Unity 8 is also available as a developer preview

Apr 11, 2017 01:40 GMT  ·  By

Taking a step back from the whole thing about Canonical no longer developing the Unity 8 user interface and switching Ubuntu to the GNOME desktop environment next year with the release of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, it's time to take a look at what's coming to Ubuntu 17.04.

In only two days from the moment of writing this article, on April 13, 2017, Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) will become the 26th release of the popular Linux-based operating system, which Canonical will support with security and software updates for only nine months, until January 2018.

Ubuntu 17.04 has been in development for the past six months, and it's currently in its Final Freeze period, during which all Ubuntu developers are preparing for the final release of the operating system, making sure they have yet another uneventful launch on Thursday afternoon.

Powered by Linux 4.10, Ubuntu 17.04 ships with Mesa 17.0 and X.Org Server 1.19

If you're reading our regular reports on the upcoming Ubuntu 17.04 release, you should already be aware of the new features implemented, but we'll list them here again for those who haven't been watching our Linux news lately. First of all, if you're wondering, Ubuntu 17.04 ships with the Unity 7 user interface by default.

So before you decide to go distro hopping again because Canonical won't support Unity anymore, you'll be enjoying yet another nine months of Unity goodness if you upgrade to Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) on April 13 or anytime after its launch. And you have all the reason to do so because it's the best release ever of the OS.

Powered by the latest Linux 4.10 kernel, Ubuntu 17.04 is shipping with an up-to-date graphics stack based on the newest X.Org Server 1.19.3 display server and Mesa 17.0.3 3D Graphics Library. These can be easily translated to an extra layer of performance for Ubuntu gamers using AMD Radeon and Intel GPUs over Ubuntu 16.10 or 16.04 LTS.

Ubuntu 17.04 is also the first release to use a swap file for new installs instead of a swap partition, offer out-of-the-box support for IPP Everywhere and Apple AirPrint printers, include numerous packages from the latest available GNOME Stack, GNOME 3.24 in this case, and ship only with up-to-date applications.

Of course, most of the improvements are under the hood, to provide a better Ubuntu desktop experience, as Unity 7 received minor enhancements. Users will also be able to test drive the Unity 8 interface, which is available as a preview from the login screen. More will be unveiled this Thursday, on April 13, so stay tuned on Softpedia Linux.