Xubuntu For Linux

Xubuntu is one of the most popular official Ubuntu flavors out there. The main standout for Xubuntu has always been its Xfce desktop environment. It's also one of the most lightweight Linux distributions out there.

Xubuntu 22.04, codenamed Jammy Jellyfish, is the latest long-term support (LTS) release and comes with support for three years, until 2025.

If you're coming from 20.04 LTS, then the changes really do seem massive. The Xfce desktop environment has received a complete overhaul and includes some nice visual refreshes.

One of the most important changes in this LTS release is the theme updates. Greybird 3.23.1 introduces initial support for GTK 4 and libhandy, making apps from other desktop environments look a lot more at home in Xubuntu.

Other changes include the re-introduction of Accessibility and Compact window manager themes, and the fact that elementary-xfce 0.16 adds new icons and improves upon the existing set. It makes Xubuntu feel and look a lot more modern, improving the user experience.

Xubuntu 22.04 LTS also comes with a set of new default wallpapers (including six additions from the community wallpaper contest).

A wide range of Xfce apps has also been updated in this version. Some of the major ones include Mousepad (0.5.8), the default text editor, that now comes with more features and support for session backup/restore, plugin support, and new plugins, and Ristretto (0.12.2) now has improved thumbnail support and various performance improvements.

The Whisker Menu Plugin is now updated to version 2.7.1 and features more customization options.

Other app updates include Thunderbird (91), LibreOffice (7.3.2), Blueman (2.2.4), Gnome Disk Usage Analyzer (41.0), Thunar plugins, Pipewire (0.3.48), and, of course, Firefox (99.0.1). And, yes, Firefox is now a snap app which means enhanced security, but at the cost of a slightly delayed cold start.

A list of all the changes can be found on the official release notes section on Xubuntu's official website.

If you're coming from Xubuntu 20.04 LTS then the changes are really big and really impactful. Users coming from 21.10 are still bound to appreciate the added stability and various maintenance releases.