September 1, 2014

Ubuntu Mate Remix 14.10 is a refreshing install for Gnome fans

I installed the new Ubuntu Mate 14.10 Beta 1, and it performed flawlessly. It looks good and performs quickly. I cannot wait for this to become a regular Ubuntu supported distro. It comes with Firefox 31, Pidgin, Rhythmbox, and LibreOffice 4.3. Just add Synaptic and the Chrome browser. It has linux kernel 3.16. I like this new distro based on Ubuntu 14.10 because it allows you to get work done without making you search for apps in Unity, or the Whisker menu in XFCE, allows customization more than Ubuntu Gnome, and has the latest kernel and apps. There is a link below where to get it. Nice job Ubuntu Mate. Below is a review from Softpedia.com






























You can grab this exciting new Ubuntu Mate 14.10 Beta 1 distro here:

https://ubuntu-mate.org/download/


Ubuntu MATE is not an official Ubuntu flavor yet, but it has pretty good chances of becoming one. Here are the changes in Ubuntu MATE 14.10 beta 1 since alpha 2:
  • Added community contributed wallpapers, Plymouth theme, SYSLINUX theme and Ubiquity slides;
  • Added Ambiant-MATE and Radiant-MATE desktop and icon themes;
  • Added Ubuntu MATE LightDM theme;
  • Updated the default Qt4 style to match the Ambiant-MATE theme;
  • Added OpenDyslexic a font created to increase readability for readers with dyslexia;
  • Added a screen magnifier for indiviuals with low vision;
  • Added patent-free S3TC compatible implementation that provides texture compression to Mesa;
  • Added service discovery on a local network via the mDNS/DNS-SD protocol suite;
  • Added colord to manage, install and generate accurate colour profiles;
  • Added ntp time synchronisation daemon;
  • Added policykit-desktop-privileges which fixes, among other things, auto mounting of disks without requiring a password;
  • Added a PAM module that will automatically unlock the keyrings using your login password, making gnome-keyring usage transparent without losing its security benefits;
  • Added GVFS backend (FTP, SSH, WebDAV, Samba) to Déjà Dup;
  • Added GStreamer backend to LibreOffice;
  • Fixed installation failures when there is no active Internet connection;
  • Fixed hiding the im-config icon from MATE;
  • Improved support for 3G/4G USB dongles, iPod and MTP devices, on-demand codec installation and hardware detection and support;
  • Updated the language packs in the Live CD based on the Top 10 countries that visit https://ubuntu-mate.org;
  • Removed ffmpegthumbnailer, light-themes and ubuntu-artwork.
 Source: http://www.webupd8.org/2014/08/ubuntu-flavors-1410-utopic-unicorn-beta.html

Softpedia Editor's Review for Ubuntu MATE Remix

EDITOR'S RATING:   5.0/5

 

A community-derived Ubuntu operating system that features the MATE desktop environment

Written by Marius Nestor

Ubuntu MATE Remix is an open source, community-derived operating system based off of Ubuntu and features MATE, a fork of the GNOME Classic desktop environment, as its default and only graphical interface.

The most beautiful MATE setup ever made!

Ubuntu MATE Remix is not just another Linux kernel-based operating system built around the MATE desktop environment, as it beautifully integrates this GNOME Classic fork, making it look very attractive, while at the same time being very lightweight. It uses a classic two-panel layout.

How to use it? Simple, use the Applications menu item to browser and open apps, the Places menu item to access the local filesystem or network shares and the System menu item to configure and tweak the OS. From the bottom panel you can easily interact with opened programs, as well as to cycle between the four virtual workspaces.

Includes a standard selection of applications

Default applications include the LibreOffice office suite, Mozilla Thunderbird email and news client, Mozilla Firefox web browser, Rhythmbox audio player, Totem video player, Transmission torrent downloader, Pidgin multi-protocol instant messenger, Cheese webcam viewer, HexChat IRC client and Shotwell image viewer and organizer.

Freely downloadable as two Live DVDs for mainstream architectures

The distribution is available for download as two Live DVD ISO images of approximately 1GB in size each, designed to support both 32-bit (i386) and 64-bit (amd64) hardware platfroms.

On Linux, you can write the ISO images to USB thumb drives of 1GB or higher capacity using a bootable USB disk creator like UNetbootin or GNOME Disk Utility (Disks). Optionally, if you don’t have a spare USB stick, you can burn them to blank or RW DVD discs.

Boot options à la Ubuntu Linux

It appears that the distribution uses Ubuntu’s default bootloader on the Live DVDs, which has been instructed to start the live system in about seven seconds from the moment the user boots the OS from the BIOS of a computer.

Default boot options include the ability to start the try Ubuntu MATE Remix without installing, start the installer directly, run a memory test, boot an existing operating sytem from the local drive or check the bootable medium for defects (only if using a DVD media).

Source: http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Linux-Distributions/Ubuntu-MATE-Remix-103505.shtml

Screen Shots
You can review the entire distro screen shots here:

http://www.linuxscreenshots.org/?release=Ubuntu%20MATE%20Beta%201