Kubuntu 13.04 Alpha 1

Stéphane Graber has announced the availability of the first alpha release of Kubuntu 13.04: "The first alpha of the 'Raring Ringtail' (to become 13.04) has now been released. This alpha features images for Edubuntu and Kubuntu. At the end of the 12.10 development cycle, the Ubuntu flavour decided that it would reduce the number of milestone images going forward and the focus would concentrate on daily quality and fortnightly testing rounds known as cadence testing. Based on that change, the Ubuntu product itself will not have an Alpha-1 release. Its first milestone release will be the final beta release on the 28th of March 2013. Other Ubuntu flavours have the option to release using the usual milestone schedule." See the release announcement and release notes for further information. Download (SHA256): raring-desktop-i386.iso (972MB, torrent), raring-desktop-amd64.iso (954MB, torrent). Alpha 1 images for Edubuntu 13.04 (download, release notes) are also available.

Top 15 Desktop Environments for Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal (Alternatives to Unity)

In this article, I have collected 15 best desktop environments available for Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) that can be used as a replacement for Unity. If you are interested in good design and look for your desktop, you may try the first seven desktop environments given below. If you want speed with no interest in design and desktop look, you may start from the eighth desktop environment.

Additionally, instead of installing various desktop environments on Ubuntu 12.10, you may try the different Ubuntu flavors which are:

•     Xubuntu - XFCE desktop environment
•     Kubuntu - K Desktop environment
•     Lubuntu - LXDE

Let's now see the various desktop environments available for Ubuntu 12.10 or older:

1. GNOME Shell

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

2. KDE

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends kubuntu-desktop

3. Xfce

sudo apt-get install xfce4

4. LXDE

sudo apt-get install lxde

5. Cinnamon

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwendal-lebihan-dev/cinnamon-stable 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install cinnamon

6. Mate

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu precise main" 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install mate-archive-keyring 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment

7. E17

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:hannes-janetzek/enlightenment-svn 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install e17

8. Awesome WM

sudo apt-get install awesome

9. WindowMaker

sudo apt-get install wmaker

10. Fluxbox

sudo apt-get install fluxbox

11. Blackbox

sudo apt-get install blackbox

12. Openbox

sudo apt-get install openbox

13. jwm

sudo apt-get install jwm

14. IceWM

sudo apt-get install icewm

15. fvwm

sudo apt-get install fvwm

Extra DEs

Here are some other desktop environments suggested by our readers:

- Razor-qt

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:razor-qt 

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install razorqt

Note: You may also install these DEs on Linux Mint 14 or older.