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<p>The snow has melted and the trees are leafing out, but nothing really says spring like the arrival of a new version of Ubuntu Linux. And right on schedule Canonical has released Ubuntu 15.04, or Vivid Vervet as this release is known.</p>
<p>Ubuntu 15.04 arrived in late April and has, judging by other reviews, largely underwhelmed the tech press. The problem, goes the storyline, is there's not much new in 15.04. Of course, if there were a bunch of changes and new features in 15.04 you can bet there would be a negative reaction to them, probably from the same people calling this release boring. The top of the Linux mountain is a lonely, criticism strewn place.</p>
<p>That said, the truth is there isn't much new in 15.04, at least not in terms of visible changes to the Unity desktop, but for most users that's a good thing.</p>
<p>Change doesn't mean better and frankly, Ubuntu 15.04's Unity desktop is mature, stable and not really in need of many improvements. There are still some design inconsistencies (mostly GTK3 problems) and small problems here and there, but for the most part 15.04 delivers a great desktop experience.</p>
<p>Those clamoring for big changes will have to wait. And more than likely, when the big changes coming in Unity 8 arrive around this time next year, the same people will be reminiscing fondly about 15.04, forgetting they once found it "boring".</p>
<h2 id="unity-desktop">Unity Desktop</h2>
[image="ubuntu1504-unity-desktop.png" caption="Ubuntu 15.04 looking a lot like Ubuntu 14.10."]
<p>The biggest reason you might find 15.04 a bit boring is that there aren't many visual changes in the flagship Unity desktop. Unity has been bumped to version 7.3, which includes a number of bug fixes and two notable new features: Locally Integrated Menus and the ability to always show those menus rather than having them hidden and revealed when your mouse hovers them.</p>
<p>The Locally Integrated Menus feature just means that menus are back in the application window, rather than up in the main menu bar. Their position within the application windows has changed though. Menu items no longer get their own bar, but are rolled into the window title bar.</p>
<p>The ability to move menus into app windows has actually been around since last autumn's 14.10 release, but this release adds the ability to turn off the hidden-until-needed "feature". To switch the position of menus from the top bar to the application window just head to System Settings >> Appearance >> Behavior where you'll see both options.</p>
[image="ubuntu1504-menus-top.png" caption="Application menus always visible in the top bar."]
<p>To make the menus always visible is a little more complex. First you'll need to install dconf Editor and then head to com >> canonical >> unity where you'll see a checkbox to "always-show-menus". Check that and your disappearing menus are gone. This option is really nice if you put your menus in the application window since the application menu bar is a pretty small target to get your mouse over just to see the menus. With the menus always on you have a visual target to aim for, making for much better usability.</p>
[image="ubuntu1504-menus-win.png" caption="Application menus always visible in the application window."]
<p>These two small tweaks to the interface are the only visible changes that I've noticed in this release.</p>
<p>As someone who prefers boring, incremental updates that improve rather than completely rearrange my experience, I like Unity 7.3. It's not perfect by any means. There are still some outstanding design issues and inconsistencies in this release.</p>
<p>If you want proof that all the development effort is in Unity 8 rather than Unity 7, look no further than scrollbars and right click menus. Scrollbar position and appearance varies depending on which app you're in, but the most obvious problems are in Firefox, which still hasn't been themed to use the Unity style thin scrollbars with handles. Likewise the default theme will sometimes give a dark right-click menu, sometimes light. Plenty of third-party themes handle Firefox fine, but the default still doesn't.</p>
[image="ubuntu1504-menus-inconsistent.png" caption="Unity 7 still harbors some inconsistencies and UI glitches that will likely never be fixed since Unity 8 will replace it soon anyway. On the left is the right click menu in Firefox, on the right, Nautilus"]
