The desktop unity presented in 2010 by the British Linux distributor Canonical for the in-house distribution Ubuntu receives its first major update in more than 6 years with the new version 7.6. The particularly resource-saving user interface has undergone a fresh cell treatment and has been modernized.
First fresh cell treatment in more than 6 years
As Unity's chief developer Rudra Saraswat announced, Unity 7.6 is the first major release of the free desktop environment in more than 6 years. The last current version 7.5, which is also used for the unofficial Ubuntu derivative with Unity, the Ubuntu Unity Remix, was released on May 25, 2016.
In addition to improved resource management – Unity 7.6 only requires 700 to 800 MB RAM after the new installation – the official release notes list modernization work on the UI in particular /UX, the launcher and the HUD as well as the following new features, optimizations and bug fixes:
Unity 7.6 – Release Notes
Unity 7.6 is more of a Unity 7.5 “refresh” than a completely new desktop and is primarily aimed at users who still prefer the desktop environment first released for Ubuntu in 2010.
The Unity fork UnityX 10.0 emerged as an alternative to Unity last summer. Although new (side) panels, launchers and menus bear witness to the progress of development, UnityX has not yet really appeared complete and coherent. The future of the Unity desktop, on the other hand, is supposed to be the Unity 8 Desktop Environment (“Lomiri”) developed by UBports.
The next Ubuntu Unity Remix will be based on Unity 7.6, existing ones Installation are updated with the following command:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
See the official website for more information, while the YouTube channel “DistroTube” provides corresponding impressions.