Earlier today, Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail was released. This new version of Ubuntu contains many new features which include Online Account integration, new window animations, new icons, improved menus, new lenses, and speed. Oh, and as always, there’s a slightly modified Ubuntu wallpaper. In case you haven’t been noticing, the Ubuntu default wallpaper has slowly been changing from release to release. I guess it symbolises the evolution of the operating system.
The Ubuntu 13.04 Desktop, complete with new icons and new wallpaper
These new features are pretty great. Overall, I’ve noticed that Ringtail is a lot snappier than the previous release of Ubuntu. However, it’s not quite as snappy as Ubuntu 10.10 which a lot of people have been comparing it to. The new icons were a nice treat, even though it took a couple minutes to get used to them. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of the Nautilus redesign. I prefer it the way it was.
Eh, I’m not a big fan of the Nautilus update. I’ll get used to it.
The new Online Account integration was a nice touch. It’s something that Gnome 3 has had for a little while, but it just hit Ubuntu in 13.04. It’s a good idea, but it could be more integrated. The most integration that an account has is a Google account. Signing in with a Google account gives you access to searching your Picasa photos and Google Drive files through the search, uploading your pictures to Picasa through Shotwell, and access to Google Talk.
The Online Accounts. I connected my Google account only to see what it was all about. I’m still going Google free.
This time around, I decided to do a fresh install of Ubuntu. For about 3 years, I’ve been doing Release to Release upgrades. For some reason, some applications like Shotwell refused to install. Also, I somehow managed to flood my Home directory with a bunch of random files. It was just time for a cleaning. Installing the Ubuntu ISO to a USB drive is really easy if you use Unetbootin. I noticed that Ubuntu installed a lot faster from the USB than from the CD. Unfortunately for you optical drive die hards, 13.04 won’t fit on a CD, so you’re either going to have to install to a USB, or buckle down and invest in some blank DVDs. Ubuntu 13.04 is available on the official Ubuntu website.
Note to Mac users: some users have noticed that Ubuntu doesn’t fully recognize the trackpad on some of the newer Macbooks. It doesn’t fully support the one button trackpad and apparently it’s a little jumpy. This should be fixed in some future versions as people begin to develop open source drivers for the newer Macbooks.
Have you tried out Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail? Tell me about it in the comments below.
The Boardman Perspective 