Ubuntu MATE For Linux

Ubuntu MATE 22.10 Kinetic Kudu is a smaller-than-usual release that's mainly focused on "quality of life improvements." 22.10 is an interim release meaning that it will only receive support for 9 months, until July 2023.

Be that as it may, Ubuntu MATE 22.10 still has a lot of exciting features and changes, not to mention that Ubuntu 22.10 upon which it is based is also arguably one of the best interim releases of recent years.

Of course, the biggest change is the new MATE Desktop, and features various components of the upcoming MATE Desktop 1.28. The main change is the MATE Panel which adds applet icons that can now be center aligned, as well as other left and right alignment options.

The MATE HUD has also received some significant work from Ubuntu MATE's community fans. The HUD now supports MATE, XFCE and Budge. Other improvements come in the form of a brand new HUD settings app which offers a plethora of options and settings.

The MATE User Manager has also been added which replaces the somewhat outdated gnome-system-tools toolkit (which was removed from Ubuntu MATE in the 22.04 release). It now allows you to add, modify, and remove user accounts. It also allows you to define which users should or shouldn't have administrative rights.

As is the tradition, Ubuntu MATE 22.10 boasts a new set of AI-generated wallpapers which, to be honest, look amazing. This only goes to show just how much AI technology has evolved during the last couple of years.

The Ubuntu MATE Artwork package has also been updated and it includes all the refinements and improvements in the suite of Yaru Themes. Some of the updated apps include Firefox 105, Celluloid 0.20, Evolution 3.46, and LibreOffice 7.4.

In the grand scheme of things, it's safe to say that Ubuntu MATE 22.10 is not exactly groundbreaking, but it does bring a series of welcome improvements. It also displays a bit of what the next release of Ubuntu MATE (23.04) will be all about which, if you're a distro hopper, or simply an Ubuntu MATE fan, you'll want to check them out.