ConnexionHere Are The Best New Features in Ubuntu 24.10
Ubuntu 24.10 ‘Oracular Oriole’ will be released on October 13th, and as you’d expect from a new version of Ubuntu, it’s packed with new features. As a short-term release, Ubuntu 24.10 gets nine months of ongoing updates, security patches, and critical fixes. It’s not a long support window. However, Ubuntu 25.04 will be released in April of next year (six months later) and users of 24.10 can upgrade to 25.04 directly. Enough about releases next year; let’s focus on this one. In this post I run through the best Ubuntu 24.10 features, changes, and enhancements. Keep in mind that everything you […]
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VS Code is to modern text editors what Chromium is to browsers: a fork magnet. A slew of niche spins have emerged, each putting their own spin on Microsoft’s massively popular original. The latest to join the fray is Void. The GitHub page for Void describes it as an open-source alternative to Cursor. Cursor is a subscription-based, cross-platform AI-powered text editor (and VS Code fork) that has gained considerable attention. It offers AI-powered code completion, predictive coding, code generation, edit suggestions, and predictive cursor positioning. Developers working on AI at companies like OpenAI and MidJourney are reportedly fans of Cursor. […]
Using the Chromium snap app? If you are, and you use Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) or install websites as ‘apps’ there’s a bug fix coming that should improve their behaviour on Ubuntu. When you install a PWA1 in the Chromium snap you might expect it to open it in a separate, streamlined window when you open it using its shortcut in the applications grid. Presently, PWAs in the Chromim Snap don’t get detected as separate instances by GNOME Shell. This means no separate dock icon (it is grouped into Chromium’s) and it is not treated as a separate app by […]
Linus Torvalds has announced the release of Linux kernel 6.11, which is the kernel version Ubuntu 24.10 and Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS will offer. Fittingly, this update arrives a few days before the Linux Kernel Maintainer Summit takes place in Vienna, Austria. In his message to the Linux Kernel Mailing List to sign-off on the release Torvalds’ writes: “I’m once again on the road and not in my normal timezone, but it’s Sunday afternoon here in Vienna, and 6.11 is out”, and asks kernel devs to “give the latest release a try” before getting stuck in with the 6.12 merge window, […]
You don’t need to own a Raspberry Pi to make use of the Raspberry Pi Imager. This nifty image writer makes flashing ISO, IMG, and similar files to USB drives and SD cards mighty easy. A new update, Raspberry Pi Imager 1.9, was released this week with some big changes. For one, this open-source and cross-platform image writing tool now uses Qt 6. This framework uplift offers a stack of underlying improvements in terms of stability, plus visual changes too. Raspberry Pi say the Qt 6 port provides “a lightly refreshed UI throughout on all platforms.” Comparing the Qt 6 […]
There’s a clutch of new features in Ubuntu 24.10, but plenty of smaller, less obvious fixes for “paper cuts” – a decades-long issue with thumbnails in the GTK file picker among them. Feeling deja-vu? GNOME 44 (shipped in Ubuntu 23.04) included a thumbnail grid in the GTK file picker to make it quicker and easier to select the right files to upload, or open in an app, and so on. A feature long overdue, resolving a “bug” which had been open for 20 years! Only, there is a bit of a problem with how it works — some of you […]
The fifth and final point release to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is now available to download. This update was due to be released a couple of weeks ago but was delayed by a delay in getting Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS out the door – something had to give, so the release date of this update slipped. But it’s here now, ready to download. Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS brings a freshly-spun installer image (ISO) that includes all of the software, security, and stability updates released since the last ISO was made. This cuts down on the number of updates that have to downloaded after […]
All keybindings accessible from one place
The Cinnamon desktop environment looks pretty nice on Linux Mint, but if you install it on other distributions it doesn’t look as good — but that’s about to change. In his latest monthly mail-shot, distro lead Clement Lefebvre says the “ugly” default Cinnamon theme, which is maintained for trouble-shooting and testing purpose and is not the theme Linux Mint itself sets as default, will be “much improved” in Cinnamon 5.4. “In our distribution the focus is on Mint-Y. The default Cinnamon theme […] rarely gets attention from theme artists,” he says. “Ideally, it is the responsibility of the distributions to […]
Parallels Desktop 20 has been released for macOS. The virtualisation software introduces a number of buffs for Linux VMs running on macOS. The headline change in Parallels Desktop 20 is support for macOS Sequoia, both as host OS and as a guest — important given that Sequoia is due to be released in the next few weeks. But Parallels Desktop 20 has a lot of improvements for Linux guests too. First up, it now officially supports Ubuntu 24.04 LTS VMs, Fedora 39/40, and a handful of other recent Linux distributions releases. The icons for Ubuntu VMs now use the new […]
VirtualBox 7.1 is now available to download for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Those upgrading from VirtualBox 7.0 or earlier will find a sizeable set of changes on offer, among them what Oracle describe as a “modernized look and feel”. Set your expectations accordingly for while this update to VirtualBox does feature an improved UI, as well as a port to Qt 6, the extent of those changes are more ‘modest refinement’ than ‘major revamp’. Basically, VirtualBox 7.1 now offers two UI modes: Basic (educes the number of options, settings, info, etc shown) and Expert (doesn’t hide anything). Switching between them is easy, […]
Prompting Client is the latest security effort for snap software, and acts as a companion to the new desktop Security Center app. As you may have read in my article last week, Prompting Client is a security buffer — think doorman — that guards your home folder. Whenever a snap app wants to access non-hidden files within, Prompting Client intervenes to ask you to approve. I’d been tracking this tool’s development for a while but there wasn’t really a lot of explanation or rationale behind it on the project’s Github, and some of the links in commits and issues filed […]
