14 DAY TRIAL // The stable version of Ubuntu MATE Wily Werewolf (15.10) is almost here and we just received the final Beta. We now take a closer look at this Ubuntu flavor and see what's been happening in the past few months.
Ubuntu MATE is somewhat of a contradiction in terms. It's a Linux distribution that is aimed at users who want a more conservative approach, but at the same time it's also the more progressive when it comes to new features and improvements. This is not a bad thing, in fact it's good to see an Ubuntu flavor putting so much effort into evolving from one version to another.
There are a ton of updated packages, as you can imagine, and we'll go through them as well. The most important aspect is probably the fact that all the packages from the upstream MATE 1.10 desktop environment have been added to the Linux distribution, but there are quite a few other things that have been changed.
Ubuntu MATE Wily Werewolf (15.10) is exciting
As you might expect, Ubuntu MATE ships with Firefox 41.0, Thunderbird 38.2.0, Piding 2.10.11, and Transmission 2.84 for the Internet-related apps. The office needs are fulfilled by the LibreOffice 5.0.1.2 suite, the Atril Document Viewer, and an application named MATE Dictionary.
Users will also find that Brasero, guvcview, Rhythmbox, VLC Media Player, Eye of MATE, Shotwell, and a number of other applications have been included by default as well.
Another highlight of the OS is the MATE Tweak utility that allows users to change the appearance of the desktop with just a single click, moving the launcher in the bottom right or activating the Plank dock. Interestingly, only two window managers are now available in Ubuntu MATE, Marco (default), and Compiz. A couple of others that were present in older versions are no longer available.
You can download Ubuntu MATE Wily Werewolf (15.10) Beta 2 right now from Softpedia and give it a spin. Please keep in mind that it's not a stable release and it shouldn't be used on production machines. Also, there is also a nasty Ubiquity issue that can cause some problems. If you're going to install this version, please make sure that you're not connected to the Internet.
