Test drive : Ubuntu 13.10 “Saucy Salamander” (Nightly Build)

The upgrade season is coming again. As I do twice a year I downloaded from Ubuntu download page the currently available version (not called beta anymore) of the October Ubuntu release. I prepared my USB disk in order to test the incoming release live on my computers.

On the EEEPC 900

After booting from the USB disk everything proceeded regularly until I arrived to the “Try or Install” screen. The top panel appears oddly expanded down to almost half screen.

Choosing the desktop ...

Since I bought the new desktop computer I planned testing some desktops, among the many available for Linux, to experience with the different interaction ways they offer and to choose the one I felt more comfortable. My previous hardware poor performances limited me on using only light-weight desktops (I used XFCE). XFCE is a honest and robust desktop indeed, but I felt someway limited provided programs like, for example, Thunar.

Unity

I'm not a Unity fan but I have to admit that it's a great desktop for beginners. My wife started using Unity (2D) on the old computer and she found it easier to use than XFCE. I so decided to install Ubuntu from the beginning on the new computer in order to make her preferred interface available in the shortest time.

Test Drive: Ubuntu 12.04 Beta1 (Live)

Ubuntu upgrade season is coming and, even if I changed my EEEPC installation to Linux Mint, I'm still curious on how the new Ubuntu release behaves. So, as the new Beta1 release of Ubuntu 12.04 has been released, I couldn't help not to prepare a bootable USB stick and give it a look at least by running it live.

First impressions: Unity improved

Here is how Ubuntu 12.04 looks like on the EEEPC.