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Updated on December 10, 2021
Xubuntu 13.04 (“Raring Ringtail”) is being released today. Xubuntu, of course, is the Xfce-based version of Ubuntu that’s become a popular alternative to its Unity-based bigger sibling. Xfce, while not as feature-packed a desktop environment as GNOME, KDE, etc., still holds its own pretty nicely, while not being as resource-intensive. The latter is one reason why I’ve opted to install Xubuntu on my mother’s PC.
13.04 isn’t a long-term release like 12.04, and thus its support period will only last until October 2014. The support length for non-LTS Ubuntu versions/variants has been shortened from three years to 18 months.
There’s no major, groundshaking changes with Ringtail. The biggest changes are:
- Xubuntu image sizes have been increased, and as such will no longer fit on a standard CD.
- Gnumeric (the spreadsheet program) and GIMP (the graphics editing program) have been reintroduced as part of a default installation, as a result of the increased image size.
- Some software and theme updates.
- Duplicate partitions will no longer be displayed on the desktop or in Thunar (the file manager for Xfce).
Xubuntu 13.04, plus the 12.04 LTS version, can be downloaded from here.
While it applies mainly to the 12.04 LTS release, my post-installation guide is still applicable toward 13.04.
