Introduction

We're preparing Ubuntu MATE Vivid Vervet (15.04) for distribution in April 23rd, 2015. With this Beta 1 pre-release, you can see what we are trying out in preparation for our next (stable) version. We have some interesting things happening, so read on for highlights and information.

NOTE:

This is Beta 1 Release. Ubuntu MATE Beta Releases are NOT recommended for:

• Regular users who are not aware of pre-release issues
• Anyone who needs a stable system
• Anyone uncomfortable running a possibly frequently broken system
• Anyone in a production environment with data or work-flows that need to be reliable

Ubuntu MATE Beta Releases are recommended for:

• Regular users who want to help us test by finding, reporting, and/or fixing bugs
• Ubuntu MATE developers

For those who don't know the general difference between Alpha and Beta:

• With Alpha releases, we don't introduce many new features. The system that you are testing on the Alpha stage is under heavy development, however there is a a great chance you will not notice anything just yet.
• It is very common to see - for example - the slide show of the installer states you are installing 14.10 not 15.04. That's not a real bug when it is Alpha. It would be a bug if we are at Beta.
• You usually start to see some visible differences with Beta but not Alpha.

Getting Ubuntu MATE Vivid Vervet (15.04) Beta 1

Download a Disk Image

• Bootable images for PCs/laptops/netbooks

Instructions for burning the image to a DVD or USB flash drive can be found on the Burning ISO Howto.

Check MD5SUM for the downloaded ISO

It is recommended to check your image file so your pre-release is as it’s supposed to be. Compare your MD5 checksum with the correct ones found alongside the images.

Beta 1 Highlights

Software Updates

Since Alpha 2 we did this:

• Added everything required to build Ubuntu MATE 15.04 to the official Ubuntu archive.
• Added PowerPC as an officially supported architecture for Ubuntu MATE 15.04.
  • Running Linux on PowerPC can require some tinkering and the following are useful references.

  • PowerPC Known Issues

  • PowerPC FAQ

• Added an interface layout switcher to MATE Tweak, see the video below.

  • MATE Tweak - User interface switcher

• Added Plank.

  • Plank is not enabled by default, but can be activated via the Eleven layout in MATE Tweak.

• Added Folder Colors.

• Added menu categories to System -> Preferences.

• Added OEM Install.
  • This is as a result of achieving official status.

• Updated LightDM GTK Greeter to 2.0.0 which now includes a MATE logo in the session switcher.

• Updated LightDM GTK Greeter Settings 1.10. Thanks to Sean M. Davis.

• Updated Yuyo GTK theme to better support GTK 3.14. Thanks to Sam Hewitt.

• Fixed GTK+ 2.x so it better supports multi monitor under MATE. Thanks to Vlad Orlov (MATE Core Dev).

  • This was then merged upstream. Thanks to Wolfgang Ulbrich (MATE Core Dev)

  • This resulted in GTK 2.24.26 being released which is now included in Ubuntu 15.04.
• Fixed uninstalling packages from the Ubuntu MATE meta packages.
  • This is as a result of achieving official status.
• Fixed being an unofficial Ubuntu flavour.

  • This is as a result of achieving official status ;-)

• Merged MATE compatibility integration into upstream Compiz

  • While Compiz is installed by default, it is not enabled by default.
  • MATE Tweak includes an option to switch between Marco and Compiz, no log out/in required.

Known Problems

Ubuntu MATE Desktop

• MATE 1.8x is not fully compatible with glibc >=2.43.1. The MATE team have been working on patches but these are not yet applied in the official Ubuntu archive. Therefore the following PPA should be enabled to get the fixes, you really want to do this:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/vivid-mate
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

• The "Notification Area" crashes on first start, and then at random intervals there after but only on **i386**.

  • LP: #1425401

  • When the "Notification Area" has quit unexpectedly` dialogue appears click Reload.

• Live switching between Compiz and Marco is somewhat experimental and may result in no window decorations on some older GPUs.
• Virtualbox guests may only get a resolution of 640x480

  • LP: #1368784, see comment #13 for a work around.

• Running an Ubuntu MATE live session as a Virtualbox guest may corrupt the video output of the guest.

  • You can correct the video display by pressing Host+F1 to switch VT in the guest and then press Host+F7 to switch back which will correct the video output.

• The .iso images are a little bigger than they need to be and include some unnecessary packages. This is due to the transition from unofficial to official builds and will be addressed for Beta 2 or the Release Candidate.
• Some packages scheduled for inclusion in Ubuntu MATE 15.04 have not yet made it into the official. Hopefully this can be addressed before Beta 2.

Notes of Ubuntu and the known issues.

Feedback

Development of Ubuntu MATE Vivid Vervet (15.04) is ongoing and bugs are fixed every day. Before reporting bugs, please ensure your system is up to date and you're installing the latest build. For verifying installation related bugs, updated disk images are available from Daily bootable images for standard PCs/laptops/netbooks.

Testing Ubuntu MATE

• More Information about Testing Ubuntu MATE is here

Contact Us

• Ubuntu MATE Official Channels are here