The developers are trying something new for 14.10

Oct 23, 2014 15:51 GMT  ·  By

Xubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) is now available for download, along with its Ubuntu GNOME, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and other flavors. The developers have made a few important changes that will definitely set this release apart.

Xubuntu 14.10 is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu 14.10 that uses the Xfce desktop environment. It's one of the lightest flavors of Ubuntu and it all has to do with the fact that the DE is really fast and responsive. The Xubuntu devs have made sure that this is the case with 14.10.

The Xubuntu releases are usually very quiet and we rarely see them overshadowing the Ubuntu base, but this is exactly what happened this time around. The devs have made a number of very important modifications and improvements, but they have also changed a very important aspect of the desktop, at least for the duration of the support of the distribution.

Why is Xubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) pink?

This is a very legitimate question and the answer has to do with the code name. The devs figured that it might be a good idea to show just how easy is to change things in the distribution, and given the fact that the 14.10 branch will only have six months of support, they consider it's worth a shot. To be fair, this is the kind of change that you either love or hate, but fortunately for the users, it's very easy to return to default.

"To celebrate the 14.10 codename 'Utopic Unicorn' and to demonstrate the easy customisability of Xubuntu, highlight colors have been turned pink for this release. You can easily revert this change by using the theme configuration application (gtk-theme-config) under the Settings Manager; simply turn Custom Highlight Colors 'Off' and click 'Apply'. Of course, if you wish, you can change the highlight color to something you like better than the default blue!"

"Starting with Xubuntu 14.10, you should use pkexec instead of gksudo for running graphical applications with root access from the terminal for improved security. The Xubuntu team has prepared and shipped the necessary pkexec policy files for all default applications in the Xubuntu installation that we deemed necessary," said the devs in the release notes.

The developers have also said that a new and shiny Xfce Power Manager plugin has been added to the main panel, the default number of workspaces is now 1, the Settings category is now showing up in Whisker menu, and numerous packages have been updated.

You can check the screenshots below and see if the pink desktop is working for you, or you can download the ISOs for Xubuntu 14.10 from Softpedia.

Xubuntu 14.10 (Utopic Unicorn) (6 Images)

Xubuntu 14.10 desktop
Xubuntu 14.10 whisker menuXubuntu 14.10 file manager
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