Updated on December 10, 2021
On Monday night, I upgraded my laptop to Ubuntu Linux 10.10 (“Maverick Meerkat”).
The upgrade went quite smoothly. The installer’s been improved: along with the previous 10.04 version’s slide show of Ubuntu’s features, there’s also a new option that allows the user to choose to install the MP3 codec.There’s also an option to download any system updates in the background while going through the installation steps.
Upon finishing installation, things work and look largely as they did with 10.04, though with some differences. A new system font (based on the one used for the Ubuntu logo) is in place, giving a distinctive look to the menus. The system indicator area is also improved, with more applications folded into the submenus (Rhythmbox’s system tray icon is now placed under the audio submenu, and programs installed such as the newsreader Liferea are also placed alongside Empathy and Gwibber in their submenu).
Updated versions of programs are also installed. Gwibber now works fine, versus the workaround from 10.04, and Evolution seems a bit speedier as well.
One flaw from previous versions is still in place: if I press the trackpad lock button, then press it again, typing doesn’t work, nor does accessing the menus. Only a hard reboot will unfreeze everything.
Stay tuned for any further observations of mine about Ubuntu 10.10…
