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Friday, August 11, 2017 at 11:25

Ubuntu 17.10 "Artful Aardvark" Preview Part 2: Features & Applications

Continuing Part 1, here's Preview Part 2 covering features & applications of Ubuntu 17.10 Alpha 2. While on Part 1 you see the desktop appearance, you'll see here its memory consumption, default apps, base system details, GNOME 3.24, and how easy Google Drive sync on Artful file manager. Keep in mind that this preview is based on pre-release version so there's probability the final version will have difference.

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Memory Usage

Ubuntu 17.10 "Artful Aardvark" Alpha 2 consumes around 1GB of RAM at idle time after freshly installed.

The biggest processes running are two gnome-shell (112MiB + 52MiB) and gnome-software (25MiB).

Default Applications

At Alpha 2, Ubuntu Artful brings its usual set of applications with GNOME 3.24 as its basis:

File manager: Nautilus
Web browser: Firefox
Email & RSS: Thunderbird
Office suite: LibreOffice
Webcam: Cheese
PDF reader: Evince
Image viewer: Eye Of GNOME
Image editor: Shotwell
GNOME parts: Calculator, Calendar, Games (Mahjongg, Mines, AisleRiot), Text Editor, Archive Manager, Rhythmbox Music Player, Videos, Software Center
Download manager: Transmission BitTorrent
Scan: Simple Scan
Remote desktop: Remmina

LibreOffice 5.3

Artful comes with the latest LibreOffice Stable 5.3.4.2. It brings Writer, Calc, Impress, and Math without Draw and Base.

Sources.list & Repo

In a simplest way, the Artful sources.list will have these four lines enabled.

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu artful-security main restricted universe multiverse

GNOME 3.24

Artful brings the latest GNOME Desktop Environment version for now, it is 3.24. Most of GNOME components are already 3.24 here, such as the Shell, File Manager, even Terminal. GNOME is the replacement for Unity as the official Ubuntu user interface starting from 17.10.

If you want to check it via console, use dpkg -l to find them like this:

GNOME Shell Extensions

The desktop on Artful is compatible with GNOME Shell Extensions. For example, I can install my favorite Netspeed Indicator right from its website. However, Artful Alpha 2 doesn't come with GNOME Tweak Tool preinstalled.

Nautilus 3.24

The file manager of Artful is Nautilus, or simply Files 3.24.

GNOME Calendar 3.24

Artful comes with Calendar from GNOME with Week tab and sync features to Google Calendar online service.

Here's my Google Calendar being accessed from Artful:

Easier Sync

Artful comes with Online Accounts feature so you can connect to Google Gmail or GDrive, Facebook, Flickr, or even Nextcloud right from the desktop. For example, here's my Google account being synchronized on Artful and I can choose between many choices (Mail, Calendar, Files, etc.).

Here's Artful file manager showing my Google Drive after synchronizing:

GNOME Software 3.24

Artful helps you install applications using latest GNOME Software. You can install Flatpak using it, right from right-click on a .flatpakref/.flatpak file or just visit http://flatpak.org/apps.html and GNOME Software will install it for you.

GNOME Software installing a Flatpak from a .flatpakref file.

Base System

The detail about Artful Alpha 2 system is here:

Kernel 4.11
GNOME Shell version 3.24.3
XWayland 1.19
XOrg 7.7
Snap 2.26.10
GDM 3.24.2
APT 1.5
GNU libc 2.24, coreutils 8.26, binutils 2.28, bash 4.4, gnupg 2.1.15

More Info

There are many interesting news and info about Artful:

Post Tags : artful aardvark , ubuntu 17.10