Xubuntu 11.04 Released With Xfce 4.8, Gmusicbrowser Default, New Artwork [Screenshots]

Along with Ubuntu 11.04, Xubuntu, Kubuntu and Lubuntu were also release. In this post I'll try to cover the changes in Xubuntu 11.04 - a very interesting Ubuntu flavor based on Xfce.

Xubuntu 11.04 is truly lightweight, using only 184 MB of RAM on startup (I've only tested it in VirtualBox though). It's not as lightweight as Lubuntu, but it has a lot more features and if you don't like Unity or GNOME Shell, you should really consider it.

New artwork in Xubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

The latest Xubuntu 11.04 comes with a complete makeover: a new default theme called Greybird (which even though is inspired by Elementary, there are quite a few differences) and updated icons:

(Greybird - new default Xubuntu 11.04 theme)

The reason for switching to Greybird by default:

We took a conscious step from the polarizing and intense blue to something that proves easy on the eyes for everyday work (and also because one focus of the natty-release is accessibility). That's why "greybird" is not as vibrant as Elementary.

There's also a new default wallpaper:

(New default wallpaper)

Some other changes: a re-worked top panel and a new bottom launcher (hidden by default) and of course, Xfce 4.8 (which adds GVFS support for Thunar so it can now browse remote shares using FTP, Windows Shares, WebDav and SSH, XFCE panel improvements and more).

Gmusicbrowser - default music player instead of Exaile

There's also a new default music player: Gmusicbrowser which has replaced Exaile, most probably because it's not actively developed anymore. And to make the transition complete, Gmusicbrowser even has Xubuntu sound menu support:

Xubuntu 11.04 also comes with a new default font: Droid. Which is a bit weird considering Ubuntu now has its own font family.

Default applications in Xubuntu 11.04

Xubuntu 11.04 comes with Thunar 1.2.1 Firefox 4.0, Parole Media Player 0.2.0.2, Xfburn 0.4.3, Gimp 2.6.11, Pidgin 2.7.11, Thunderbird 3.1.9, Abiword 2.8.6, Transmission 2.13.

More Xubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal screenshots

(Firefox notifications in Xubuntu 11.04)

Download Xubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal

Xubuntu 11.04 Default Wallpaper Announced

Pasi Lallinaho, the Shimmer Project leader, announced the Xubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal default wallpaper:

You can grab the full size image from HERE.

The source image for the wallpaper is a picture by Simon Steinbeiß and it’s from the Austrian Alps:

What do you think?

[via open.knome.fi]

gMusicBrowser To Replace Exaile In Xubuntu 11.04

WebUpd8 reader Tinhed who is a long time Xubuntu user let us know that gMusicBrowser will replace Exaile in Xubuntu 11.04.

gMusicBrowser will probably use the Shimmer interface by default (as we've seen in our last gMusicBrowser post, this amazing music player comes with lots of layouts) but with some further tweaks which include sort-by-artist mode for mosaic, rename the layouts, make a netbook layout and more:

(Shimmer Layout - SongTree View)

(Shimmer Layout - Mosaic View)

Here is a screenshot with the netbook layout:

gMusicBrowser is not yet default in Xubuntu, but it can be installed by using the Shimmer PPA. Instructions can be found HERE.

The news comes from yesterday's Xubuntu Community Team meeting which also reveals that LightDM is considered to replace GDM (not decided for now).

The meeting also raised the problem of XFCE PPAs - there are currently no official XFCE PPAs (at least not for XFCE 4.8) however no decision to create an official PPA has been taken yet.

Thanks to Tinhed for the tip and Simon Steinbeiß for the gMusicBrowser netbook layout screenshot; via xflinux

XFCE 4.8 Ubuntu 10.04 And 10.10 PPA

XFCE 4.8 was released about two weeks ago, bringing GVFS support for Thunar (so it can now browse remote shares using FTP, Windows Shares, WebDav and SSH), XFCE panel improvements and more.

Here are a couple of XFCE 4.8 screenshots:

This is XFCE too, using the default Xubuntu 10.10 theme:

Install XFCE 4.8 in Ubuntu 10.04 and 10.10 via PPA

There was a XFCE 4.8 PPA for Ubuntu 10.04 for some time but none for Ubuntu 10.10  - until today when XFCE 4.8 was uploaded to a PPA so the Ubuntu 10.10 users can enjoy it too!

