COSMIC Desktop Alpha 7 Adds More New Features
System76 has just announced the 7th alpha release of its Rust-based COSMIC desktop environment. As with earlier alphas, the focus remains on adding the features planned for inclusion in its first stable release (dubbed Epoch 1). It’s always worth tempering expectations: COSMIC’s first release won’t feature-match the newest versions of decades-old desktop environments. Nor will COSMIC’s fledgling native core apps, also built in Rust and making an Iced-based toolkit, out-gun rivals. Yet, despite the proverbial mountain System76’s set out to climb by building their own DE from scratch (using toolkits and technologies that aren’t super common), they’re making excellent pace 
#News #CosmicDe
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/cosmic-desktop-alpha-7-adds-more-new-features
Fix Coming for Window Button Bug in Ubuntu 25.04
If you installed Ubuntu 25.04 (or upgraded from 24.10 before the gate was closed due to various pernickety issues) you might have noticed that window buttons in GTK apps. Ubuntu user Cristiano Fraga G. Nunes certainly did, filing bug report to report that “…on Ubuntu 25.04, the window control buttons (minimize, maximize, close) appear at inconsistent sizes across different GTK applications.” As he notes, GTK4 apps like Nautilus and Text Editor use smaller window buttons than in GTK3 apps, like Terminal which uses larger buttons (the same size GTK4 apps did in Ubuntu 24.10): Why the discrepancy? Ubuntu uses Yaru :sys_more_orange:
#News #BugFixes #Ubuntu25_04 #Yaru
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/ubuntu-25-04-window-button-size-bug
Enable ESM in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS to Continue Getting Updates
Time is nearly up on support for Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, with standard software, bug fix and security updates coming to an end on May 29, 2025. Users on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS should consider upgrading to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (or newer) if possible, but if unable should enable Extended Support Maintenance (ESM) as soon as possible in order to continue receiving critical security patches. ESM for Ubuntu provides “10 years of vulnerability management for critical, high and selected medium [security issues] for all software packages shipped with Ubuntu.” Enabling ESM is a bit of a no-brainer since it’s free for regular
#News #EndOfLife #Esm #Ubuntu20_04Lts #UbuntuPro
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/enable-esm-in-ubuntu-20-04-lts
Ghostty DEBs Now Available for Ubuntu 25.04
Ghostty terminal fans needn’t fear an upgrade to Ubuntu’s latest release, as a community packaging effort just added Ghostty DEB packages for Ubuntu 25.04. The Ghostty Ubuntu project was set up was the aim of providing “Ubuntu/Debian (.deb) packages for Ghostty” so users on supported Linux distributions, including Ubuntu-based distros like Linux Mint and ZorinOS, can download, install and use the app properly. To date, there’s no official snap or Flatpak version of Ghostty available, and although compiling it from source isn’t hard, it’s more hassle than most are willing to go through to try a new app — yes,
#News #Debs #Ghostty #Ubuntu25_04
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/gghostty-deb-package-for-ubuntu
Parallels Desktop 20.3 Brings Linux VM Fixes to Mac Users
The fourth major release in the Parallels Desktop 20 series has been released, bringing a stack of fixes for running Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines on macOS. Yes, I did say macOS. I know; at first blush it seems odd for an Ubuntu blog to cover macOS app updates. But, Parallels is virtualisation software. It lets macOS users run Windows, macOS and Linux distributions as virtual machines so they can …Do whatever it is they need to. Scores of developers rely on Linux virtual machines in their day-to-day work since every wants to or is able to run Linux
#News #ParallelsDesktop #VirtualMachines
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/parallels-20-3-fixes-linux-vm-issues-mac
11 Things to Do After Installing Ubuntu 25.04
The Ubuntu 25.04 release is packed full of fresh features, updated apps and other upgrades that deliver a practical, pleasing out-of-the-box experience. —Perhaps not a perfect one, though. I just installed Ubuntu 25.04 on my “couch potato” laptop and there were some “things” I needed to do to make the experience better — albeit for me. I’m not talking about anything drastic: I didn’t remove Snap, uninstall GNOME Shell, or decamp to a 100% Libre Linux kernel. As I’ve done in years past, I made a list as I went along to publish so others can look through and get
#List #News #10ThingsToDo #Ubuntu25_04
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/ubuntu-25-04-post-install-tasks
How to Upgrade to Ubuntu 25.04
Using Ubuntu 24.10 and want to upgrade to the new Ubuntu 25.04 release? Providing that you’re full up-to-date and you have an active internet connection, you can upgrade to Ubuntu 25.04 directly, no need to do a fresh install. And now is as good a time as any. Ubuntu 24.10 supports ends in July, and those using it after that date will need to upgrade to Ubuntu 25.04 to continue receiving security updates. Those left cold by the churn of upgrading every 6 to 9 months should consider installing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS as it’s supported until 2029. Anyway, chances are you know all of that;
#HowTo #Ubuntu25_04
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/how-to-upgrade-to-ubuntu-25-04
Ubuntu 25.04 is Now Available to Download
Pull the party poppers and unpack the cake for today is Ubuntu release day — and Ubuntu 25.04 ‘Plucky Puffin’ is now available to download! Ubuntu 25.04 is arguably the most polished, performant release to date! As the latest short-term release of the world’s best-known desktop Linux operating system Ubuntu 25.04 gets ongoing support until January 2026 — no longer, but Ubuntu 25.10 lands in October, with direct upgrades available from 25.04. Over the past six months Ubuntu engineers, developers and community contributors have baked plenty of improvements into this release — arguably the most polished and performant to date.
