Best Ubuntu 16.04 Features — Xenial Xerus Is The Most Exciting Ubuntu Release In Years

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Short: Canonical will be releasing Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Xenial Xerus on April 21, 2016. This LTS version will be based on Linux 4.4 LTS and come with many new features. Read the article below and know the best Ubuntu 16.04 features before going for the upgrade.

On October 21, 2015, Canonical announced that Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, releasing on April 21, 2016, will be called Xenial Xerus. Ubuntu LTS versions are more about stability and lesser new features, but this is going to change with the a long list of Ubuntu 16.04 features. Apart from the latest Linux Kernel packages, the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Xenial Xerus is receiving numerous updates.

Based on Linux 4.4 LTS, Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus is an LTS release which means that it’ll remain supported for the next 5 years. Also, it’s the first Ubuntu LTS to be released with systemd as default service manager.

Best Ubuntu 16.04 Features:

Talking about one of the biggest Ubuntu 16.04 features, Canonical is dropping the online search for Unity 7 — also called the Ubuntu Spyware — and it’ll be turned off by default. This was being requested by the users from a long time and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) release will be fulfilling users’ demands.

It’ll be coming with the latest versions of different software like LibreOffice 5.1, Mozilla Firefox 45.0, Mozilla Thunderbird 45.0 with GTK3 integration.

One of the most interesting Ubuntu 16.04 features could the ability to rotate the Unity interface and move the Unity launcher to the bottom of the screen. The team is also planning to drop Ubuntu Software Center for GNOME Software with Ubuntu Software center getting an upgrade.

An interesting Ubuntu 16.04 feature could be the current work being done tobring along Snappy packages to regular Ubuntu flavor, with Unity 7.

In Ubuntu 16.04, Python has been upgraded to the Python 3.5 series. Well, if you have programs in older Python 2, it’ll continue to remain available. However, you are advised to port your code to Python 3. Along the similar lines, Golang has been upgraded to Golang 1.6 series, and gcc-go to the GCC6 branch.

We will also see a new QML-based USB Startup Creator for Ubuntu 16.04. Canonical is also working on a new feature called click lock. With this option, one can click on an item’s icon and move around without the need to keep the button pressed.

However, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) will be launched without disc burning software Brasero and messaging software Empathy.

Talking about the Ubuntu 16.04 features, the open source cloud computing software OpenStack Mitaka are coming in the new version with the new features and more set of commands.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Xenial Xerus is going to integrate complete support in Mir server display for the latest Vulkan 1.0 specifications. Xenial Xerus is expected to arrive on April 21 and it’ll most likely have two versions — one with X server and Unity 7, and other with Mir and Unity 8.

One of the great Ubuntu 16.04 features could be the integration of the Unity Launcher with the Nautilus file manager. This means that every device icon will only manage the relative windows. The Ubuntu users will now be able to activate session actions from the Unity Dash and perform actions like log out, reboot, suspend, or shut down their machine.

In the list of best Ubuntu 16.04 features, another interesting change is a new setting called “Menus visibility” in the Appearance panel. It comes with two options: Always displayed and Displayed on mouse hovering.

Another great Ubuntu 16.04 feature could be the option to upgrade the firmware straight from the OS.
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Ubuntu 16.04 LTS won’t be supporting the proprietary AMD Catalyst graphics for AMD GPUs, commonly known as fglrx driver. Instead, Canonical recommends that Ubuntu users should make a shift towards the open source AMDGU and Radeon alternatives. So, if you are installing Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Xenial Xerus after it’s released on April 21, 2016, you should first run a Live CD and test if your AMD Radeon graphics cards are supported.

Note that some of these features are in development phase and they might not end up being included in the final list.

Canonical will be releasing Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Xenial Xerus on April 21, 2016.

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