COSMIC DE Alpha 2 Released, This is What’s Improved
Chocks away — British saying, don’t stare at me weirdly — as the second alpha of System76’s homegrown COSMIC desktop environment has been released. To make it easy for us all to try out the latest improvements a second alpha build of Pop!_OS 24.04 is also available to download. Those who installed the first Pop!_OS 24.04 alpha don’t need to re-install. All of the improvements in this post are available as software updates via the COSMIC App Store. Not that anyone needs to use Pop!_OS to try the COSMIC. This Rust-based DE is already available to test across a diverse 
#News #CosmicDe #Pop!_Os #System76
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/cosmic-desktop-alpha-2-pop-os-released
Ubuntu 24.10 ARM ISO Supports the ThinkPad X13s
Ubuntu 24.10 supports the Snapdragon-powered Lenovo ThinkPad X13s laptop in the official ‘generic’ ARM64 ISO — a notable change. Although it is possible to use Ubuntu 23.10 on the Thinkpad X13s it requires using of a custom ISO spun-up specifically for this device. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS had no official installer image for this device (it is possible to upgrade to 24.04 from 23.10, albeit with caveats). But with the arrival of Ubuntu 24.10 in October, the standard Ubuntu ARM64 ISO (which works much like a regular Intel/AMD ISO, with a live session and guided installer) will happily boot on this
#News #Arm #ArmLaptops #Snapdragon #Ubuntu24_10
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-24-10-arm64-iso-now-supports-thinkpad-x13s
How to Disable the ‘Recent’ Files Section in Nautilus
There’s one feature in the Nautilus file manager I use daily: the Recent files shortcut. One-click gives me access to my most recently downloaded, modified, and newly created files together, regardless of the folder they’re in. I find it dead handy – but I can accept that it’s dead revealing too. Which is why not everyone likes this functionality. While individual files can be hidden from view manually, that’s effort. Sensitive documents, secret projects, risqué media with revealing thumbnails (you know I mean) can easily, if accidentally appear on screen. Others simply don’t use the feature and would prefer the
#HowTo #Nautilus #UbuntuBasics
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-disable-recent-files-nautilus
See Real-Time Power Consumption in Ubuntu’s Top Panel
If you’re looking for a no-fuss way to monitor real-time power consumption on your Ubuntu laptop, a new GNOME Shell extension makes it deliciously easy. “Why would I want to see energy usage?” – anyone asking that question probably doesn’t. This is more for the curious folk, those interested to see the relative power demands of software being run, the tasks performance, hardware settings, devices connected, and so on – think educational rather than essential. Of course, anyone can monitor power consumption on Linux without an extension. Command line tools like upower can do it, as can some system monitors,
#News #GnomeExtensions #Power
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/gnome-shell-power-monitor-extension
Ubuntu 24.10 Beta is Now Available to Download
A beta of Ubuntu 24.10 ‘Oracular Oriole’ is now available to download, giving developers and enthusiasts the chance to test and assess and the changes before October’s stable release. Developers and non-developers alike can download this beta to sample the new features in Ubuntu 24.10, road-test compatibility, and flag up any snafus for fixing before the stable release takes flight. This is the only beta release that’s planned (a release candidate will follow in few weeks time). If you install the beta you can upgrade to the final release just by installing updates as they come. Chances are know all
#News #Beta #Ubuntu24_10
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-24-10-beta-is-now-available-to-download
Vivaldi Web Browser is Now Available as a Snap
Vivaldi web browser has arrived on the Canonical Snap Store, officially. This Chromium-based web browser has long been available on Linux, offering a traditional DEB installer for Ubuntu users (which adds an APT repo for subsequent updates). And while you can get Vivaldi on Flathub the package is only semi-official. It is maintained and packaged by a Vivaldi engineer, but it is not a recommended or supported package by Vivaldi – not yet, anyway. So Vivaldi embracing snap is an interesting development. Vivaldi’s CEO Jon von Tetzchner says the team is providing an official Vivaldi snap package because snaps are
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/vivaldi-web-browser-now-available-as-snap
Zorin OS 17.2 Released with New Appearance Options, Linux Kernel