#News #DistroRelease #Ubuntu25_04
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/ubuntu-25-04-release-now-available-for-download
VirtualBox 7.1.8 Adds Support for Linux Kernel 6.14
Ubuntu 25.04 is out this week and many will be turning to virtual machine to test, trial or tie the release into their development workflows — perfect timing for a new version of VirtualBox, then! Oracle today (April 15) issued the fourth maintenance update in the current VirtualBox 7.1 series. No new features were added but a flurry of bug fixes, stability boosts and integration buffs are present, which users across all supported OSes will benefit from. For Linux users frustrated at flakey wireless network adapter detection in earlier releases, the 7.1.8 update fixes the issue. Similarly, anyone ticked off
#News #AppUpdates #VirtualMachines #Virtualbox
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/virtualbox-7-1-8-brings-support-for-linux-kernel-6-14
Ubuntu 25.10 is Officially Named ‘Questing Quokka’
Drum roll those desks to help build some suspense because the Ubuntu 25.10 codename has been confirmed as …’Questing Quokka’. The new Ubuntu codename keeps with convention, following alphabetical order—previous release was a ‘P’—and using an adjective/noun and animal combo. Canonical previously teased a new codename, tweeting (or whatever the equivalent term is now it’s called X) “Quizzical Quokka” — on April 1, aka April Fools’ day. It seems the ‘quizzical’ element then was an encouragement to question than a statement of fact. Still, the it was only half a leg pull since next release mascot is indeed a ‘Quokka’
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/ubuntu-25-10-named-questing-quokka
Rnote 0.12 Released with Improved Linux Note-Taking Features
A major new release of Rnote, an open-source app for taking handwritten notes, sketching out ideas and annotating documents and pictures, is out. Rnote 0.12 brings several new features, new customisation and configuration options, user experience buffs, bug fixes, and other lower-level tune-ups. For those unfamiliar with it, Rnote is a digital note-taking app built using GTK4 and Rust. It’s primarily intended to be used with stylus input (so includes pen pressure, stroke styles, button actions, etc) but supports typed text entry, shapes, importing images, etc too. Rnote offers a range of document layouts, from fixed pages to infinite canvases,
#News #AppUpdates #NoteTakingApps #Rnote
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/rnote-0-12-released-with-improved-linux-note-taking-features
Pinta 3.0 Released With New Effects and GTK4 Port
Indulging your casual creativity (read: making memes, defacing selfies, etc) using open-source tools is made easier with the long-awaited release of Pinta 3.0. Pinta, as long-time Linux users will be aware, is a cross-platform raster graphics tool with a feature set and user-interface partly inspired by popular Windows image editing tool Paint.NET. I previewed the Pinta 3.0 beta back in January and came away impressed. Pinta port to GTK4/libadwaita lends the UI a much-needed modern look – and is more than superficial: usability, performance and stability is bolstered by the toolkit bump. Pinta 3.0 switches to a button-based header bar
#News #AppUpdates #Graphic&DesignApps #ImageEditors #Pinta
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/pinta-3-0-released-with-new-effects-and-gtk4-port
Linux Mint Introducing Regex Searches to Nemo
Finding the exact files you want in the Nemo file manager will soon be easier and faster. Linux Mint has announced ‘enhanced’ search functionality will feature in the next major release of its GTK-based Nemo file manager (likely to see release the same time as Cinnamon 6.5 and be shipped out-of-the-box in Linux Mint 22.1 this July). New filters let you search, sift and surface files using regular expressions (often abbreviated to simply ‘regex’) queried against filenames (not contents). Linux Mint’s lead shares a sneak-peak screenshot of the filters in action: Regular expressions are powerful and easy to to use
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/linux-mint-regex-support-nemo
Celluloid 0.28 Adds Lua Module Support, Refreshes UI
Open-source video player Celluloid saw a notable new release at the weekend, bringing a refreshed user interface (among many other changes) to users. Celluloid is a popular GTK front-end to MPV, the (exhaustingly) configurable cross-platform, command-line based media player, and makes many of MPV’s more advanced features a touch easier for users to find, try and benefit from. In Celluloid 0.28 its developers have focused on improving the UI —not hugely, don’t fret. Player controls see refinement in both regular mode, full-screen mode and if ‘floating’ controls are enabled for windowed mode – fewer buttons are shown by default: As
