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Ubuntu 13.10 released and available for download
Six months have passed since the previous Ubuntu release, six months full of development incarnated now in the public space as Ubuntu 13.10.
The Saucy Salamander development cycle has been characterized by numerous optimizations and improvements, as well as by new features and an overall increase in stability, reliability and speed.
What is new in Ubuntu 13.10?
Unity 7 presents itself now as a significantly enriched place for searches, allowing the user to search through a massive amount of data sources ranging from local folders, locally-stored music tracks to Wikipedia and deviantART due to the newly-implemented Smart Scopes Project.
Essentially, via the Smart Scopes project, the Dash has been extended to embrace the web and its sources, gathering under a single view a wide, diverse and useful range of sources, typing a term in the search area, pushes the typed word through relevant online sources of the Internet, returning explanatory images, weather forecasts, historic references, places to look further, etc.
In Ubuntu 13.10, the Dash has been imprinted with the capacity of mixing one of the most important and useful data sources, permitting search actions in a matter of seconds.
Unity 7 exposes by default numerous scopes (data sources) in the Applications scope, in order to satisfy the user; clicking on a scope, allows the user to 1-click away enable/disable the scope, disabling a scope, temporarily removes the scope from the searched-through data sources.
Ubuntu 13.10 uses the handy Alt+Tab Switcher, manner of switching between opened applications receiving mouse pointer support, hitting now the keyboard's Alt+Tab keys, summons the Alt+Tab Switcher, while retaining the functionality-enabled mouse pointer on the screen.
As a consequence, the user is able to act with the mouse pointer on the switcher.
nstalling Ubuntu 13.10, the user is to notice the default addition of Indicator Keyboard, appindicator housing language-specific functionalities on the easiness of the Unity panel, while featuring 1-click away functionality.
Shifting from one language to another is now doable by simply clicking on the Indicator Keyboard's preferred language.
Ubuntu 13.10 increases its chameleonic nature on the desktop, transforming the desktop's selection area into a background's average color handler; selecting files and folders on the desktop, the user is to be delighted by the newly-acquired chameleonic color used by the selection block, chameleonic area generating more consistency on the desktop.
Ubuntu Software Center has been updated with a more refined behavior when installing applications, featuring now more accurate trajectories of apps and subtly-refreshed animations, feature paired with handy offline DEB-installation support.
Having no Internet connection, the user is still able to install DEB packages via Ubuntu Software Center.
In Ubuntu 13.10, clearing all logged events is easier and more hassle-free via the new Activity Log Manager, featuring now a new look, feel and more deep coverage of logged event.
Activity Log Manager allows now the (on demand) removal of all Zeitgeist's logged events, removal affecting recent files and open with-like dialogs, too.
Ambiance and Radiance, Ubuntu's default light themes, come with significant long-awaited refinements, beautifying the desktop with consistent toolbars (fully dark, fully light), consistent menus, properly-rendered buttons, removal of unpleasant anesthetic white lines on dark backgrounds, etc, basically, being finely-tuned and affecting numerous applications and corners of the desktop.
Evince, the handy document reader, gained a modern toolbar, where the eye is to be pleased by the new toolbar containing monochrome icons, more button-ized feel and relocated search area, transforming one's reading experience into a more enjoyable activity.
Shotwell is now able to display the size of the about-to-be-cropped portion from edited images, thus the user can clearly observe the size of cropped areas, as well as being able to more accurately crop specific intended sizes.
Playing music tracks has a superior approach in Ubuntu 13.10 due to Rhythmbox's visually enriched look, subtle changes adding elegance into the simplistic-yet-handy music player; newly-added buttons and the text-less toolbar align Rhythmbox to the latest version of Ubuntu.
As usual, Ubuntu 13.10 has received the fruits of the wallpaper-submission contests and the default wallpaper, enriching the desktop with interesting shapes, colorful patterns and an evolved version of the default wallpaper, resulting more vivid full-of-vitality visuals decorating Ubuntu 13.10.
The 2.8 series of Transmission increases the amount of details exposed in torrent-specific actions, pushing a useful bundle of new features into Ubuntu 13.10's torrent-downloading experience, as in the case of several fixes and extra informations (like for example, allowing the user to observe the size of the free space when adding torrents).
Devices (USB sticks, disk partitions) are now fully exposed on the GNOME Disks' main view, permitting an intuitive manner of selecting devices and acting on them; erasing a USB stick is as simple as selecting it and hitting the bottom-bar's button, without the need of navigating through GNOME Disks' internals.
Typing assistance, popups and sound support are features implemented in Ubuntu 13.10's Onboard, default virtual keyboard offering modernism and significantly-enriched capabilities to users seeking to utilize the user-friendly virtual keyboard.
Ubuntu 13.10 comes with updated versions for its default software, among which Firefox, Linux kernel, LibreOffice, etc, each and each application offering new features, optimizations and an overall up-to-date nature.
Installing and running Ubuntu 13.10, the user is to notice the level of strength, speed and smoothness, fluid Ubuntu experience fully penetrating all corners of the desktop; faster Unity, more responsive applications, less used resources and an overall agile feel are part of Ubuntu 13.10.
Along with new features, Unity 7 has received several bug-fixes-only releases, versions solidifying and strengthening Unity, in order to deliver a Unity version almost reaching perfection, Unity presenting itself as no-compromise and suitable for every and every situation, ranging from maneuvering tens of opened windows to not-interfering with fullscreen games.
Ubuntu 13.10 is recommended for immediate installation, being a clear win in terms of performance, speed and agility, as compared to the previous Ubuntu 13.04.
Across the latest six months, the Ubuntu quality team has continued to extend the automated tests in more and more layers and areas of Ubuntu, generating even more solid and robust Ubuntu pieces, automated tests having the goal of stressing the 13.10 desktop, in order to detect more and more issues, issues then fixed and implemented in the powerful operating system.
Ubuntu 13.10 is available for download on http://www.ubuntu.com/download
via: http://iloveubuntu.net/ubuntu-1310-released-and-available-download