5 Things To Know About Ubuntu 14.04

The newest version of Ubuntu 14.04 has brought a number of new additions to the OS. Sure, there are some additions, which users wanted but haven't been made. But there are also others, which have been appreciated. There are also some features, which are lesser known.

Take a look at these.



1. You Can Disable Amazon Search Integration

Amazon search results have been integrated into the Ubuntu OS for several releases now. Every time you search for something on the dash, it gives you a variety of search results, including those from Amazon. If you click on a link from Amazon and purchase something, Canonical gets a cut.

You can disable this in two ways. The first way is to go to the System Settings menu and find the Security & Privacy option. From here, you can toggle the Online Search option on or off through the Search tab. This though will disable all online searches. There's another method to disable Amazon alone.

To disable Amazon alone, you will need to remove the unity-lens-shopping package. This can be done using the following command,

sudo apt-get remove unity-lens-shopping

2. You Can Easily Disable the Global Menu

In Ubuntu 14.04, you can toggle the global menu on or off. This would be done from the Appearance option in the System Settings. Here you will find the 'In the Window's title bar', which is under the Show the menus for a Window.

3. You’ll Need to Move On From Ubuntu One

For those who use cloud services for storage purposes, Ubuntu One is no longer an option. Canonical has announced that it is giving up on Ubuntu One, which means that things like Google Drive and Dropbox are your best friends now. You'll have to pay for them, but they work just as well. Google Drive though doesn't support Linux yet and neither does Microsoft's OneDrive (of course), so you're left with options like SpiderOak and others.

4. Web App Integration Isn’t Working As Well

The web app integration for Ubuntu is also different now. For example, an app for Gmail or something else will show up on the Ubuntu Mobile browser, even on the desktop. In theory, this means more closeness between the mobile and desktop versions, but practically it is very difficult to work with this browser. You would do better to install the Chrome Browser and create app shortcuts.

5. TRIM is Now Enabled By Default

The TRIM feature in Ubuntu ensures that it works well with solid state hard drives, or otherwise. The feature is now enabled in Ubuntu by default and allows you to get better performance from your disks.