Review: Xubuntu 8.04.1 Hardy Heron LTS

I’ve been a fan of Ubuntu since the summer of 2006 when Ubuntu released Ubuntu 6.06 LTS. Earlier versions of Ubuntu used a text-based installer, while Ubuntu 6.06 included the Ubiquity GUI-based installer, enabling Ubuntu – and all Ubuntu derivatives, official and unofficial – to double as an installation CD and as a live CD.

I felt that starting with Ubuntu 7.10, Ubuntu’s GNOME desktop environment became increasingly bloated, draining precious CPU and memory resources. It was with the 7.10 release that I looked for alternatives to Ubuntu’s GNOME interface. I liked Kubuntu and KDE (my intro to Linux was with two other KDE-based distros, Linspire 4.5/5.0 and Xandros 2.0/3.0) but wanted something even lighter. That’s when I switched to Xubuntu. Xubuntu uses the lightweight Xfce desktop environment. Xfce has a very nice look and feel (it looks almost similar to GNOME) while being lighter on resources. I liked Xubuntu 7.10 so much that I even released a customized version called Xubuntu Xtreme 7.10 which included tons of extras including multimedia codecs, Rhythmbox and VLC, Sun xVM VirtualBox, the addictive puzzle game Frozen Bubble, the CNR client, and updated versions of GIMP and Pidgin.

I downloaded Xubuntu 8.04 LTS back in April and was not impressed. It felt like it was rushed. I found it virtually impossible to manage groups and add users. I also observed this flaw on Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and the KDE 3 and KDE 4 versions Kubuntu 8.04.

Recently, Ubuntu released updated versions of Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, Kubuntu 8.04, and Xubuntu 8.04 LTS. I decided to take another chance and downloaded the updated version of Xubuntu, Xubuntu 8.04.1 LTS.

Verdict?

It’s a winner!

The first thing I noticed after getting Xubuntu installed was the almost-new look and feel of the default Xfce4 environment. It looked more colorful than previous versions of Xubuntu. The taskbars looked cleaner, and the default wallpaper looked cool with its shades of blue and lavendar.

As for the included software, I’m not disappointed. I know because of Ubuntu’s nature, they cannot legally include the multimedia codecs that we are all accustomed to. Of course if you have an internet connection, they can be easily installed by executing the command sudo apt-get install xubuntu-restricted-extras in the terminal. Xubuntu includes the Brasero CD/DVD burner which is now the standard disc burning application of Ubuntu. Xubuntu also includes the Transmission BitTorrent client. Transmission is the best BitTorrent downloader I have ever used. Xubuntu also includes the standard fare of games as well as the AbiWord word processor, the Gnumeric spreadsheet application, the GIMP image manipulator, the Pidgin chat program (it’s cool using AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and IRC at the same time), and the Totem movie player. Of course Totem cannot play encrypted DVDs out of the box, so you will need to install the xubuntu-restricted-extras metapackage as well as libdvdcss2.

As with previous versions of Xubuntu, the look and feel is easy to modify. I have managed to add some Mac OS X wallpapers to /usr/share/wallpapers, some Mac OS X-inspired GTK Metacity themes in /usr/share/themes, and a Mac OS X icon package in /usr/share/icons. The look and feel of the taskbars is easy to modify as well. It’s as easy as right-clicking and selecting Add To Panel.

Configuring my wireless was as easy as opening the Synaptic Package Manager and installing the b43-fwcutter package. That program extracted the firmware and downloaded the necessary drivers and installed them, and my wireless was working!

The most important thing about the 8.04 releases of Ubuntu and Xubuntu is the fact that since they are LTS – Long Term Support – releases, they are supported by software and security updates for a period of three years or 36 months, as opposed to the 18-month period for non-LTS releases. To put it in perspective, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and Xubuntu 8.04 LTS will be supported with software and security updates from now until April 2011, while the 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon releases will be supported until April 2009.

Does Xubuntu 8.04.1 LTS rectify the problem with managing groups and adding new users? It sure does! After you open the Users and Groups application (found at Applications -> System -> Users and Groups), you will notice an Unlock button at the bottom of the application’s window. Click on it, enter in your user password, and then you can manage groups and add users.

I was less than thrilled with the original release of Xubuntu 8.04 LTS, but Ubuntu has redeemed themselves with Xubuntu 8.04.1 LTS! I give Xubuntu 8.04.1 LTS a well-deserved 10 out of 10.