#News #AppUpdates #Celluloid
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/celluloid-0-28-adds-lua-module-support-refreshes-ui
Tauon Music Player Adds Slick Transparency Mode for Linux
A new version of Tauon music player is out, gifting fans of the powerful and unique-looking audio app a raft of new features to play with – including some Linux exclusive eye candy! Tauon 8.0 has been fully ported to SDL3, an efficient cross-platform and open-source multimedia library that provides a robust API for interacting with hardware (like audio devices). Tauon mention that the port provides better stability and scope for adding interesting new capabilities. Features-wise, Tauon 8.0 adds an options menu to the stop button so let users define stop behaviour (including an ‘always’ setting, e.g., ‘always stop after
#News #AppUpdates #MusicPlayers #Sdl3 #Tauon
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/tauon-8-0-app-update-transparent-linux
Inkscape 1.4.1 Brings Snap App Fixes, New Features
Digital artists, designers and vector illustrators among you may be be interested to know that an updated version of open source graphics app Inkscape is out. Inkscape 1.4.1 builds on the giant set of features last year’s release of Inkscape 1.4 brought with it with a number of worthwhile enhancements and bug fixes, plus two new features. When opening Inkscape a new splash screen is shown during loading (it can be disabled) to let users (especially those on older/slower devices) know something is happening since they clicked or tapped on Inkscape icon to open it. The welcome dialog which shows on
#News #AppUpdates #Inkscape
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/inkscape-1-4-1-brings-snap-app-fixes-new-features
Dull Desktop? Install ‘Picture of the Day’ App on Ubuntu
Ubuntu users can enjoy a fresh new desktop wallpaper each and every day with this new app, which sources backgrounds from Bing, Wikimedia, and NASA.
#News #Bing #EyeCandy
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/ubuntu-picture-of-the-day-app
DeaDBeeF 1.10 Release Brings New Features
A new version of DeaDBeeF music player is out, bringing some cool features, FFmpeg 7 support, and a flurry of bug fixes to long-time fans. The popularity of traditional desktop music player apps has dipped considerably since the arrival of music streaming services like Spotify, which give users on-demand (and often free) access to a far larger catalogue of artists, albums and releases. Still, many people (myself included) have libraries filled with MP3 and other audio files, and do enjoy listening them. I’d wager most such users have (by now) settled on their preferred local music player; for many, that
#News #AppUpdates #Deadbeef #MusicPlayers
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/deadbeef-1-10-release-brings-new-features
Linux App Release Roundup (March 2025)
March was another stellar month for Linux software updates, with big improvements to essential privacy tools like KeePassXC, creative apps such as Shotcut and DigiKam, and many more — updates that didn’t warrant dedicated articles on this blog. Why? Well, sometimes it’s an update making small changes hat it’s hard to say much1 about. Other times I’m just deathly late to hearing about it (which is why new tips via the contact form are super appreciated – you help me catch the things I miss). For those of us on fixed-release Linux distributions like Ubuntu, even small app updates can
#News #AppUpdates #Blender #Crossover #Lrr #Shotcut
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/03/linux-app-release-roundup-march-2025
Firefox 137 Released with Tab Groups, Address Bar Revamp + More
Tab grouping is the latest big-ticket feature to be added to Mozilla Firefox, which sees a new stable release roll out from today. Last month’s Firefox 136 update delivered long-requested support for vertical tabs, a redesigned sidebar experience giving easy access to existing and new features (including online AI chatbots), and flipped the switch on AMD video hardware decoding for Linux users. Firefox 137 is an equally big update, bringing tab grouping, a revamped search bar, and a host of other changes. Let’s take a look. Firefox 137: New Features Tab Grouping Firefox 137 brings Tab Groups to users on the stable
#News #AppUpdates #Firefox #Hevc
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/04/firefox-137-new-features
