Canonical have released the next build of their popular Linux operating system Ubuntu 21.10 Impish Indri. It is an upgrade over the now previous release of 21.04 (Hirsute Hippo). Today we are going to take a look at the things that are new and improved in the new release of Ubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri).
Transition to GNOME 40
Finally, the much-awaited transition has come. Ubuntu has upgraded its version of GNOME from 3.38 to 40! However, the current theme is still not GTK4. The transition to GNOME 40 comes at a time when many distros have already upgraded to the latest version of GNOME 41. So it is safe to say that in terms of the GNOME version of the Desktop Environment, the Ubuntu Team has decided to stay one version behind the current GNOME build. GNOME 40 brings some of the much-needed and awaited features like Horizontal Workspaces, improved new improved three-finger gestures for trackpad users, etc. The Applications menu has also gotten a huge revamp. It is now very much improved and nice-looking than the previous one.
New Wallpapers
Ubuntu 21.10 comes with new default wallpapers of an Indri. The other system wallpapers are also given a new and fresh look.
Changes to the Ubuntu Dock
Ubuntu is still using its default left-hand side dock and has not replaced it with the vanilla GNOME dock. But the dock itself has received some tweaks. Now there is a line between the pinned and non-pinned apps in the dock to distinguish the pinned and non-pinned apps. 'Trash' is now pinned into the dock by default, instead of being placed on the Desktop.
Windowing System
Ubuntu 21.10 keeps Wayland as their default Windowing system. Wayland has now support for Nvidia drivers too. The new three-finger right and left swipe gestures of Wayland to change workspaces are also present. Also, the three-finger up gesture brings up the horizontal workspaces and the three-finger swipe down gesture brings back to your desktop or applications.
Apps in Ubuntu 21.10
The story of apps in Ubuntu 21.10 is a bit different than the story of GNOME. Unlike the GNOME version, which is lagging one behind the latest GNOME release, the apps are a mixture of GNOME versions. Some apps are GNOME 40 apps, some are GNOME 41 versions, while some still remain the GNOME 3.38 version of themselves. Firefox will now ship as a 'Snap Package' by default, which is a decision from Mozilla, and not Canonical. Mozilla has said that it will ship Firefox as a snap package to make it easier to update and manage across different hardware. It is a very polarizing decision as snap packages are extremely slow to load during 'cold boot' (first boot after startup). But the speed of subsequent launches is fine.
Other important changes
Ubuntu 21.10 still uses the same installer as Ubuntu 21.04. There is a new installer in the making but for now, you would have to stick with the old one, which looks very outdated compared to today's standards. PipeWire is now used for screen recording and other stuff work with Wayland. But PulseAudio is still the default audio manager in Ubuntu 21.10.
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