Zorin OS 17.2 is now available for download, bringing users of the Ubuntu-based Linux distribution a welcome set of improvements and updates. The latest major release in the Zorin OS 17 series, which is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, is described by the Zorin team as being the “most capable, customisable, and compatible version yet”. How so? Well, Zorin OS 17.2 adds new options to the Zorin Appearance app. This one-stop personalisation tool now lets users change their cursor theme, and install third-party themes by following a linked guide which, interestingly, deals how to restyle gtk4/libadwaita stylesheets by way of
#News
The Best New Features in Ubuntu 24.10
Ubuntu 24.10 ‘Oracular Oriole’ is released on October 13th, and as you’d expect from a new version of Ubuntu, it’s packed with new features. As a short-term release, Ubuntu 24.10 gets 9 months of ongoing updates, security patches, and critical fixes. It’s not long, but Ubuntu 25.04 is released in April of next year (6 months later) and all users on 24.10 can upgrade to 25.04 directly. But enough about releases to come, and more on this one. In this post I run through the best Ubuntu 24.10 features, changes, and enhancements. Keep in mind that everything you read about below
#News #Feature #Gnome47 #Ubuntu24_10
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-24-10-new-features
Open-Source Alternative to Cursor? Void Aims To Be
VS Code is to modern text editors what Chromium is to browsers: a fork magnet. A slew of niche spins have emerged, each putting their own spin on Microsoft’s massively popular original. The latest to join the fray is Void. The Github page for Void describes it as an open-source alternative to Cursor. Cursor is a subscription-based, cross-platform AI-powered text editor (and VS Code fork) that has gained considerable attention. It offers AI-powered code completion, predictive coding, code generation, edit suggestions, and predictive cursor positioning. It’s even said to be popular with developers working on AI at companies like OpenAI
#News #Ai/Ml #TextEditor #Void #VsCode
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/void-editor-open-source-cusor-alternative
Ubuntu 24.10 Fixes Annoying Issue with PWAs in Chromium Snap
Using the Chromium snap app? If you do, and you use Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) there’s a bug fix coming down the pipes that will improve your workflow. Presently, if you install a PWA in the Chromium snap you can open it in a separate, streamlined window using the app shortcut you find in the applications grid. But when you open it it doesn’t get its own dock icon (it just merges into the Chromium one) and it’s not treated as a separate app by the task switcher, which makes it more difficult (but not impossible) to accessing using alt/super
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/chromium-snap-pwa-fixed-in-ubuntu
Linux Kernel 6.11 Released, This is What’s New
Linus Torvalds has announced the release of Linux kernel 6.11, which is the kernel version Ubuntu 24.10 and Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS will offer. Fittingly, this update arrives a few days before the Linux Kernel Maintainer Summit takes place in Vienna, Austria. In his message to the Linux Kernel Mailing List to sign-off on the release Torvalds’ writes: “I’m once again on the road and not in my normal timezone, but it’s Sunday afternoon here in Vienna, and 6.11 is out”, and asks kernel devs to “give the latest release a try” before getting stuck in with the 6.12 merge window,
#News #LinuxKernel
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/linux-kernel-6-11-released-this-is-whats-new
Raspberry Pi Imager Ported to Qt 6, Now Uses AppImages on Linux
You don’t need to own a Raspberry Pi to make use of the Raspberry Pi Imager as this nifty image writer makes flashing ISO, IMG, and similar files to USB drives and SD cards mighty easy. Raspberry Pi Imager 1.9 was released this week and it’s a big update. For one, this open-source and cross-platform image writer now uses Qt 6. This provides a stack of underlying improvements in terms of stability, but also some visual ones as Raspberry Pi say the Qt 6 port provides “a lightly refreshed UI throughout on all platforms.” Also of note, Raspberry Pi Imager
#News #AppUpdates #ImageWriter #RaspberryPi
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/raspberry-pi-imager-official-appimage
Ubuntu 24.10 Fixes a Pesky File Picker Paper-Cut
Ubuntu 24.10 features a clutch of headline-worth changes, but also plenty of less obvious fixes for “paper cuts” – including a decades-long issue with thumbnails in the GTK file picker. Feeling deja-vu? GNOME 44 (shipped in Ubuntu 23.04) included a thumbnail grid in the GTK file picker to make it quicker and easier to select the right files to upload, or open in an app, and so on. A feature long overdue, resolving a “bug” which had been open for 20 years! Only, there is a bit of a problem with how it works — some of you may have
#News
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-24-10-fixes-missing-thumbnails-file-picker
Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS Released with Linux Kernel 6.8
