda” the pull-down terminal to install Shotwell plug-ins.
sudo apt-get install account-plugin-facebook account-plugin-flickr account-plugin-google \
libaccount-plugin-generic-oauth libaccount-plugin-google unity-control-center-signon
Several alternative panel layouts similar to Windows and Mac OS are included in Ubuntu MATE (Vivid). It is important to note that changing panel layout will destroy the custom settings in current panel. You can change panel layout through
System > Preferences > Look and Feel > MATE Tweak
- Redmond layouts are similar to Windows XP and Windows 7
- Eleven layouts are similar to Mac OSX
Indicators need some customizations to enable in Ubuntu MATE 15.04. To install MATE indicator container make sure you have Ubuntu MATE 14.10 or Ubuntu MATE 15.04. To install open the drop-down terminal Tilda or press Ctrl + Alt +T to open terminal and type these commands one by one.
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-MATE-dev/vivid-MATE
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends indicator-application-gtk2 indicator-sound-gtk2 MATE-indicator-applet
MATE tweak should now display the indicator versions of various panel layouts. Any layout enabled will automatically activate the required applets.
Summary
Although Ubuntu MATE 15.04 is not based on an LTS version of Ubuntu but it has some major changes especially the switch to systemd. Overall it is a good and solid upgrade especially due to newer Kernel and latest MATE desktop 1.8.2. Furthermore current release has fixed almost all bugs in beta 2. An upgrade to latest Linux Kernel 4.0 is also in the pipe line. For further details please refer to their official website.
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