Ubuntu 11.04 Released

Distribution Release: Ubuntu 11.04 (DistroWatch.com News)

(also kubuntu, edubuntu, mythbuntu, and ubuntu studio have been released)

 

I like it, but I can't turn on my wireless adapter and that makes it pretty useless.

 

Just upgraded tonight and it was the biggest mistake ever. I hate the interface very much and sadly ill have to live with it until the semester is over since I have a vm cluster installed for a project...

 

Do you mean Unity?

I experimentally upgraded a VM and got the 10.10-style desktop since VMware doesn't support OpenGL, so I'm sure there's a way to manually disable Unity and get the old-fashioned UI back.

 

Took more four tries before I could complete the download, but finally got it and was able to install it this morning. So far so good.

The new interface feels more MacBook like. Not sure if I like it more than the older Gnome desktop. I works fine, so I think I will be keeping it.

 

For me the fix was KDE.
IMO there is a few reasons why KDE is preferred.
1)The interface is clean but it still lets you mess with the configuration
2)Interface looks modern and neat
3)Even when the desktop effect crash due to whatever reasons where is a graceful error detection and recovery.
4)Plasma looks great but this is subjective
5)There is very informative GUI display
eg. There is a graph and data transfer rate on the network interface icon,for me that is a very neat feature.
I know I sound like someone who eat my own words but really for me the KDE interface clearly showed its superiority.
Anyway this is just my opinion, you can always download a live cd to see which you prefer =), no need to start a fire.

 

I have always liked anything KDE. Kubuntu for the first time with 11.04 played nice with my Dell laptop. I have always liked Kubuntu or Mint KDE. I love the branching interface, reminds me of the Windows XP start menu. Plasma looks sick, love the effects.

One thing Unity or shall I say Ubuntu lacks unless someone can point me to it is a solid power manager. Kubuntu has it and Mint does as well where you can limit the CPU core freq. I am stoked for Mint 11 can't wait but I really really like the Unity interface, the reference to the Mac OS layout is what it reminded me of when I first saw it as well.

 

Yes I hate unity. Give me my cube and gnome 2. I guess ill mess around with debian and see what their interface is like. Between the ui being the way it is and telinit issues etc I think its time to change.

 

Just log out and select "Ubuntu Classic Desktop" in the sessions menu and you'll have Gnome back.

 

Yes, that is an option... but I will give this interface a chance and see if it is actually easier to use once I get used to it.

 

I actually like a lot about unity, however, one thing is killing me: Not seeing which windows are open and slow switching between them.

E.g. I often have multiple windows open but only need to switch between 2-3 frequently.

In gnome I could see which applications are open at a single glance, in unity I have to first open the sidebar and then it is not obvious what is open, especially if there are many windows of the same program.

Even worse, if I want to switch constantly between two windows, I always have to make the additional step of activating the sidebar or I have hit super +w and then search for the right windows, since they always keep changing their position.

This is driving me nuts, is there a more elegant solution for this?

 

Ill try it, but the unity change wasnt the only thing making me want to switch distros.

I too dont like not seeing bars of open applications per desktop, and the lack of a cube is killing me.

 

I can't install it using a live media...

 

One drawback. With 10.10, when plugged into my LCD TV, I could display 1280 x 720 on the TV (TV is 1080p). With 11.04 the highest option I get is 1024 x 768

 

Use Image Writer to clone the image onto a USB BUT take note to return the Thumbdrive to normal you need a Linux Disk Utility to destroy the partitions.
Windows Disk Manager does not have the capability to reformat the drive.

 

I had that problem since the alpha3, I had to install kubuntu 10.10 and then upgrade from there. And to try out ubuntu I had to use the alternate install and do an update from the rescue root shell otherwaise I just get a gpu crash recovery loop. For some reason the live cd 11.04 doesn't like my laptop... Suspend and hibernate are still broken.

 

Meh... I don't like the direction Ubuntu and GNOME is going. I like stable ol' XFCE.

 

What laptop do you have? With my Dell Precision Laptop, Suspend/Hibernate will never work until I add this boot option in /etc/grub/grub.conf as the last option:

Code:

intel_iommu=on

My Vostro doesn't need this....the option turns on dma remapping which is required on some laptops. Just a heads up in case you or anyone else wasn't aware of this kernel option requirement on some notebooks.

 

Unity is great. Makes me consider actually running a linux distro.

 

MSI GX640.

 

It could be great for a tablet, but isn't that what the netbook remix was for? Why the decision to consolidate the unity UI into all of their distros?

 

Based on an article I read. It said that Unity works extremely well on a Tablet.

 

Installed 11.04 through wubi and very pleasantly surprised in vast improvement over three earlier editions (all through wubi - I prefer not to partition, and configure boot loaders etc - and ability to remove ubuntu easily- but may do an orthodox install after a few week's trial, if happy with it still).

Until I installed ATI gpu driver post-install, fan ran constantly; but now the machine runs just about silently all the time. GPU driver gives better result than windows version, and all operations (including startup) run much much faster than windows 7.

 

Unfortunately what works on a tablet doesn't always work well for non tablets.

 

Yeah.

I prefer a more traditional desktop.

 

Same here. Gnome worked for me, has for years and now even with the throw back options in 11.04 its painful to use my laptop. Pain isnt something I want or need from a tool used for work. Im almost 6 hours into a work day with the new ubuntu and I made a debian disc during the first hour and Im copying data now. Cant wait to be rid of 11.04.

 

NO arguments from me.

 

Yeah I figured this much. Well Im officially out 11.04, but Id like to see how it works for a tablet.

 

Yes its compatible.