The fifth and final point release to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is now available to download. This update was due to be released a couple of weeks ago but was delayed by a delay in getting Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS out the door – something had to give, so the release date of this update slipped. But it’s here now, ready to download. Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS brings a freshly-spun installer image (ISO) that includes all of the software, security, and stability updates released since the last ISO was made. This cuts down on the number of updates that have to downloaded after
#News #PointReleases #Ubuntu22_04Lts
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/ubuntu-22-04-5-lts-released-with-linux-kernel-6-8
Tiling Shell Adds Option to Show Border Around Focused Window
All keybindings accessible from one place
#News #GnomeExtensions #TilingShell
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/tiling-shell-gnome-extension-window-border-option
Linux Mint Tease ‘Improved’ Default Cinnamon Theme
The Cinnamon desktop environment looks pretty nice on Linux Mint, but if you install it on other distributions it doesn’t look as good — but that’s about to change. In his latest monthly mail-shot, distro lead Clement Lefebvre says the “ugly” default Cinnamon theme, which is maintained for trouble-shooting and testing purpose and is not the theme Linux Mint itself sets as default, will be “much improved” in Cinnamon 5.4. “In our distribution the focus is on Mint-Y. The default Cinnamon theme rarely gets attention from theme artists,” he says. “Ideally, it is the responsibility of the distributions to
#News #Cinnamon #LinuxMint
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/linux-mint-new-default-cinnamon-theme-more
Parallels 20 for Mac Released with Ubuntu 24.04 VM Support
Parallels Desktop 20 has been released for macOS. The virtualisation software introduces a number of buffs for Linux VMs running on macOS. The headline change in Parallels Desktop 20 is support for macOS Sequoia, both as host OS and as a guest — important given that Sequoia is due to be released in the next few weeks. But Parallels Desktop 20 has a lot of improvements for Linux guests too. First up, it now officially supports Ubuntu 24.04 LTS VMs, Fedora 39/40, and a handful of other recent Linux distributions releases. The icons for Ubuntu VMs now use the new
#News #Macos #ParallelsDesktop #VirtualMachines
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/parallels-desktop-for-mac-ubuntu-2404-support
VirtualBox 7.1 Goes Stable with Qt 6 UI, Wayland Clipboard Support + More
VirtualBox 7.1 is now available to download for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Those upgrading from VirtualBox 7.0 or earlier will find a sizeable set of changes on offer, among them what Oracle describe as a “modernized look and feel”. Set your expectations accordingly for while this update to VirtualBox does feature an improved UI, as well as a port to Qt 6, the extent of those changes are more ‘modest refinement’ than ‘major revamp’. Basically, VirtualBox 7.1 now offers two UI modes: Basic (educes the number of options, settings, info, etc shown) and Expert (doesn’t hide anything). Switching between them is easy,
#News #AppUpdates #VirtualMachines #Virtualbox
Fastfetch is the Perfect Neofetch Replacement
When development on system info tool Neofetch was discontinued1 earlier this year a slew of forks, alternatives, and upstart projects sprung up to fill the void. Yet the Neofetch alternative that’s gained the most traction —anecdotally, at least; I’ve not be creeping around Linux conferences to verify first-hand—is FastFetch (or Fastfetch; not sure on the capitalisation). Fastfetch is similar to Neofetch in that it ‘pretty prints’ information about your OS, pertinent underlying technologies, and system’s hardware specs in a terminal window. But it’s a lot more capable, faster, more featured, supports Wayland (which Neofetch technically didn’t), and (perhaps most importantly)
#News #CliTools #SystemTools
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/fastfetch-is-the-best-neofetch-alternative
KDE Slimbook VI – A Powerful Laptop for KDE Enthusiasts
Looking for a powerful new Linux laptop? The new KDE Slimbook VI may very well appeal. Unveiled at Akademy 2024, KDE’s annual community get-together, the KDE Slimbook VI marks a major refresh from earlier models in the KDE Slimbook line. And this thing ain’t no slouch – a dedicated benchmark page shows how this model compares to the preceding versions (spoiler: better). The 16-inch KDE Slimbook VI is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU with integrated NPU for local AI/ML workloads. Graphics are integrated but are well above the usual iGPU fare, with 12-cores, a high clock speed,
#Hardware #News #Kde #LinuxLaptops #Slimbook
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/09/kde-slimbook-vi-a-powerful-laptop-for-kde-enthusiasts