Add the XFCE 4.8 Ubuntu 10.04 PPA and install XFCE 4.8 using the following commands (32bit only!):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexx2000/xfce
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

Add the XFCE 4.8 Ubuntu 10.10 PPA and install XFCE 4.8 using the following commands (both 32bit and 64bit):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:koshi/xfce-4.8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

Note: neither of the above PPA repositories are official so use them at your own risk.


If for some reason you want to revert all the changes made by one of the two XFCE 4.8 PPAs above, you can use PPA-Purge (PPA Purge will downgrade all the packages installed from the above PPAs):

- in Ubuntu 10.10, install PPA Purge and purge the XFCE 4.8 PPA using the following commands:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:koshi/xfce-4.8

- in Ubuntu 10.04, you may have to manually install PPA Purge - you can get it from the WebUpd8 PPA. Then, purge the XFCE 4.8 PPA using the following commands:

sudo ppa-purge ppa:alexx2000/xfce

Thanks to Ken Harkey for PPA the tip!

Xubuntu 11.04 To Get A New Default Theme Called Greybird [Screenshots]

Starting with version 11.04 alpha 2 (to be released on February 3rd), Xubuntu will use a new theme called "Greybird" as the default theme. The GTK theme is inspired by Elementary but there are quite a few differences between Greybird and Elementary.

Screenshots:

Work in progress

Currently the window borders look the same as in Elementary but this will change in the upcoming iterations. Further more, there are many elements that still need tweaking and further improvements such as the notebook-style (the tabs), selected background color, expanders and more. Also, the background color may change to a darker grey.

Why grey?

The reason the Xubuntu developers decided to go with Greybird for 11.04:

We took a conscious step from the polarizing and intense blue to something that proves easy on the eyes for everyday work (and also because one focus of the natty-release is accessibility). That's why "greybird" is not as vibrant as Elementary.

Those who are concerned about the performance when using this theme shouldn't worry as the theme uses only an engine - Murrine.


Check out the previous default Xubuntu theme - Bluebird.


You can download Greybird from HERE.

What do you think? The Xubuntu developers are always open for change so let them know what you like and what you don't in the comments below. You can also contact them @ #shimmer or #xubuntu-devel on irc.freenode.

Thanks to Simon Steinbeiß for the info and tip!

Xubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Beta Screenshot Tour

Because I do not use Xubuntu, I can't spot the exact changes between Xubuntu 10.04 and Xubuntu 10.10, but I'll try to post an overview of Xubuntu 10.10 beta anyway. For reference, here is how Xubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx used to look.

Xubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat, the XFCE Ubuntu flavor got a lot of changes since 10.04, starting with a new default wallpaper and theme:

The theme looks amazing, don't you think? The GTK+ theme is based on Zuki Blues and the Xfwm theme on axiom. The icons, just like in Xubuntu 10.04 are Elementary Xubuntu.

I believe this is the only Ubuntu flavor that comes with a branded wallpaper. But who knows, maybe Xubuntu will also get a new wallpaper until 10.10 final is released, even though the UI freeze has passed (like it will happen for Ubuntu 10.10).

There are also some new applications in Xubuntu 10.10 beta! Totem has been replaced with Parole Media player and Brasero with Xfburn:

The other default applications remain unchanged: GIMP Image Editor, Exaile, Firefox, Pidgin, Thunderbird, Abiword, Ubuntu Software Center, and so on. You know, all the cool applications which are missing from the default Ubuntu installation. And of course, Xubuntu also comes with a clipboard manager installed by default - Clipman:

Changes have also been made to the way the login screen looks like:

And to the shutdown dialog:

Download Xubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat beta.

Xubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) Beta 1 Screenshots Tour

Ubuntu, Lubuntu, Kubuntu and so on are getting lots of attention but it seems everybody is forgetting about Xubuntu so I decided to make a screenshot tour of Xubuntu. I never used XFCE so my notes are from the point of view of someone used to Gnome (so I'll underline the difference between XFCE and Gnome too - or Ubuntu and Xubuntu if you want).

