Ubuntu is an extremely popular operating system for personal computers, known for its user-friendly features that make it both safe and intuitive to use.
Ubuntu strives to be secure by design. Programs run with low privileges and cannot access or corrupt the operating system or files belonging to other users.
Canonical acknowledges the shopping lens feature of Software Center has caused privacy concerns, and has plans to improve it.
Wayland
Wayland is an innovative approach to controlling how applications interact with your graphical system and desktop environment. Designed to replace the older X11 protocol and speed up Linux systems faster and increase security, many desktop environments already support Wayland as do a number of programs currently running under it. Furthermore, its design provides simpler integration into applications than X11.
Wayland stands out by providing better isolation between processes, meaning no single program can access input from or take screenshots of another window. Furthermore, its reduced communication between processes and hardware could make Wayland faster overall.
Wayland requires both a special display driver and compositor for use, with the latter serving to render applications’ graphical user interfaces onscreen and manage multiple X11 or Wayland windows; additionally it can act as virtual console for terminals and other graphic interfaces. At its heart is libwayland library which serves as an API for inter-process communication while actual implementation takes place within various compositors and application toolkits.
Install the weston package and run a program with a Wayland window to test Wayland. In addition, install the wyland-desktop-portal and gdg-desktop-portal packages for even further options in terms of using Wayland login screens.
GTK and Qt applications should work automatically with Wayland; however, those that rely on static linking of libraries may require being recompiled with Wayland-compatible versions. Furthermore, those applications that directly use X11 API will require to be rewritten using either glib-wayland or pywayland for implementation.
GNOME 3
GNOME 3 is an advanced desktop environment found across Ubuntu releases, developed under the auspices of the Free Software Foundation – an advocacy organization which advocates for free and open source software as a counterbalance to proprietary systems such as Windows.
GNOME has been designed with its clean desktop layout in mind to present only what is necessary, minimizing distractions from clutter while keeping focus on your task at hand. Furthermore, it includes applications which may prove helpful in various circumstances.
GNOME comes equipped with several extensions to help customize its user interface to meet your individual needs, one of the most popular being the Application Viewer accessible from GNOME dash. This window contains an icon matrix of all installed applications with each row or column labeled according to category; clicking Frequent displays only those you use most frequently while All displays all installed applications sorted alphabetically by name.
Classic GNOME Menu adds a classic-looking menu bar to your GNOME shell, replacing its default GNOME 2 menu with something simpler that is easier for small screens to read.
For a chance at GNOME 3, download and run Ubuntu full release as an operating system and use tasksel tool to install both GNOME display manager and desktop environment. Keep in mind that at least 2GB of disk space must be available before starting this install process.
GNOME 3’s most recent release supports Wayland display protocol and Mutter window manager provides experimental compositing functionality – making it an excellent option for users transitioning from legacy X Window Systems desktops to GNOME desktops.
Unity
Unity is an easy-to-use game engine designed to enable anyone, from indie developers and AAA game studios alike, to easily develop 2D and 3D video games. Unity offers cross-platform compatibility while its physics engine and collision detection features make creating games with realistic graphics and animations straightforward. Furthermore, its scripting language support makes development simpler while an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) offers professional programmers a platform for development.
Unity is best used for 2D and 3D video game development, though it can also be used for non-game apps like educational experiences. Unfortunately, Unity may be less suitable than its rivals for non-game applications or applications requiring advanced graphics and performance features – also developers needing licenses for features like stencil assistance rendering buffer support may incur higher development costs with Unity.
The Linux Unity Desktop Experience setup comes with several default applications designed to match its user interface theme, including Atril and Pluma for document viewing and editing as well as VLC Media Player for audio playback. Furthermore, MATE System Monitor and Neofetch provide system information.
Ubuntu Unity desktop experience setup offers a new GNOME file manager called Nemo that better fits with its current desktop environment and integrates seamlessly with other applications on the system. It represents an impressive improvement over Nautilus, allowing users to navigate between folders easily using arrow keys as well as right-clicking an icon in Dash to access more detailed file information. Furthermore, Nemo has proven more stable than its predecessor while remaining flexible enough to work seamlessly alongside other systems and applications in Ubuntu Unity desktop experience setup.
Software Center
The software center is an intuitive GUI application that makes installing, purchasing and uninstalling software easier on your system. No longer do you have to run commands directly in order to install software; rather it functions more as a comprehensive solution rather than simple installer. If you use Linux systems then chances are high that you will use Ubuntu software center.
The Ubuntu Software Center is an easy and convenient way to discover, select, download and install apps quickly on demand. Library IT makes certain applications available through this tool with library- or campus-wide licenses for staff computers and laptops. Furthermore, this tool also enables you to schedule updates outside business hours for your PC.
Access the Software Center from the Applications menu. It displays all available apps, both ones you have already installed and those yet-to-be downloaded, with search capabilities for specific titles. When finding one you’d like to install, click its icon before clicking Install to begin the installation process.
Installing software through the software center may require administrator approval; in such cases, its status can be seen under All and Upcoming tabs. You can even schedule when updates should arrive by selecting an interval value from within this section.
To use the new software center in Configuration Manager, first enable it in its client settings. Please note: this feature won’t become active until all clients have updated to the most up-to-date agent version – do this by clicking Administration > Overview > Client Settings.
Installing
To install Ubuntu, the first step should be acquiring an ISO file from its official website and verifying its checksum for authenticity and accuracy. After this has been accomplished, installation can commence.
At this stage, you will be asked to choose your language and keyboard layout. In addition, you have two partitioning methods available to you; either automatic partitioning will automatically partition your disk and install Ubuntu; or manual partitioning can be done directly by you. Automatic partitioning may be preferable for beginners as it removes the need to manually create partitions manually.
Installing Ubuntu will present you with an onscreen message informing you which key(s) to press for settings or boot menu, depending on your computer manufacturer; typically Escape, F2 or F12 may be mentioned here. Once this step has been taken care of, installation can continue normally.
Once Ubuntu has been installed, the next step should be configuring your system. If you decide on a minimal system install, only web browsing and some basic utilities will be installed; or alternatively you could opt for installing the full Ubuntu desktop environment.
Create a swap partition, which will act as virtual memory in case your hardware runs out of RAM, protecting important files in case the system crashes and safeguarding their safety in case the hard drive needs replacing. However, be mindful to only utilize this feature on systems with sufficient free space.
This version of Ubuntu includes several security updates, such as a kernel with security-related patches for Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, and an upgraded display server which improves multitasking, supports Wayland on ARM64 devices, and makes the user file system more secure by default.
