Everybody is talking about Ubuntu's Saucy Salamander

Introduction

The release of Ubuntu 13.10 has sent the social networks and blogs into hyperdrive with a number of reviews and articles already released.

I am not going to spend time reviewing Ubuntu 13.10 today. I reviewed Ubuntu 13.04 not all that long ago and by all accounts there isn't a huge leap between 13.04 and 13.10.

Instead I am looking to focus my efforts on the other Ubuntu derivatives that I haven't reviewed at all including Kubuntu and Lubuntu.

This article provides links to some of the articles that have already appeared for Ubuntu 13.10.

Saucy Salamander Review at Desktop Linux Reviews

In my last review of Ubuntu (Ubuntu 13.04) I noted that Ubuntu has become a bit boring to review. I had hoped that Ubuntu 13.10 would fix that, and that there would be some terrific new features to comment on.

Alas, Ubuntu 13.10 follows in the footsteps of Ubuntu 13.04. The big new desktop feature is Smart Scopes (more on that below). Beyond that there’s not a whole lot that is interesting or exciting to talk about. It turns out that Saucy Salamander is one truly dull amphibian.

Canonical really should rename this release to “Snoozing Salamander” instead.

Jim Lynch has been writing reviews for years and when you review an operating system like Ubuntu it is hard.

The truth is that Ubuntu is one of the best operating systems in the world and it is stable. Unfortunately stability isn't an exciting thing to review and although there are new features in Saucy Salamander there aren't that many.

Ubuntu is at the point where evolution is taking place as opposed to a couple of years ago when it was all about revolution.

Click here to read the full review of Ubuntu 13.10.

10 Things To Do After Installing Ubuntu 13.10

So you have read Jim's review above and you bit the bullet and installed Ubuntu 13.10. Now What?

OMG! Ubuntu! have a list of the 10 things you should do after installing Saucy Salamander.

As a sneak peak here are 3 of them:

• Get up to speed with Ubuntu
• Install media codecs
• Enable additional drivers

Click here for the full list

8 Things To Do After Installing Ubuntu 13.10

You might feel a little short changed after reading this title. The last one gave you 10 things to do but this one only gives you 8.

Best of Ubuntu has a different list of things to do after installing 13.10 and most of them are different to the OMG! Ubuntu! ones which means in total you now have 18 things to do after installing Ubuntu 13.10.

Another perspective on Ubuntu 13.10

OMG! Ubuntu! has also reviewed Ubuntu 13.10. This review is less about personal opinion and more about the new features.

Ubuntu 13.10 is a solid, reliable release that cements its position as the ‘go to’ Linux distro for new users and seasoned pros alike.

At face value this release does seem like more of a footnote in Ubuntu’s history than the start of a whole new chapter. A handful of small, iterative changes, including a more performant Unity desktop, certainly make it a worthwhile upgrade - but far from an essential one.

Click here for the full review.

Dual Boot Windows 8 and Ubuntu 13.10

I wrote this guide for Ubuntu in general and so it is as relevant for Ubuntu 13.10 as it is for Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10 and 12.04.

If you are thinking of trying Ubuntu but you want to keep Windows as well then use this guide in conjunction with the Ubuntu installation guide.

Click here for the full guide to installing Windows 8 alongside Ubuntu 13.10.

Xubuntu 13.10 was also released today

I am a huge fan of the XFCE desktop and if you have been a regular reader on the blog you will no doubt have seen my recent reviews of Linux Mint and SolydX.

So what can you expect from the new version of Xubuntu:

• A new version of xfce4-settings has been uploaded, bringing amongst other things a new dialog to set up your displays
• A tool for changing your theme colors easily, gtk-theme-config, has been added to the default installation
• New wallpaper
• New releases of our Gtk themes (with Gtk3.10 support) as well as the LightDM greeter, fixing many visual bugs
• Updated documentation

 Click here for the full announcement

If you do decide to use Xubuntu 13.10 then why not read the following articles as well:

• 20 applications to improve Xubuntu
• Customise the Xubuntu desktop
• 4 of the best music applications for Xubuntu

And let us not forget Lubuntu

Lubuntu 13.10 has also been released with the very lightweight LXDE desktop environment.

I will be reviewing Lubuntu 13.10 next week.

Here are the new features in 13.10:

• New version of pcmanfm / libfm (1.1.0) including a built-in search utility.
• Artwork improvements, including new wallpapers, community wallpapers, new icons ...
• Removing catfish, since pcmanfm has its own search utility
• Fix a very old bug causing gnome-mplayer to crash with some CPU (P4)
• Several fixes for the image viewer gpicview.

 Click here for the full announcement