
Laptop fans will appreciate the improved XFCE Power Manager utility. This may sound (pun fully intended) like a dull change but the new applet has a broader set of features and behaviours than the Sound Indicator it replaces.įor example, it shows player controls for compatible media players (like Spotify), and lets you quickly select, move, and control audio output and input directly from the plugin menu. Xubuntu 18.04 ships with a new Xfce PulseAudio Plugin. MATE Calculator (replaces GNOME Calculator)Įlsewhere, the default Greybird GTK theme has been updated with improved HiDPI support, support for Chrome/ium GTK3 styles, and an optional dark theme.

It has replaced a slate of its software with MATE desktop equivalents: That said there are some somewhat notable changes - not least of which in the applications Xubuntu 18.04 ships with. The distro, like its desktop environment, eschews the general pace of software churn in favour of a consistent and predictable experience. Xubuntu is a dependable and reliable choice. Ideal for: a lightweight and reliable desktop.Latte Dock is now available in the archivesĭouble-click is default behaviour to open files/foldersĬurious to learn more? Get your Kubuntu 18.04 download below:ĭownload Kubuntu 18.04 LTS Xubuntu 18.04 LTS.Plasma Vault – securely encrypt folders.The latest KDE Applications 17.12.3 pack is included, as are new releases of the Firefox browser and LibreOffice productivity suite. The theme doesn’t extend to apps, which continue to use the standard Breeze light theme.

Switching to the ‘Breeze Dark’ Plasma theme by default (just called ‘Kubuntu’ in theme settings) gives the whole OS shell a deeply modern aesthetic. Plasma 5.12 brings a whole new level of polish, finesse and fluidity to the KDE desktop. If you haven’t sampled the KDE computing experience for a while, you really should give this release a spin. The KDE-based flavor is sporting the spangly new Plasma 5.12 LTS desktop release.

Whether you’re looking for an amiable alternative to GNOME Shell (MATE, Budgie) or something with a lot of class (Kubuntu), the community flavors below will satisfy even the most refined tastes. In this post we’ll take a look at the key new features in each of these flavours, how long they’re supported for, and who might want to try them.

Long-term support (LTS) releases of Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie and the (always magnificent) Ubuntu MATE are available to download. Strutting their stuff alongside the main Ubuntu 18.04 release are new stable versions of Ubuntu’s community flavours.
