I just did a fresh install of the new version of Ubuntu (7.10, “Gutsy Gibbon”) and I must say I’m impressed. The new version of Gnome is excellent, delivering (as usual) gradual but necessary improvements to the desktop. Add to that the fact that I was actually able to get the desktop effects to work, and–with some reservations–I’m sold.
Users of ATI Xpress 200 (or other low-end integrated ATI cards) do not despair: your card can do Compiz Fusion. To get the desktop effects (that should be enabled by default, but which don’t work at first) to work, you need to:
- Install the proprietary drivers. Open the restricted drivers manager and check the box for the ATI driver.
- Enable compositing. Change the “0″ after “Compositing” in /etc/X11/xorg.conf to a “1″.
- Install XGL. Open a terminal and enter: sudo apt-get install xserver-xgl.
Redeeming praise aside, I still have my peeves. There’s that terribly annoying bug that keeps the Firefox location bar feature from working. Also, Rhythmbox needs the Ubuntu restricted extras package to play mp3s. And, though I don’t believe this is particular to Ubuntu, it is mysteriously impossible to edit the tags of AAC files. What up with that?
Rhythmbox has gotten slightly better, so I don’t think I’ll need to use Amarok anymore. Amarok is great, but it alone doesn’t make KDE worth installing for me when I can otherwise use something nearly as good. I just wish I could move the info columns around so that “Genre” isn’t before “Artist.”
In conclusion, thanks, Ubuntu team! If I ever get a MacBook I really hope I can continue using this great distro on that too!
