[xubuntu-users] What to Expect in Xubuntu 14.04 LTS (omgubuntu.co.uk)

[George DiceGeorge]

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/11/expect-xubuntu-14-04-lts

April next year will prove to be a pivotal month for many Linux 
distributions, but few are as best placed to build on their popularity as 
Ubuntu’s ‘lightweight’ spins ‘Xubuntu’ and ‘Lubuntu’.

In spring of next year Microsoft will, finally, euthanise Windows XP. 
Support will officially end. No more extensions, no more updates. While its 
long-needed demise will be welcomed by many, it will, as a result, leave 
millions of PC owners adrift and at the mercy of malware and vulnerable to 
viruses.

Tech evangelists, governments and mainstream journalists alike will find 
themselves dispensing advice about the seriousness of not using a ‘supported’ 
OS. And while most of this advice will consist of “buy a new PC” or “upgrade 
to Windows 8″, many will utter the ‘L’ word: Linux.

When it comes to Linux most will simply recommend Ubuntu. But is that the 
best choice? While it’s not a given that computers currently saddled with 
Windows XP aren’t capable of running regular Ubuntu, its graphics 
requirements alone mean that a good margin of them will be better served by 
a lighter, more nimble incarnation.

But what can users opting for one of those spins expect to find?

Xubuntu 14.04 LTS
We Love Xubuntu
We Love Xubuntu

The Xubuntu team are incredibly well organised when it comes to release 
planning.

The biggest change present in Xubuntu 14.04 LTS will be the inclusion of 
xfdesktop 4.11, the desktop manager of Xfce. Now, I know that sounds boring, 
and as far as user-facing changes go, it sort of is. But all of the ‘under 
the hood’ improvements it brings are important in an LTS.

Xfdesktop 4.11 features:
•Memory leak fixes
•Wallpaper cycling
•Support for renaming multiple icons at a time
•Additional removable device icons
•Trash emptying fixes
•Misc fixes and improvements

You can see a full run-down of the changes in this Git commit log.

Elsewhere on the desktop Xubuntu are planning on making the following 
changes:
•Adding Mugshot user account profile editor app
•Using MenuLibre (menu editor) instead of Alacarte
•Using Light-locker (lock-screen) in place of Xscreensaver

Also on the menu (if you’ll excuse the pun) is a proposal to ship Whisker 
Menu – a powerful XFCE app launcher replacement – by default. We recommend 
the Windows XP-style menu to you folks recently and, with an influx of 
Windows refugees on the way, adding it to the default desktop would be a 
smart move, helping converts feel at home.

Lubuntu 14.04 LTS
Lubuntu - Lightweight & Safe
Lubuntu – Lightweight & Safe

Lightweight LXDE-based Lubuntu will issue its first ever Long Term Support 
release in April 2014. As with Xubuntu and regular Ubuntu, it comes with a 
guaranteed five years of security patches, critical bug fixes and 
maintenance.

Aside from putting focus on ensuring stability and performance of the distro 
aside, don’t expect too much change on the desktop front. LXDE itself is 
moving along fairly slowly, and while bug fixes continue to land, new 
features or big refinements are not.

It seems the release is to follow in the footsteps of Xubuntu and use 
light-locker in place of xscreensaver. It’s a more elegant solution and, the 
team say, fixes a number some outstanding session-locking issues.

Fans of overhaul needn’t worry, though. The following release, Lubuntu 
14.10, will be far more revolutionary as the desktop looks to switch from 
using the regular GTK-based LXDE to a newer, cuter version powered by Qt.