 

When you install the OS to the hard drive it will ask you if you want to install 3rd party plug-ins. Unity, Mint and Kubuntu are noob friendly

Edit: you can run Linux via a USB thumb drive and install it in persistence mode by using Linux Live USB creator http://www.linuxliveusb.com/en/download

 

You need the internet properly configured to search the missing plugins.
For mp3 it is usually gstreamer-fluendo or gstreamer-ugly that is missing because of licensing issues.

 

Or you could just "sudo apt-get install vlc".

 

That wouldn't work if he wasn't online. Isn't the package selection on the livecd pretty barebone?

 

Well that's what I meant. Sorry.

 

You downloaded the iso file (698.2MB) and burned the image to a 700MB cd. How much space do you think is left? Not much for installing anything else then

 

It's there. Just right click on the top or bottom menu thingie, and select add, then find the CPU Frequency Monitor. You can then use that to set power modes or force the CPUs to run at one speed all the time. Note that's in 10.10. not sure if some idiot removed it from the distro in 11.04, and I'm not about to upgrade to find out.

 

Alright fellas, Kubuntu looks awesome on a Vostro V13, runs real cool too. It found my touchpad drivers too. One problem when I was setting up LiLi I couldn't set it up for persistence mode. I selected my USB flash drive (4GB), selected my source (CD), then the Persistence Mode light changed to Green.

I then setup Virtual Box and started the installation. It completed but never indicated it setup persistence mode. What am I missing. Also does Unetbootin have the persistence mode feature?

 

These sorts of licensing issues are the reason why desktop Linux will never gain any significant traction.

The average computer user doesn't care about open source vs closed source or who's paying who for patent royalties - they simply want everything to work immediately, right out of the box, which is what Windows and (especially) Macs offer.

 

But hey it is free and works a treat for people who bother, no one is complaining. You have to understand being free software, there is not much money backing it up to prevent lawsuits from money grubbing companies so they have to tread lightly.

 

QFT !

Could not have said it better. People need to realize that's why commercial OS'es like Windows and Apple's OS are so polished out of the box. You are paying for that either via the computer that runs it i.e. a mac or with the purchase of Windows. Apple and MS pay a fee for a lot of the peripheral stuff on their OS.

OTOH it also depends on which distro you choose. Linux Mint is as close to Windows in being a fully functional out of the box experience with a nice UI.

 

I just installed 11.04 on my M1330 and my only beef is i can't move the Unity bar. I want it at the bottom

 

And the reason for these licensing issues is the common use of proprietary standards.
btw: I don't care if Linux will ever gain any "significant traction" - whatever that means to you.

I'm happy not to be "the average computer user" according to your definition. I care for my freedom - also on my computer.

Then they are free to use these systems. Nobody stops them from doing that.
If you can't handle a bike you don't buy one and then complain that you tip over all the time. You buy a car with four wheels in the first place.


Edit:
@Rodster & especially weinter:
Please don't reduce Free Software to free of charge!

 

Actually free means opensource;software freedom but free of charge applies most of the time as well.
The "ugly, messy" structure of Linux taught me more about OS than any other things in this world, if only i had start using Linux first instead of Windows I am pretty sure I would be 1337er than I am currently.
OS with "Gelatine coats" is pretty pointless to people who wishes to learn the real deal.
I certainly DO NOT CARE for the year of Linux on Desktops(Linux already silently crept into your routers, servers and supercomputers), just hope the OS keeps on improving.

A user that mastered Linux finds all OSes easy to use to repair, THAT is worth more that anything money can buy.

The best workaround for Gnome 3 is KDE.
The workflow of KDE is similar to Windows 7 or rather should I say Windows 7 is similar to KDE.

 

Don't want it to look like windows 7 i want it like os x

 

Did your computer come with flash or quicktime? if you are using windows, probably not. Having to download to play media is nothing new and ubuntu makes it easy, hell it ask you during the install if you want to download the codecs then instead of later. Its not like before where you had to look them up in synaptics.

 

Seriously I find OS X very silly, it feels so hidden like Apple is trying to hide everything from you so the OS looks very neat and elegant(They don't let you navigate to the root of the disk unless you are on terminal, there are so little options it is like Gnome 3 and that is NOT a compliment), which is pretty pointless because in reality OSes appears messy but structured.

 

Yup agreed again. I used OS X a lot and I started when it first released. It came installed on my iMac along with Classic. I really liked Classic more than I did OS X.

 

Hence the reason i want it to look like it. If i wanted os x i would install 0s86x but i like linux just not the look so much

 

Definitely. Most people are used to the Windows experience where they can buy a computer, take it out of the box, boot it, plug in their iPhone and start transferring...

... hang on. Actually it appears they need to install iTunes first. Apparently Apple uses obfuscation and the legal system to prevent competitors from making software that can sync with iPhones/iPods.

Ok, but on the reverse side of things, at least you can buy a Mac and hook up your Zune...

... Drat. I got that wrong too. Apparently, Microsoft modified the MTP implementation in the Zune so as to only be compatible with their software, so you have to use that if you want to sync it.

Fine. But at least with Windows you can download a video in some standard open container format like MKV and play that in WMP (on Windows) or QuickTime Player (on a Mac), right? I mean... MKV is an open, free-to-implement format, so it works out of the box on everything!

Except apparently it doesn't. Sure, open source players like VLC (included with tons of Linux distros) can handle it just fine, but you need to install codecs on Windows and use something like Perian on a Mac.

I guess OS X and Windows aren't ready for the desktop yet. The average computer user doesn't care about open formats/protocols vs proprietary ones or who's paying who for patent royalties - they simply want everything to work immediately, right out of the box.

 

hell i just wish windows could read linux partitions natively