It’s finally the time for the release of Ubuntu 20.10 Groovy Gorilla this week. And here I put together a list of the top 10 features of Ubuntu 20.10 which you could read before you try your hands on the actual iso.
Ubuntu 20.10 is a short term release supported for 9 months until July 2021. Honestly, there are not many groundbreaking features update in this release. This release mostly the testbed for the latest application, Kernel stack to provide users stable packages back to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
Most of the items that are introduced, you probably already knew about it and they are part of GNOME 3.38 only. In case you have no idea what happened in Ubuntu space overall, here’s the list of the main features and enhancements for Ubuntu 20.10.
Table of Contents
Ubuntu 20.10 – Top 10 Features
1. GNOME 3.38 – default desktop environment
Let’s start with the desktop environment first. Ubuntu 20.10 features the latest GNOME 3.38 desktop environment by default.
The GNOME 3.38 brings the customizable application menu where you can easily drag the icons to anywhere and even put them in custom folders as well. For example, you can create a group folder called ‘Messenger’ which might include Telegram and other messaging apps.
2. New Groovy Default Wallpaper plus others
Like all other Ubuntu releases, Ubuntu 20.10 features a new default wallpaper with the ‘Groovy Gorilla’ mascot. The color combinations, tints are in line with Ubuntu’s base color palette.
Besides, a set of new hi-res wallpapers is also included in this release.
Download the high resolution wallpaper from below links:
Groovy Gorilla Wallpapers 510 – (~27MB) – 1080p to 8K in .png and .jpg
3. Raspberry Pi 4 Support
Ubuntu 20.10 version now supports the Raspberry Pi 4. This version of Raspberry Pi includes a Quad-core 1.5GHz Arm Cortex-A72 based processor, 4GB LPDDR4 RAM with Bluetooth, Ethernet connectivity, and more. With the support from the latest Ubuntu 20.10 you can now unleash your pet-projects such as media server, network monitoring, etc using the latest Pi.
4. Fingerprint Login
Almost all the latest commercial Laptops include a fingerprint scanner to help you log in without a password. Support for those scanners is still in the works in Linux. Necessary GUI and support are now added in Ubuntu 20.10 to enable us to login via fingerprint.
Now, I tried this in an old Lenovo, but it didn’t work though. It seems the driver is not included. But you can still see if it works for your device.
5. Share Wi-Fi hotspot with QR code
Sharing a Wi-Fi hotspot is very easy in Ubuntu 20.10. The settings window has a QR code option for the hotspot you created. You can simply scan it using your mobile device and connect.
6. Top Bar Calendar shows events
The Calendar in the Ubuntu 20.10 top bar is now synced. It can now show the events right in the notification bar itself.
7. Latest Thunderbird Email Client
The latest Thunderbird email client 78.x is included by default. Thunderbird 78 brings some long-requested features. PGP encryptions, Calendar support without extensions are some of the important ones. You can easily now configure the email client with your email service provider.
8. LibreOffice 7.0
The popular free Office suite’s latest installment LibreOffice 7.0 is installed by default. LibreOffice 7.0 brings huge improvements and it is a major release from the Document Foundation. Recently a second point release (7.0.2) announced which is included in Ubuntu 20,10. So you can get the latest features from the official program.
9. Revamped Screenshot tool
The native screenshot tool in Ubuntu 20.10 is revamped. You can easily select a part of the desktop for a quick screenshot.
10. Parental Controls for Apps
GNOME 3.38 brings this important update for parental control of certain applications. You can easily configure to protect certain apps so that kids can’t use it on the desktop itself. This gives super flexibility as you do not need to create another user account for your kids.
So, this is the top 10 features of Ubuntu 20.10 for you. There are not so much important features added considering this is a short term release. Most of the feature-set is part of GNOME 3.38 desktop. If you are a distro-hopper and want to try the latest Ubuntu 20.10, you can go ahead when released this week. Otherwise, it is wise to stick to the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS release for now.
