What’s new in Ubuntu 18.10?
New Ubuntu Theme and Icons
Ubuntu finally has a new look. Gone is the dated brown Ambiance theme in favour of something newer, something more modern looking and fresh. Dubbed “Yaru”, the new theme is the work of the Ubuntu user community (and was known as the ‘Communitheme’ for a while).
GNOME 3.30
Ubuntu 18.10 is based on the much newer Gnome 3.30 which brings with it new versions of core apps like Calendar, To Do and the venerable GNOME Terminal emulator. The Nautilus file manager hasn’t been updated though. This means the overall look and feel is not that much different from that on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.
Updated Apps
This wouldn’t really be an update without newer versions of our favourite Open Source built-in apps now would it? Ubuntu 18.10 updates all the best open source apps that come built in. The latest versions of key apps are pre-installed, ready to go out the box. These include:
Mozilla Firefox 63 Thunderbird 60 LibreOffice 6.1 Shotwell 0.30 Remmina 1.2.3 Rhythmbox 3.2.4
New Kernel & Graphics Drivers
Ubuntu 18.10 runs on Linux 4.18, the latest stable release of the Linux kernel. This version of the kernel adds, among other things, support for AMD Radeon RX Vega M graphics processors, complete support for the Raspberry Pi 3B and the 3B+ models, and improved Thunderbolt and USB Type-C tweaks,
How to get Ubuntu 18.10
As is the case with all Linux Distros, this one is free to download and Install. If you need help, we did a detailed post on how to do so here; How to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 10 without Partitioning. To get the installation media, go to www.ubuntu.com and navigate to downloads to pick your preferred version. Alternatively, you can click here to download the 64bit version of the Ubuntu 18.10 .iso file.
How to Upgrade from Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or earlier
‘Cosmic Cuttlefish’ is a modest update compared to 18.04. The vast majority of notable improvements are tucked away out of sight, ‘under the hood’. If you really don’t care for the most cutting edge features, you really dont need to upgrade your Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. That said, to upgrade on a desktop system:
Open the “Software & Updates” Setting in System Settings. Select the 3rd Tab called “Updates”. Set the “Notify me of a new Ubuntu version” dropdown menu to “For any new version”. Press Alt+F2 and type in “update-manager -cd” (without the quotes) into the command box. Update Manager should open up and tell you: New distribution release ‘18.10’ is available. If not you can also use “/usr/lib/ubuntu-release-upgrader/check-new-release-gtk”. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.