<p>Most users probably won't even notice these little issues, but the fact that they remain does lend some credence to the charge that Canonical has all but abandoned Unity 7.</p>
<h2 id="whats-new-in-the-server">What's New in the Server</h2>
<p>Ubuntu 15.04 certainly isn't boring for those using it in server deployments. In fact, 15.04 has a big change in store for sysadmins -- the move to systemd instead of Upstart for the init system.</p>
<p>Changing the init system is somewhat akin to replacing your heart. It's a major change. The init system is the first process started when you boot and the last to shutdown. In the time between startup and shutdown the init system is essentially in charge of everything. It's traditionally assigned the process ID 1.</p>
<p>Canonical has been using its own homegrown init system known as Upstart for some time now. Upstart was in the running to become the default init system for Debian as well. But, after much debate, the Debian team elected to go with systemd instead.</p>
<p>Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth was at one point quite critical of systemd, but in the end, once Debian made its decision, Ubuntu and other Debian-derivatives had little choice but to adopt systemd. Ubuntu 15.04 is the first release to actually use it by default.</p>
<p>For desktop users that will mean almost nothing. Those running Ubuntu on the server though will be in for a potentially big change. I covered systemd in some detail in my <a href="tk">Debian 8 review</a>, and the same things apply here, though migrating from Upstart is a little different than migrating from SysV, which was Debian's old init system.</p>
<p>Canonical has a short <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SystemdForUpstartUsers">wiki page</a> that's designed to help you migrate from Upstart to systemd. Aside from binary log files, the biggest change from Upstart is simply syntax, your init scripts and service files will need to be migrated to systemd's syntax.</p>
<p>It's worth noting that while systemd is the default in Ubuntu 15.04, all of the Upstart packages are still there and you can in fact keep using it if you wish. If you want to switch back and forth you can use Grub and select "Advanced options for Ubuntu", where you will find an "Ubuntu, with Linux ... (upstart)" entry. If you want to permanently switch install the upstart-sysv package.</p>
<p>Other new features on the server side include the latest version of OpenStack and support for Canonical's LXD (Linux Container Daemon) hypervisor. The not-quite-a-competitor-but-sort-of competitor to Docker is a bit more bare bones than Docker at this stage, but for many use cases that's actually a plus. Suffice to say that if you're using Docker containers with Ubuntu anyway you might want to check out LXD.</p>
<h2 id="kernel">Kernel</h2>
<p>Ubuntu 15.04 ships with kernel version 3.19. The timing of feature freezes in the kernel and Ubuntu 15.04 meant that this release just missed the move to version 4.x, which features rebootless kernel upgrades among other updates. The 4.x kernel line should be part of Ubuntu 15.10 later this year.</p>
<p>For now you'll have to get by with quite a bit more hardware support, including preliminary support for Intel's "Skylake" chips, the successor to Broadwell which should start arriving by end of 2015. There's also some notable improvements for Radeon and Nvidia drivers, Btrfs support for live device replacement with RAID 5 and 6 and other hardware related improvements.</p>
<h2 id="flavors">Flavors</h2>
<p>Unity is not the only desktop available for Ubuntu. It might be the most popular and the one Canonical would have you use, but Ubuntu comes in quite a few flavors and, with this release, there's a brand new one -- Ubuntu MATE. Ubuntu MATE has been around in unofficial form for a couple of release cycles but this is its first time as an official, Canonical-blessed "flavor".</p>
<p>Ubuntu MATE is notable because the MATE desktop comes awfully close to the user experience of Ubuntu around the time of 9.10, a release that many long time Ubuntu users will recall with some fondness. If you'd like to return to the pre-Unity days -- AKA the good old days of GNOME 2.x -- Ubuntu MATE 15.04 might be your best bet.</p>
<p>The newest kid on the Ubuntu block features MATE Desktop 1.8.2, which is notable for its Compiz graphics support. With Ubuntu MATE you can have your classic, GNOME-style desktop complete with wobbly windows and all the rest of your Compiz enhancements.</p>
[image="ubuntu1504-mate-desktop.png" caption="Ubuntu MATE, the new kid on the Ubuntu block."]
