What can you expect from this release? Unlike previous releases, Ubuntu 13.04 brings about a few dramatic changes, but mainly some needed polish and performance boosts to the system.
1. New Window Snap Animation
Windows snapping was a really popular feature in the Windows operating systems and its handy to quickly display two applications side-by-side without overlapping.
For 13.04 a bit of attention has been given to the animation shown on screen to tell you that ‘you’re about to snap’. Developers have changed its appearance from that of a generic orange box spreading outwards to a semi-transparent copy of the window about to be snapped.
2. New Unity Preview Animations
Unity Previews, introduced last year in Ubuntu 12.10, are a great way to see more information about a search result without needing to open it up fully.
For the latest release the preview reveal animation has been tweaked, and applications icons at the edges of the preview “ghosted” save for the one being previewed.
3. New Shutdown Dialogs
Logging out, shutting down, rebooting – tasks that none of us expect to be particularly glamorous. But chances are you’ll find yourself doing it a a bit more routinely in 13.04 for one reason: to see the new Unity-themed session dialogs that have been added.
4. Per-App Account Toggles
5. New Sync Menu
Originally planned to arrive on the desktop last year is this – the new Ubuntu One Sync Menu. With a single click you can see whether you’re online; share a file; or check the status of recently uploaded files.
6. Workspace Item
The Workspace Launcher Item is no longer shown by default. You will have to enable it by going to System Settings > Appearance > Behaviour.
7. New Bluetooth Menu
8. New Lenses
9. Windows Switching Modes
10. Speed
Ubuntu 13.04 has been optimized for faster speeds and a better usability experience. Unity has improved over each new release and it used to be resource hungry. Now, it's much better at managing your precious memory and CPU cycles.
[via OMG! Ubuntu!]
