- by Joey SneddonWith Ubuntu 24.04 LTS released and a long weekend upon us you might be planning to upgrade an existing Ubuntu install to the latest version. But don’t. For one, “officially” you can’t since Ubuntu 24.04 LTS upgrades are not yet enabled, neither from Ubuntu 23.10 nor 22.04 LTS. But that doesn’t stop us folks from upgrading manually. They hear that a new version of Ubuntu is out and stable, they don’t fancy the faff of a fresh install, and they don’t want to wait for the “new version available” upgrade prompt to appear on their desktop. So they go to […]
- by Joey SneddonArriving alongside the main Ubuntu 24.04 LTS release are new versions of the official Ubuntu flavours, including Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Ubuntu Cinnamon. What follows is a concise, top-level overview of the key new features and changes in some of the most popular Ubuntu flavours, plus the relevant downloads links to snag an ISO need should be tempted into trying a few flavors first-hand. Unless otherwise noted, all flavours share the same foundational footprint as the main release, e.g., Linux kernel, graphics drivers, tooling, etc. But some fears, like the Flutter-based OS installer and the snap-centric App Center aren’t used in […]
- by Joey SneddonAmong the many new features in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is the ability to access your Microsoft OneDrive files through the Nautilus file manager. No 3rd-party app downloads, no dodgy scripts to run, and no paid plans to cough up for because this nifty feature is part of GNOME 46 (and available in any Linux distribution using it, not just the latest Ubuntu LTS). OneDrive file access works the same way as the (long-standing and popular) Google Drive integration: a Gvfs backend authorised through GNOME Online Accounts (via the Settings app), and then surfaced as an entry in the Nautilus sidebar. […]
- by Joey SneddonAfter 6 frenzied months of development the final stable Ubuntu 24.04 LTS release has arrived and is available for download. Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (codenamed ‘Noble Numbat’) includes a rich array of new features ranging from an enhanced desktop installer and a the latest GNOME desktop to gaming improvements and a new Linux kernel. As a long-term support release Ubuntu 24.04 LTS gets 5 years of select apps updates, security fixes, kernel upgrades, and other buffs, and a further 5 years of extended security coverage via Ubuntu Pro. Plus, enterprise customers can buy an additional 2 years of coverage to make […]
- by Joey SneddonA new version of Clapper, a GTK4-based video player for Linux desktop has been released — the first major update in nearly 2 years. I first wrote about Clapper back in 2021 having been seduced over by its slick user interface (a superficial reason to like a media player, I know), its use of GStreamer, and a small but focused feature set that wasn’t trying to distract me with features I’d never need. Subsequent updates to the app refined and expanded those selling points further and player remained my preferred video player, despite the lack of any major update since […]
- by Joey SneddonAnyone making the upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS from the previous LTS, Ubuntu 22.04, is in for a treat because the amount of improvements on offer is vast. In addition to the new features in Ubuntu 24.04 those upgrading from the previous LTS will also discover, experience and benefit from the myriad of features added in the Ubuntu 22.10, 23.04, and 23.10 releases. Those upgrading from the previous LTS will find 2 years worth of changes on offer in Ubuntu 24.04 — Which amounts to a LOT! In this post I run-through 20 of the biggest changes Ubuntu 24.04 LTS […]
- by Joey SneddonNext time you stop by the Flathub website you will notice it’s had a bit of a revamp. The latest UI refresh lands a year after its last big redesign and builds on that look by adding new on-page features. These changes make it easier for Linux users to find the apps they are looking for and come across new software they might not have heard of. — That is unless they regularly read sites like mine, eh 😉. The Flathub homepage is now topped by a new banner slider (updated weekly) which promotes 5 apps. There’s also a new […]
- by Joey SneddonUsing Linux on a 64-bit ARM device and longing to use Firefox Nightly builds? Well, you’re in luck — Mozilla has finally made ARM64 Linux builds available to download. As I understand it most Linux distributions that support ARM64/AArch64 offer a native ARM version of Firefox in their repos (in Ubuntu that’s via snap) though some Linux ARM distros only offer Firefox ESR, which is a long-term support version lacking newer features. It’s not been possible to get Firefox for ARM64 directly from Mozilla itself. But that’s changing. When Mozilla launched its own APT repo bringing DEB versions of Firefox […]
- by Joey SneddonA new version of Audacity, a popular open-source audio workstation, is available to download. Audacity 3.5 introduces major new features and improvements, fixes a number of issues in earlier builds, and removes a number of older, less-used options. The headline addition is sure to be the new cloud-saving feature. This allows users to save Audacity projects to the audio.com website (requires a signup), permitting projects to be accessed from different devices, and enabling sharing and collaboration. And, arguably more important, it acts as a versioned backup. If something goes wrong with a project you can restore an earlier version — […]
- by Joey SneddonAmong the many new features in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is out-of-the-box support for HEIF/HEIC images. Anyone using Ubuntu 24.04 won’t have to manually install any extra packages to be able to see HEIF/HEIC thumbnails previews in the Nautilus file manager or open HEIF/HEIC files in the default Eye of GNOME image viewer app. While HEIF (which stands for High Efficiency Image File Format) isn’t a super common web image format it is widely used on smartphones. Both Apple iPhone & newer Samsung devices save to the format for photos taken using the stock camera apps. Which makes this small change […]
- by Joey SneddonYou know the drill by now: a new month rolls around, and a new version of the inimitable Mozilla Firefox rolls off the release server for us all to enjoy. And bang on cue, Firefox 125 has arrived. The big-ticket new feature in this update is URL paste suggestions: Mozilla says this feature “provides a convenient way for users to quickly visit URLs copied to the clipboard in the address bar of Firefox.” How does it work? If you copy a URL to the system clipboard and then focus the URL bar (in Firefox 125, that is) you will see […]
- by Joey SneddonIf you want to relax or need to concentrate on a task at your computer then listening to ambient sounds can often help — and the best Linux app for this task just got a big update! Blanket is a free, open-source GTK4/libadwaita app that comes packaged with a variety of ambient looping sounds. These range from classic nature tracks (rain, wind, waves, birds, etc) through to environmental buzz (coffee shop, city, train, etc). You can play just a single sound or layer several sounds simultaneously by adjusting the volume level for each preset individually so everything sits right aurally. […]