The default theme (well, actually style) in Xubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Beta 1 is Albastross and the icons are Xubuntu Elementary (you can see these throughout all the screenshots in this post):

Xubuntu 10.04 Lucid beta 1 login screen:

Xubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Beta 1 comes with Thunar 1.0.1 as the default file manager:

A very interesting aspect about Xubuntu is that all the previous wallpaper are still available in Xubuntu 10.04:

And now comes the most interesting part: almost all the applications which most people are used to and have been removed from Ubuntu 10.04 are still available in Xubuntu:

- GIMP:

- Pidgin as well as Thunderbird (which has never been in Ubuntu as a default application, but most people use it instead of Evolution):

Xubuntu 10.04 now comes with a music player I enjoy very much - Exaile:

Of course, Xubuntu couldn't escape the new default search engine for Firefox - Yahoo:

Since it comes with so many quite heavy applications, Xubuntu 10.04 had to respect it's name for being a lighter Ubuntu (even though that's not exactly the case anymore) so it comes with Abiword 2.8.1 (and not OpenOffice, obviously):

If you're missing the option to show the icons in the menus and buttons (which was removed from Gnome and is no longer available in Ubuntu 10.04 Appearance properties), you'll be glad to know there is such an option in XFCE (and thus Xubuntu 10.04), as well as lots of other stuff which has been removed from Gnome (Ubuntu 10.04):

I've been saying this so many times my ... fingers hurt =) Ubuntu really needs an option to allow new users to switch the buttons back to the left. Well, Xubuntu has this already, even though it's window buttons are still on the right:

XFCE compositing manager:

Xubuntu 10.04 beta 1 also comes with Gigolo, a frontend to easily manage connections to remote filesystems using GIO/GVfs. It allows you to quickly connect/mount a remote filesystem and manage bookmarks of such:

And an option I really really wish they would implement in Gnome (there are some hacks but it doesn't work properly): an option to have 2 rows (or more) for the notification area:

The default screensaver in Xubuntu 10.04 beta 1 (an aquarium of cone-fish):

Xubuntu Log Out / Restart / Shutdown, etc. dialog:

Writing this post made me realize how many things that I miss are in a default Ubuntu 10.04 installation and also wonder why Xubuntu isn't more popular than Ubuntu since I found so many advantages it has over it's big brother - Ubuntu. Hopefully other blogs will follow and give Xubuntu a bit of attention too - it really deserves it!


Tip: to navigate between the screenshots using a nice gallery, wait for the page to load completely, click the fist screenshot and then move to the next / previous screenshots using the arrows at the bottom of the browser page.


Download Xubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Beta 1: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/lucid/beta-1/

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New Proposed Ubuntu Lucid 10.04 Ubiquity Slideshow

The Ubuntu Ubiquity Slideshow is a project which uses Webkit that provides a slideshow when you install Ubuntu.


Here is how the Ubuntu 10.04 Ubiquity slideshow looks currently:

(the complete slideshow can be found HERE)

The current Kubuntu Ubiquity Slideshow:

(the complete slideshow can be found HERE)

and Xubuntu:

(the complete slideshow can be found HERE)

And here is the AMAZING new proposed Ubiquity Slideshow:

Thanks to Dylan McCall, you can preview the proposed Ubiquity slideshow online. Just click the arrows to navigate back and forward.


The idea is to create a new version for each Ubuntu flavor (including one for Ubuntu Netbook Edition), each beging completely different than the others.

So, what do you think of this new proposed Ubuntu 10.04 Ubiquity Slideshow?

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Lubuntu Keeps It's Promise - Fastest Ubuntu Yet

When the first Lubuntu ISO came out (LXDE based Ubuntu), it was said that it's purpose is to be faster than Xubuntu:

The Lubuntu project started in March 2009, with the purpose of creating a lighter and less resource demanding alternative to the Xubuntu operating system, using the LXDE desktop environment. The ultimate goal of this project is to join the ranks of Kubuntu and Xubuntu and become an officially supported derivative of Ubuntu.

And many argued, but now, Linux-Mag published some data which compares the memory used by Ubuntu, Xubuntu and Lubuntu in 2 ways:

1. The first test is simply to check how much memory is used after a fresh boot of the respective live CDs, all the way into the default desktop (first graph below).

2. With the every day applications loaded, including a terminal, file manager, calculator, image viewer, text editor, archive manager, web browser, mail client, chat program, bittorrent client, audio player and video player (second graph below).

Take a look at the two graphs:

(less is better - less memory used)

It's very interesting to see that in those tests, Ubuntu came out faster than Xubuntu. But this shows that Lubuntu, with its lightweight desktop and carefully chosen applications, is certainly the lightest of all by a reasonable margin. Xubuntu manages to use slightly more memory than Ubuntu and almost twice as much as Lubuntu. If you’ve got a system with 256MB of RAM or less, Lubuntu is the only way to go.

For more info, see the Linux-Mag article. | Images via mundo geek