Juno Computers have announced their latest Linux tablet, the Juno Tab 3, and it’s available to buy preloaded with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (or a choice of other Linux distributions). Which is great. The Juno Tab 3 is powered by an Intel N100 processor, 12 GB RAM (soldered), internal 512 GB storage, and fronted by a 300nit 12.1-inch 2K 10-point touch display. Which is all decent. The Juno Tab 3 also has a detachable keyboard so you can turn the tablet into a portable productivity hub for “proper work” on-the-go (or on-the-sofa). Which sounds perfect — so what’s the catch? The […]
When development on system info tool Neofetch was discontinued1 earlier this year a slew of forks, alternatives, and upstart projects sprung up to fill the void. Yet the Neofetch alternative that’s gained the most traction —anecdotally, at least; I’ve not be creeping around Linux conferences to verify first-hand—is Fastfetch. Fastfetch is similar to Neofetch in that it ‘pretty prints’ information about your OS, desktop environment, pertinent underlying technologies, and selected system hardware specs in a terminal window. But Fastfetch is far more capable than Neofetch: it’s faster, more featured2, supports Wayland (Neofetch technically didn’t), and is actively maintained. Indeed, the […]
Looking for a powerful new Linux laptop? The new KDE Slimbook VI may very well appeal. Unveiled at Akademy 2024, KDE’s annual community get-together, the KDE Slimbook VI marks a major refresh from earlier models in the KDE Slimbook line. And this thing ain’t no slouch – a dedicated benchmark page shows how this model compares to the preceding versions (spoiler: better). The 16-inch KDE Slimbook VI is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU with integrated NPU for local AI/ML workloads. Graphics are integrated but are well above the usual iGPU fare, with 12-cores, a high clock speed, […]
Last week, the first point release of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS arrived, and upgrades from Ubuntu 22.04 LTS to the newest one officially enabled. However, those upgrades didn’t go smoothly for everyone who tried, be it on Ubuntu server or Ubuntu desktop. To prevent further headaches, Canonical has decided to pause upgrades to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS from Ubuntu 22.04 LTS while its developers work out the kinks. Yesterday, the ‘noble’ release got edited out of the meta-release-lts file (which Ubuntu systems check to detect new versions), preventing users from upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS through officially-supported methods. Folks attempting to upgrade, but suddenly […]
The default wallpaper of Ubuntu 24.10 ‘Oracular Oriole’ (and its official mascot artwork) has been revealed — along with an extra-special 20th anniversary surprise! A visit to the nearest temple mystic wasn’t required to predict that the new mascot motif would take centre-stage in the official Ubuntu 24.10 wallpaper. Animal mascots are a recurring feature of the default background since Ubuntu 17.10 ‘Artful Aardvark’. Default backgrounds follow a set formula purple gradient, some affectation around the edge, and (typically) a line-art illustration of the codename animal in the middle. For the ‘Oracular Oriole’ we get a geometric rendition of an […]
The Audacity 3.6 release in July brought some masterful new features with it, plus all-new Compressor and Limiter filters. But not everyone was pleased to lose access to the older version of those, so Audacity’s devs have brought ’em back in a point release update to the currently Audacity 3.6 stable series. Those who prefer (or just more used to) the original Limiter, Compressor and Classic filters can access them in Audacity 3.6.2 from the new “Legacy” effects section. They’re available to use with new and existing Audacity projects. Audacity 3.6.2 also resolves a sizeable set of bugs, with fixes including: Plus plenty more […]
Ubuntu’s new desktop Security Center app is gearing up for its first stable release, along with a background tool called Prompting Client. I first reported on the creation of Security Center earlier this year and it hasn’t changed a great deal since then. Underlying code has been improved, and the Flutter UI made to look more like Yaru/GTK, but in terms of what it does, not much! The Snap Store description for the app describes it as “Security Center UI for the desktop”, which doesn’t say a great deal about the purpose or why a user might want to install […]
A new version of the Power Profiles Daemon is out, bringing a number of improvements to improve power efficiency on Linux desktops, particularly on AMD devices. For those unfamiliar with it, power-profiles-daemon is a low-level component to provide power handling over DBus. Ever used the Power Mode options in the Quick Settings menu in GNOME Shell? Those options interface through this. Now that power-profiles-daemon is battery-level aware, power drivers like the Intel and AMD P-State drivers can (where supported) adjust power management based on the current battery level value. “In particular both the AMD panel power action now uses a […]
Mozilla Firefox 130 is out with a variety of changes that make this phenomenally popular open-source web browser a touch more productive. On Linux, Firefox 130 enables overscroll animations by default, having added them on other platforms a few years back. This is a familiar visual effect from mobile systems: when you try to scroll beyond the edge content an elastic animation indicates “nuh-uh”. Now, lest anyone end up confused, these new (on Linux) Firefox over-scroll animations only play if you’re using a touchpad/trackpad to overscroll. You don’t see the effect when using a mouse. To help you get an […]
Tauon music player (once known as Tauon Music Box) now offers native PipeWire audio playback on Linux — albeit experimental for the moment. Fans of this streamlined music player have asked for native PipeWire support for a while, and the app developers have been working on it accordingly. Now, keen to get it out there, the latest Tauon 7.8.1 release ships with native PipeWire support. Now, in case you’re wondering, Tauon already worked with PipeWire through the pipewire-pulse compatibility layer. This update doesn’t require that; Tauon can now interact directly with PipeWire, accessing and benefitting from all of its features. […]