Desktop: Maverick Meerkat ships with GNOME 2.32. The desktop is the same as the one on the previous stable release. Compiz, the OpenGL window and compositing manager (3D desktop) is installed, but a graphical tool to configure it is not. From the Software Center or from a shell terminal, you may install CompizConfig Settings Manager, which is one of the graphical tools used to configure Compiz.
Screenshot of a spiced up Ubuntu desktop. View more screenshots here
Ubuntu desktop with Cairo Dock
Installed Applications: In addition to standard GNOME desktop accessories, games, and system utilities, here are the main applications installed by default:
- Firefox 3.6.10
- OpenOffice.org 3.2.1
- Shotwell photo manager
- Evolution Mail and Calendar
- Gwibber, a Twitter desktop client
- Transmission BitTorrent client
- Pitivi video editor
- Totem
- Rhythmbox music player
- Sound Recorder
There are many more applications available in the repository which you may install at any time using the Software Center, the old software center (Synaptic), and from a shell terminal. Moovida is the only installable media center application in the repository. Enna, the other media center application in the repository is not installable because of unresolvable dependencies. XMBC, the most popular open source media center application is not in the repository.
Software Management and Updates : The Software Center, Synaptic, and apt-get from a shell terminal are the software management tools available on Ubuntu. In terms of features and innovations, the Software Center is where the action is. The interface is a lot more user-friendly than Synaptic’s. The Installed applications category in the left panel makes it easy to browse the list of applications installed on the system.
Software Center
The Canonical Partners entry in the left panel gives a list of non-free (proprietary) applications available for installation.
Free, proprietary applications
And the For Purchase entry gives a list of fee-based applications offered by Canonical Partners. Currently, just one application, Fluendo DVD Player, is available for purchase. At $24.95, the Fluendo DVD Player is going to be a hard sell.
Fee-based proprietary application
The History entry in the left panel is one neat feature of the Software Center. It gives you a detailed report of the installation activities right from the time the OS was installed.
History feature of the Software Center
I’m pretty sure that the ‘Please make sure your computer is plugged into a power source’ is for laptop users.
Been a while since this review was posted, however there don’t seem to be any comments about to your power supply query.
Maybe it’s just me, but I immediately thought that the instruction referred to people installing on laptops where the battery could run out halfway through an install with the possibility of corrupted file systems or, maybe, damaged drives.
At the least you’d have to plug in, or recharge the battery, and start again.
See ya
Ken
This is a way old topic but OMG. So quick to point a finger at Ubuntu. And seriously how hard is it to google “distro” it takes all of 30 seconds. No big deal. By the way, learning how to use terminal. You can’t just open it and expect to know how to use it and another by the way, the su (super user) function is used for things that only an admin would deal with. In addition it wants the ROOT password!!!! not yours! I’m sorry but that was such a dumbass remark… anyway. It’s simple, but it takes a whole lot of learning and practice. And installing an OS is not a guess. Linux based distros are a crapload more stable than any Windows distro. I don’t even have an anti-spyware on my Mac home computer. And I have been using it for a good 3 years. Never had a virus. On a Windows machine that would be like saying come over and get comfy! Ever heard of a Windows server that didn’t have a big expensive firewall in front of it? Guess what OS most firewalls are based off of. LINUX. My linux server has just a firewall program running. nothing else. And dual booting is no simple task that is done in a routine way. there are different ways of doing it and if it is your first time no duh you have to learn some stuff.
Glad you figured it out.
I tried to install Ubuntu on a separate partition after Win 7 64. The problem is that Grub overwrites BCD which I want to maintain. I tried to use EasyBCD 2 to change the MBR, but that failed to find the Linux boot file. Yes Grub gives me the option of booting Win 7, but I want Windows as the primary operating system. Does anyone know how? Thanks…
This link and this one should be what you are looking for.
The key to what you want to accomplish is to install GRUB in the boot partition of Ubuntu, rather than in the MBR, where it overwrites its Windows equivalent. Keep me posted. Better yet, jump on the forum and let’s discuss this.
finid, tried to register but I keep getting a server error. At any rate, I tried installing inside of Windows and that doesn’t produce a boot item on the BCD menu. I tried to use the Grub 2 setting and it returned “grub>” dos screen with a bunch of command possibilities.
What is the size of HD and what partitions (how many) did you create on the Windows side and on the Ubuntu side?
I’ll try and fix the forum registration asap. Thanks for the tip.
Update: Forum registration has been fixed. You may now register. A forum for this topic has also been started
I finally got a boot item on BCD – don’t have any answers. I have 500gb HD with 4 partitions. 0 is Win7, 1 & 2 (basically) for anything at 100gb each and 3 is my data back up. My attempt is for partition 2 for Ubuntu. My machine is faily fast running Duo 2.53 so I don’t think it is a problem running “inside Windows”.
I put ubuntu 10.10 on a separate partition just to try Linux and I am extremely unhappy with it. You have to study volumes of data to find out how to even install a printer driver. I tried loading addons and you can’t even find the after they are installed. You have to trace down how to get to a terminal window and then read many, many volumes more on how to use it. Example: type in su – and it asks you for a password. Type in your pass word and nothing happens. Now start googleing to find out that it doesn’t want a password. They took Thunderbird and stripped it to make some kind of a junior email program. In the long of it. ubuntu may start getting in the race with windows in another 10.10 years.
I always find it mildly amusing when people who have *clearly* never even attempted to use a Linus distro start trying to guess what their criticisms of it should be.
For the record, I installed Ubuntu back in 2007 – dual booting with Windows XP – and even though I had no idea what I was doing, I managed to get everything up and running within the space of a single evening.
Although I have since shifted to a different distro, Ubuntu does deserve a lot of credit for providing a very easy way in for people who have absolutely no Linux experience.
First I had to look up “distro” to find out what it was – another Linux term for distribution.
There is nothing amusing about trying to get a system to run when the entire operation is nothing but a guess. I also got ubuntu running in a few hours, but that put a kink into me with what I had to go through to get it done.
There is always a learning curve to anything that you are using for the first time. I struggle with Windows because I know very little about it. I’ve had to google just to get something done on Windows – because I am not familiar with it.
If you just learned today that “distro” is short for distribution, then you are very new to our world. Welcome, by the way. This site is here to help people like you along the way. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
how ignorance, do you know there is one amazing thing exists in the world called laptop?
October 29, 2010 at 1:23 pm
finid
I speak, read & write normal English. When will *ix not tell me that my directories “data” & “Data” are different?
Case-sensitivity has nothing to do with proficiency in English.
=============================
English has nothing_to_do_with_*.ix._In_English_,_’english’_is_different_from’Enlish’.
But *.ix does not know that. Look at the many *.x utilities the replace “_” with ” “, and replace ” ” with “_”.
If you copy you folder directory with all the sub-directories, you can see that “data”, “DATA” and “Data” are three different directories. M$ windows know English better than *.ix.
One day, Ms Macboy (or M$ Wintoy), you might try Ubuntu. Then you will see how wrong you are.
Retired IT Consultant
Australian Capital Territory