<p>Other new features include updates for the full compliment of MATE apps, including Mate terminal, the Caja file manager and the rest. There's a nice new theme by the name of Yuyo that gives Ubuntu MATE a nice visual difference from more familiar MATE-based distros like Linux Mint. Indeed the Ubuntu MATE developers deserve credit for building out what might be the slickest MATE-based distro I've tested.</p>
<p>If Ubuntu MATE isn't for you the rest of the Ubuntu flavors have also seen some significant updates, including Ubuntu GNOME, Lubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu. The latter two see particularly big updates with Kubuntu shipping the new KDE Plasma 5.2 "Breeze" desktop and Xubuntu shipping with the equally fresh Xfce 4.12.</p>
[image="ubuntu1504-kubuntu.png" caption="Kubuntu 15.04, featuring KDE Plasma 5."]
<p>Kubuntu makes a great base to see what KDE is up to since the Kubuntu devs don't do much to customize the distro. In Kubuntu 15.04 you'll find KDE Plasma 5.2, though it's pretty easy to update to the latest and greatest 5.3, which, while numerically small, is in fact a huge update.</p>
<p>The new Breeze desktop with its flat, colorful, high contrast look is what KDE refers to as a modernized interface, with "reduced visual clutter throughout the workspace." For more details on what's new in Plasma 5, see our <a href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/17/kde-plasma-5-for-those-linux-users-undecided-on-the-kernels-future/">earlier review</a>.</p>
<p>Xubuntu 15.04 also has a huge update in the form of Xfce 4.12, the first major Xfce update in almost two years. Xfce 4.12 has far to much to cover here, but the highlights include HiDPI support in themes -- no more jagged edges on rounded corners -- and much improved multiple monitor support.</p>
[image="ubuntu1504-xubuntu.png" caption="Xubuntu 15.04 with the brand new Xfce 4.12."]
<p>Xfce 4.12 also sees a huge set of theme and user interface related components that go along way to make Xfce feel less like the desktop time forgot. There's now full support for GTK3 themes and a new themable Alt+Tab dialog among other things. The Thunar file manager now supports tabs (a much requested feature) and panels are much smarter about getting out of your way when you're dragging windows around.</p>
<p>Thanks to the timing of the Xfce release and Xubuntu 15.04, Xubuntu is one of the few distros to currently ship with 4.12. If you want to see what's new, Xubuntu makes a great way to test Xfce 4.12.</p>
<p>Ubuntu MATE isn't the only new version of the Ubuntu family launching with 15.04, there's also Snappy Ubuntu Core. Snappy is Canonical's stripped-down version of Ubuntu designed for container hosts and small connected devices. Shuttleworth calls it "the smallest, safest platform for Docker deployment ever."</p>
<h2 id="phones">Phones</h2>
<p>This is also the first release of Ubuntu in which there are actual shipping phones that run Ubuntu. The Aquaris E4.5 is available and the Meizu M4 will be here later this year.</p>
<p>The mobile version of Ubuntu is significant because the reason that this release isn't as exciting as some would hope has to do with these mobile devices. Most of Canonical's efforts are currently being poured into Unity 8 and Mir, which power the interface on these phones, but most likely won't make it to the desktop until next year at the earliest.</p>
<p>Unity 8 will see Canonical's vision of "convergence" -- that is desktop and mobile OSes coming together in a single, unified code base -- coming to fruition. Or that's the plan anyway. As Ars reported last month, neither of the Ubuntu Phones we currently know about will support the very cool feature that's been demoed many times that lets you plug your phone into a monitor and have it become the desktop Unity interface.</p>
<p>Convergence it seems takes a little while longer than planned.</p>
<h2 id="should-you-upgrade">Should You Upgrade?</h2>
<p>The question for this release then is -- should you bother?</p>
<p>While there are plenty of bug fixes and small refinements that are worth having that doesn't mean you need to update. If you're on the desktop I can't think of the reason not to, though it's worth noting that the features listed here will be backported.</p>
<p>If you want systemd on the server then you should upgrade since is not likely to be backported to earlier releases.</p>
<p>Most of the new features in Unity and other associated apps will be backported to at least the last Long Term Support release, currently last year's 14.04. That means that, provided you don't mind waiting a few weeks while the new features are tested, you'll get all the new stuff without lifting a finger.</p>
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