18.04 Release response

[lah7]

I had similar thoughts to @asdasd -- I was re-installing my work laptop from Ubuntu 17.10 (GNOME). Jumping back to MATE will be a better home at work then GNOME for me -- since the lock ups and stuttering interface were unobtrusive.

These are the papercuts I ran into:

• Brisk could easily crash -- usually by moving the cursor down the categories or scrolling apps way too fast when it first loads.
• Searching with Brisk isn't so obvious of what's in focus. The application on the right is focused, but it visually looks like the category is the focused item.
• I tried to copy & paste text from Disks, but despite it actually copying with CTRL+C, no highlight was seen like this:
  

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• Macro still has a small resize area.
• The "window previews" on Compiz appear on a different workspace when they're not supposed to -- I use CCSM to turn off that plugin and do other tweaks.
• That keyboard indicator........ 2 or 3 times that caught me out! I don't need it, but I did need to switch from US to UK keyboard layout.
  • Could easily get out of jail by running "mate-panel --replace" in ALT+F2.
• Switching layouts did once minimise everything (did trigger an initial panic -- "no... did it crash?!"), but at one point, I was left with a blank panel. Had to launch mate-tweak via ALT+F2 and choose it again.
• Macro seems to minimze windows to the middle of the screen? (Compiz is fine)
• I got really confused why two fingers on the trackpad didn't perform a right click... then I discovered I need to press the bottom-right edge... I think that's because a new touchpad driver now?

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I'm aware that:

• mate-panel has some known segfault issues, so that could be why panel switching can be a little buggy right now.
• The "beep" on opening/closing windows is to do with accessibility. (I don't mind it as much)
• There's a bit of an issue with Welcome autostarting, so it's startup is delayed AFAIK.
  • Caught me out when it popped up after I started using the live session!

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@Isaiah_Sellassie

I thought the Mate project was born from the realization that a 'classic' UI is classic for a reason. I thought the whole point was to keep the simplicity and speed of Gnome 2.

Take a look at this for the reasons

New default layout in Ubuntu MATE 18.04

I have decided to add a new layout to the collection available in Ubuntu MATE 18.04. It will be called Familiar and is based on the Traditional layout with the menu-bar (Applications, Places, System) replaced by Brisk Menu. It looks like this: [image] Familiar will become the default layout for new installs of Ubuntu MATE 18.04. Traditional will continue to be shipped, unchanged, and will be available via MATE Tweak for those who prefer it. I experimented with a change to the Traditional lay…

For my desktop at home, I shall stick with 16.04 and the GTK2 experience. I'm not disappointed with 18.04, but knowing about the technical progress over the past 2 years, I'm not surprised rough edges will appear once everyone starts using it (if you run into them that is!)