The stable edition of Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet) is just around the corner, so this is a good time to take a look at the features that are going to be implemented in the new release and see what important packages have been updated.
Ubuntu 15.04 is not an exciting release, but that it's only a surface impression. The truth is that it's an important upgrade because some very important changes have been made, including the adoption of systemd.
Users will notice that not too many visual changes have been implemented in Ubuntu 15.04, but that was to be expected. The team is transitioning to a new Unity version that is still not ready for general use, so it's easy to understand why Ubuntu 15.04 is not all that different from Ubuntu 14.10.
Changes galore, but most of them under the hood
Most of the changes made in this cycle for Ubuntu 15.04 have been done under the hood, and that means that most of the stuff will be invisible to the naked eye. Most users won't even notice all the stuff implemented, but it's there and it's important.
Systemd replaces Upstart
It's not a secret that Ubuntu is based on Debian, so it was only a matter of time until Systemd became default. The developers chose this cycle to make the switch, and it was relatively painless, at least until now.
The Linux kernel has been upgraded
As it was to be expected, one of the core components of Ubuntu, the Linux kernel, was upgraded to version 3.19.3. Canonical doesn't provide the stock kernel and modifies it a little bit to suit their needs. This is why it won't carry the 3.19.3 version number, but that's the version used.
Unity and Compiz get minor upgrades
Unity 7 and Compiz are on their last legs. Ubuntu devs are working for some time on Unity 8, which uses a different window manager. Until that version of Unity is ready, Unity 7 will be refined and improved, along with Compiz.
The team has refined the animations so that the startup and shutdown sequences are now somewhat faster; a fix has been implemented for Compiz that was only affected users with NVIDIA video cards, gtk-window-decorator now provides GNOME 2 support, and almost all of the GNOME components have been upgraded to the 3.14 branch.
Locally Integrated Menus are now default
Locally Integrated Menus are integrated directly in the title bar and not in the system's top bar. This means that users have faster access to the menus, and they don't increase the size of the window. They are now the default option in Ubuntu 15.04, but the old option to show them in the top bar will still be present.
A new wallpaper has been implemented
Users can recognize Ubuntu from a mile away because it uses an orange-tinted background. This background has changed over the years, but this is the first time the color has changed completely. It still uses the same paper folding design, but the colors are completely different.
All the major apps have been upgraded
Ubuntu comes with a number of apps integrated by default, like Firefox or LibreOffice. Firefox 36.0.1 will be default (an upgrade to version 37.0 will be provided), and LibreOffice has been updated to version 4.4, although it's pretty certain that an upgrade to version 4.4.2 will be ready soon after launch.
These are all the major modifications for Ubuntu 15.04, but rest assured that there are hundreds small ones. We'll have a review for Ubuntu 15.04 ready soon after its official launch on April 23.
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