Okay, I got it to work.
Here's what it looks like on an old DELL Latitude D620:
[quote="lah7, post:72, topic:1616"]
That sounds easy enough. I originally thought of scroll bars or ellipsis. 
[/quote]
Just wanted to add a compliment, really like the way you've overcome the System Specifications layout issue. Well done! 
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@lah7 Currently testing clean install of beta 2, appears an older version of Welcome has been installed by Software Updater, overwriting the newer Welcome version containing all fixes supplied with beta 2?
Upon waking, had a sudden realisation, I had mistakenly compared Ubuntu MATE 16.04 beta 1 (with subscribed Welcome updates), with a clean beta 2 install + system updates (but without Welcome update subscription), sorry about that!
Raises one question though…
Why is it necessary to subscribe to Welcome updates, instead of receiving Welcome improvements/fixes by default? 
It's entirely optional, it ensures you have up-to-date documentation, translations (for non-English users) and software listings for the Software Boutique. It's much quicker for @Wimpy to push updates to a dedicated PPA than submitting a request to upstream Ubuntu for approval/uploading.
Of course, new versions will be pushed via normal updates, but not very often.
Sorry, I nearly missed this! I'll note this down and see how Welcome can respect font sizes like the rest of the system.
Thank you for your reply.
Having already found the benefits, and seeing both yours and Wimpy’s great improvements, my question meant to imply… Wondered why it’s ‘opt in’, rather than ‘opt out’.
With the current implementation, many may miss the welcome (no pun intended) Software Boutique and Welcome updates, additions and improvements?
Thanks again.
So we need look no further than the welcome screen for our PPAs? I did not know this, but I do know I like it 
Well, being an official flavour, there's bound to be some regulations. Adding a PPA by default or silently would be considered suspicious.
I just realised I misread your original question. 
If you find certain software that usually requires a PPA (like Google Chrome), then yes! A wide range of software installs the latest packages from the developer (via PPA or source list), instead of using the (sometimes behind) version from Ubuntu's repositories.
Thanks and really nice having the chrome one button installer, rates right up there with slice bread
Thanks that would be great!
Success! 
Welcome now scales based on the font DPI. You won’t be needing a magnify glass any more. 
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Hello again folks. Those who like transparency and control over what is installed on their system will be pleased to see this new field for each application:
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I’ve just read the whole thread and lets see if I got it right (this has to do with Software Boutique particularly).
1 The Boutique will use PPAs directly from the software maker and not through Ubuntu repositories (so it’s independent of the official repositories).
2 The programs available will be Mate’s team choice.
3 Mate’s team will guarantee the programs are clean/stable.
4 The programs installed through the Boutique will be automatically updated/upgraded (if we subscribe to Welcome updates ?)
Thanks
@Joss, your answers, also FAQs:
The Boutique will use PPAs directly from the software maker and not through Ubuntu repositories (so it's independent of the official repositories).
For a wide range of software, yes. Although, some software will stick to Ubuntu's repositories and a handful may use a trusted third party one.
The programs available will be Mate's team choice.
Yep. These have been described as the "best in class and as they integrate well with the MATE Desktop."
Mate's team will guarantee the programs are clean/stable.
Yep, @Wimpy has been approving them. Applications only appear based on the current distribution version and architecture. For instance:
- VirtualBox is currently unlisted for Xenial because Oracle do not have a 16.04 source yet.
- VirtualBox is unlisted on the Raspberry Pi or PowerPC as it is not compatible.
The programs installed through the Boutique will be automatically updated/upgraded (if we subscribe to Welcome updates ?)
No. Welcome updates literally only keeps the Welcome / Boutique program up-to-date. That includes the latest software listings (and PPA changes!), translations and documentation.
- As described previously, this is because it's faster to push out an update to a PPA then review/approval by upstream Ubuntu.
- Applications are subject to updates as usual Software Updater either by the PPA the Boutique adds (if applicable) or if a new package is released in the Ubuntu repository.
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@lah7
Thanks, very thorough answer.
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Uhhhh… VirtualBox for xenial is in the Ubuntu repository.
Here is how I get the system specifics for the Apple PowerPC systems. Maybe you can use these hints to populate the Welcome Screens’s System Specifications panel for the PowerPC.
HW_CPU_MHZ=$(grep "clock" /proc/cpuinfo | cut -f 2 -d ":")
MODEL_NAME=$(grep "cpu" /proc/cpuinfo | cut -f 2 -d ":")
grep "model" /proc/cpuinfo | cut -f 2 -d ":"
echo " S/N:"
cat /proc/device-tree/serial-number
echo "</li><li><em><strong>CHASSIS:</strong></em>"
grep "pmac-generation" /proc/cpuinfo | cut -f 2 -d ":"
echo "</li><li><em><strong>MOTHERBOARD:</strong></em>"
grep "motherboard" /proc/cpuinfo | cut -f 2 -d ":"
echo "</li><li><em><strong>REVISION:</strong></em>"
grep "revision" /proc/cpuinfo | cut -f 2 -d ":"
echo "</li>"
echo "<li><em><strong>CPU:</strong></em> Motorola PowerPC <u><strong>$MODEL_NAME</strong></u> $HW_CPU_MHZ</li>"
liWrapper.func "" "/usr/bin/lscpu"SYSTEM: PowerMac6,1 S/N: xxxxxxxx
CHASSIS: NewWorld
MOTHERBOARD: PowerMac6,1 MacRISC3 Power Macintosh
REVISION: 3.3 (pvr 8001 0303)
CPU: Motorola PowerPC 7455, altivec supported 999.999997MHz
Architecture: ppc
CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit
Byte Order: Big Endian
CPU(s): 1
On-line CPU(s) list: 0
Thread(s) per core: 1
Core(s) per socket: 1
Socket(s): 1
Model: PowerMac6,1
BogoMIPS: 66.56
L1d cache: 32K
L1i cache: 32K
L2 cache: 256K
The Boutique uses Oracle’s VirtualBox, not the open source version from the Ubuntu repositories (they conflict with one another). Oracle’s version also has the advantage of having updates quicker.
Thanks as well @Dave_Barnes for the PowerPC information. I take it you see “Could not retrieve data” on some (or all) of the fields.
I always install Oracle’s latest version from their website and have done for some time for the reasons you mention lah7.
Welcome @zap12344. You're using the Ubuntu MATE 15.10 version of Welcome there, which is very old when it comes to design and functionality.
You can upgrade to the new version (as featured in 16.04) by entering these commands in a terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/welcome
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-welcome(which will upgrade it)
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