14 DAY TRIAL // Ubuntu MATE project leader Martin Wimpress announced today the availability of the MATE 1.16.2 desktop environment in the special PPA (Personal Package Archive) created for users of the Ubuntu MATE 16.04.2 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system.
As Ubuntu MATE 16.04 LTS launched with the MATE 1.12 desktop environment, the PPA containing the MATE 1.16 desktop environment for the Xenial release was announced in the first days of the year to everyone's utter surprise, and it's still maintained with new point releases as they become available.
If you've upgraded to Ubuntu MATE 16.10 (Yakkety Yak), you are already enjoying the MATE 1.16 desktop, and the same goes for those who managed to upgrade to the newer Ubuntu MATE 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) release, which ships with the latest MATE 1.18 desktop environment by default.
But while MATE 1.18 packages won't arrive to Ubuntu MATE 16.04 LTS users anytime soon because they're now entirely based on the GTK+ 3 technologies, at least you can now update your favorite desktop to a newer version, which includes various improvements and bug fixes.
Here's how to upgrade Ubuntu MATE 16.04.2 LTS to MATE 1.16.2
If you're using the Ubuntu MATE 16.04.2 LTS operating system on your personal computer, it's extremely easy to update it to the latest MATE 1.16.2 desktop environment. All you have to do is open the MATE Terminal app and copy/paste the following commands, hitting the Enter key after each one.
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/xenial-mate
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade
Once all the packages have been downloaded and successfully installed, it's time to restart your computer. When you log back in to your Ubuntu MATE 16.04.2 LTS PC, you should notice that you are now running the MATE 1.16.2 desktop environment. You'll also receive future updates using this method!