What's New In Ubuntu Linux 13.04 “Raring Ringtail”
Ubuntu 13.04 is here,
and it's packed with new features to improve the Unity desktop
including more social media integration, some new lenses in the Dash,
and a significant speed boost.
Ubuntu
13.04 builds off many of the new features from its LTS (long term
service) predecessor, improving on new features and bringing a few extra
goodies to the table. Here's what you'll find.
Better Social Media Integration
Ubuntu's
Online Accounts preference pane has some handy new features. Now, when
you add an account (like a Facebook or Twitter account), you can choose
which apps on your system have access to it. Want Shotwell to access
your Facebook photos, but don't want Empathy using it for Facebook chat?
You can turn it off here with the flick of a switch.
The Dash
also has a new Social lens (see the top image in this post), which
allows you to see status updates from the friends you follow in your
integrated social media apps. It also gives you notifications of new
messages or mentions coming in, which is kind of cool.
New Window Management Options
Ubuntu
13.04 added a few cool tricks for handling a ton of open windows. If you
have a bunch of Firefox windows open, for example, you can hover over
Firefox's icon in the dock and use your scroll wheel to cycle between
windows. You can also just right-click on the icon to switch to a
specific one.
The
Workspaces feature is no longer enabled by default,but you can turn it
on in Settings > Appearance. The new dock icon shows what workspace
you're currently using, which is a small but handy addition.
A New, Social Photo Lens
In addition
to the new Social lens, you'll also find a new Photo lens in the Unity
Dash. This contains images you've imported into Shotwell as well as
photos on any social networks you've enabled in Online Accounts.
Improved Sync and Bluetooth Menus
Ubuntu
One users will see a new and improved menu in the menu bar, with
one-click options to share a file, see your current transfers, and more.
If you have
Bluetooth, you'll also see some small improvements in its menu bar
dropdown, including big one-click switches to turn Bluetooth on and off.
Other Minor Appearance Changes
Canonical
has also made a few minor cosmetic changes around the desktop. Window
snapping now has a new animation that shows you where the window will
appear, the dock has a few new icons, and other small items have new
fade animations around the UI. Unity also has a new shutdown menu more
in tune with the rest of the interface.
Better Performance
Last but
certainly not least, 13.04 sports some much-needed speed improvements in
the Unity desktop. The whole Unity experience had really started to lag
in recent versions, and Canonical has fixed much of that in 13.04.
There's still probably some room to improve, but it's noticeably faster
than it was before. That coupled with the new features makes 13.04 an
upgrade worth checking out.
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