Ade Malsasa Akbar contact
Senior author, Open Source enthusiast.
Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 01:45

Finally, at April 23rd 2015, Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet officially released. Actually, no big changes except systemd is officially implemented in Ubuntu 15.04. We get some new updated applications, a new official web browser by Ubuntu, small Unity improvements, and some others. You will get download links, some reviews, and what to do after install in this article. Enjoy!

Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet Login Screen

Release Date



Here is a table of Ubuntu current releases. You should note that Ubuntu 15.04 released this month and will experience the end of life (no support again) in January 2016. Ubuntu 15.04 is released as regular release, it means it will get official support only for 9 months.

Version Code Name Support Duration Release Date End of Life Date
Ubuntu 15.04 Vivid Vervet Regular (9 months) April 23, 2015 January 2016
Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn Regular (9 month) October 23, 2014 July 2015
Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr LTS (5 years) April 17, 2014 April 2019
Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin LTS (5 years) April 26, 2012 April 2017
Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx LTS (5 years) April 29, 2010 May 9, 2013

 

Download



You can download Ubuntu 15.04 and its official variants from these links.

Download Ubuntu
  1. Ubuntu: http://releases.ubuntu.com/15.04/
  2. Kubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/15.04/release/
  3. Lubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/15.04/release/
  4. Xubuntu: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/15.04/release/
  5. Ubuntu MATE:  http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/15.04/release/
  6. Ubuntu GNOME: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-gnome/releases/15.04/release/
  7. Ubuntu Studio: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/15.04/release/
  8. Ubuntu Kylin: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntukylin/releases/15.04/release/
I downloaded Ubuntu 15.04 via BitTorrent. I recommend you to use BitTorrent too (use Transmission or KTorrent in Linux) so you contribute not big load to the download servers. All links above provide torrents too.

What's New



1. Vivid Wallpapers

Ubuntu opened wallpaper contest for Vivid in Flickr. The finalists have selected and Ubuntu has new wallpapers in Vivid release. You can use them in Vivid or for you can download the wallpapers pack from Launchpad (14 MB).

Ubuntu Default Wallpaper Tenerife Roques de Anaga

 

2. Unity 7.3

Ubuntu 15.04 gets Unity 7.3 and Compiz 0.9.12. In Unity, we get local menu on every window as the most notable feature. In Compiz, we get bug fixes for NVIDIA proprietary driver.

Application Menu in Window Title Bar

3. LibreOffice 4.4

LibreOffice 4.4 brings many improvements such as version tracking in Writer, more statistic functions in Calc, OpenGL support for slide transition in Impress, many bugfixes, and so on. You can read the details from https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/4.4.

LibreOffice 4.4

4. Kernel 3.19

Ubuntu brings Linux kernel 3.19, which is modified kernel by Ubuntu Team (as usual). It is not the latest Linux kernel (4.x). You can read easy-to-understand details about 3.19 in http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_3.19.

Vivid Linux Kernel Version

5. Systemd

SystemD replaced Upstart in Ubuntu 15.04. All Ubuntu variants (except Ubuntu Touch) has used systemd as default init system. SystemD, Upstart, SystemV, are the names for init system. An init system is the first process initialized among all processes in the Ubuntu system. SystemD handles the init system for Ubuntu now, replacing old systemV-like init system such as Upstart. Beyond the big debates about systemd outside, you will find your Ubuntu starts faster with it. You can read about systemd in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemd.

SystemD

6. Nautilus 3.14.2

Beside GTK 3.14 library, Ubuntu 15.04 brings also Nautilus 3.14.

Nautilus

What I love about the new Nautilus is its incremental search. Incremental search is similar with Google Instant. You get the result without pressing Enter button. The results come according to your keyword directly. Incrementally, when you type a new letter, the result will change again according to your current keyword. It is fast.

Incremental Search

7. Another Applications

Ubuntu 15.04 brings another updated applications such as

  • GTK Library 3.14
  • Shotwell 0.20.2
  • Firefox 37.0
  • Thunderbird 31.6.0
  • Cheese 3.14.1
  • Transmission 2.84
  • Remmina Desktop Client 1.1.0
  • Ubuntu Browser 
GTK Libraries

What To Do After Install



After installing Ubuntu, usually you need to enable all your official repositories first via Software Sources program. Then Reload (sudo apt-get update) the repository information so Ubuntu knows all repositories are enabled. Probably you want to change the server into your local server at your country too. Do it in Software Sources.

Repository Indexes Reloading
After you get all your repositories enabled, then now I advised you (desktop users) to install Synaptic. It is easier to add/remove applications. Easier to upgrade packages, easier to create offline dependencies download script, and to fix any dependencies conflict.

Synaptic
After having Synaptic, you can do what do you want. Install codec pack (ubuntu-restricted-extras), Wine (wine), GIMP (gimp), VLC (vlc), and even you may upgrade your whole system. It is up to you (and do anything with your own risk).

We have a complete article about what to do after install here.

Reference