Xubuntu 17.10 Release Notes

A bug in the Linux 4.13 kernel shipped in Ubuntu 17.10 can leave users unable to update any of their BIOS settings, including their system’s boot order, after booting this version of Ubuntu.

A kernel with a fix for this issue will be available in zesty-updates shortly, but, the Ubuntu 17.10 installer images still contain the kernel with this bug. Users with affected systems should not upgrade to Ubuntu 17.10 or boot an Ubuntu 17.10 installer image until this issue as resolved. Doing so may result in your computer requiring professional servicing in order to restore BIOS functionality.

A full list of known affected models can be found in Bug 1734147

If you have already installed Ubuntu 17.10 on an affected system, you may not immediately notice this problem because Ubuntu will continue to boot from disk. To verify whether your system has been affected by this bug, create a USB stick with the Ubuntu 16.04 desktop image and try to boot it. If you are able to boot it, your system has most likely not been impacted by this bug.

• Client side decorations (CSD) now consume much less space with the Greybird GTK+ theme.
• New device, mimetype, and monochrome panel icons have been included with the elementary-xfce icon theme.
• The new wallpaper adds a refreshing touch of green to the desktop.

• GNOME Font Viewer is now included by default. This application simplifies viewing and installing fonts.
• LibreOffice 5.3 → 5.4
• Firefox 52 → 56
• Thunderbird 45.8 → 52.4
• Numerous Xfce and other components have been updated.

• The Xfce Dictionary, Genmon Plugin, and Mount Plugin have been ported to GTK+ 3.
• Exo's GTK+ 3 support has been further improved.
• Tumbler has been ported to GDBus and the Clipman plugin has been ported to GtkApplication.
• Python 3.5 → 3.6
• GTK+ 3.24 → 3.26. GTK+ 3.26 includes support for Unicode 10.0.0 and support for color Emoji.

We usually just link directly to the Ubuntu release notes, but there are several significant improvements that affect all flavors and our users.

The Ubuntu Desktop team has been hard at work to get accelerated video playback working out of the box [ 1, 2, 3, 6 ]. Intel users may also see some performance improvements in Parole Media Player since it shares the GStreamer backend. Chromium users might also see some performance improvements [ 3, 4 ].

See this page for more information.

There’s been a number of changes to BlueZ and PulseAudio this cycle which should make Bluetooth and USB audio devices work much better by default [ 2, 4, 5 ].

Driverless printing has been added to Ubuntu. This provides support for most modern printers: IPP Everywhere, Apple AirPrint, Mopria, PCLm, and Wifi Direct as supported. Other printers can still be added from the Printers dialog [ 5, 6 ].

• System encryption password set before setting keyboard locale (1047384)
  • Workround: Start the installation with the correct keymap. (Use F3) to set your keymap before booting to Try or Install Xubuntu from that menu.

• Keyboard layout issues noted in Ubuntu or other flavours during installation:
  • Auto-selected keyboard layout no longer matches chosen region (1706859)
• “Force UEFI installation” dialog has non-working Go Back/Continue buttons ( 1724482)
• No restart after installation ( 1723760)

• Network indicators
  • Currently at times the panel could show 2 network icons, this appears to be a race condition which we have not been able to rectify in time for release. While this is an appearance issue only as far as we know, you can if you wish restart networking, the affected plugin or the panel. This fixes the issue in your running session but does not prevent the issue from re-appearing.

• Parole Media Player
  • Parole progress bar lag (1667786)
  • Parole crashes while fast forwarding with the playback slider (1374887)
  • Parole Clear History (Open Location) crashes (1214541)
  • Play button inactive (1705243)

• GNOME Software: GDBUS.Error:org.freedesktop.Dbus.Error.ServiceUnkown Error message (1713009)
• SGT Puzzles Collection: Menu bar grayed out (1670610)
• Thunar: Restoring non-empty folders spawns warning - leaves copy behind (1687075)
• Xfce Indicator Plugin: Label missing from “Clear Known Indicators” dialog (1644971)
• Xfce Indicator Plugin: Checkboxes for hidden/visible indicators not working properly (1311685)

• blueman (changelog)
• gtk-theme-config (changelog)
• gtk2-engines-xfce (changelog)
• lightdm-gtk-greeter (changelog)
• lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings (changelog)
• menulibre (changelog)
• mugshot (changelog)
• pavucontrol (changelog)
• sgt-launcher (changelog)
• shimmer-themes (changelog)
• xfce4-volumed (changelog)
• xfpanel-switch (changelog)
• xubuntu-artwork (changelog)
• xubuntu-core (changelog)
• xubuntu-default-settings (changelog)
• xubuntu-desktop (changelog)
• xubuntu-docs (changelog)
• xubuntu-icon-theme (changelog)
• xubuntu-meta (changelog)
• xubuntu-wallpapers (changelog)

• exo (changelog)
• thunar (changelog)
• xfce4-appfinder (changelog)
• xfce4-panel (changelog)
• xfce4-power-manager (changelog)
• xfce4-session (changelog)
• xfce4-settings (changelog)
• xfconf (changelog)
• xfdesktop4 (changelog)
• xfwm4 (changelog)

• catfish (changelog)
• mousepad (changelog)
• orage (changelog)
• parole (changelog)
• xfburn (changelog)
• xfce4-notifyd (changelog)
• xfce4-screenshooter (changelog)
• xfce4-taskmanager (changelog)
• xfce4-terminal (changelog)

• xfce4-cpugraph-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-dict (changelog)
• xfce4-indicator-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-mailwatch-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-netload-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-notes-plugin (changelog
• xfce4-places-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-quicklauncher-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-systemload-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-verve-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-weather-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin (changelog)
• xfce4-xkb-plugin (changelog)

[1] https://insights.ubuntu.com/2017/07/07/ubuntu-desktop-weekly-update-july-7-2017/
[2] https://insights.ubuntu.com/2017/07/14/ubuntu-desktop-weekly-update-july-14-2017/
[3] https://insights.ubuntu.com/2017/07/28/ubuntu-desktop-weekly-update-july-28-2017/
[4] https://insights.ubuntu.com/2017/08/11/ubuntu-desktop-weekly-update-august-11-2017/
[5] https://insights.ubuntu.com/2017/08/25/ubuntu-desktop-weekly-update-august-25-2017/
[6] https://insights.ubuntu.com/2017/09/08/ubuntu-desktop-weekly-update-september-8-2017/