Ubuntu Studio 20.10 changes to Plasma in what is, without a doubt, its most outstanding novelty

A few hours ago, Ubuntu Studio 20.10 has been officially released. Until now, it came with "minor" changes, see the quotes, some that were more related to updated software for editing than anything else, but that has changed in this release. Although well, to be honest, I think I'm not being fair saying the above. What has happened this time is that they have made a much more important change that stands out above all the others.

As they warned a long time ago, Ubuntu Studio 20.10 has changed its graphical environment. Until Focal Fossa, the launch of six months ago, they used the graphical environment Xfce, but that's a thing of the past. Its developers found that Plasma is much more productive, without affecting performance. For that reason, the new version, and until further notice, the Studio version of Ubuntu will use the graphical environment developed by KDE.

Highlights of Ubuntu Studio 20.10 Groovy Gorilla

But before mentioning the news, we have to continue talking about its environment. And it is that yes, it is Plasma, but no, not much like Kubuntu. As you can see in the header capture, the panel has been placed at the top, which is a "minor" change with respect to the original Plasma, but the one that least resembles that bar is that of the Plasma more pure. Not to mention the icons. And is that Ubuntu Studio has wanted its operating system to be more powerful, but not that its users feel a bit lost.

Explained the above, Ubuntu Studio 20.10 arrives with these news:

• CANNOT UPDATE FROM PAST VERSIONS. In capital letters, yes, because it is something important that is the first thing they mention. This is because the graphical environment has changed, as we will explain later.
• Linux 5.8.
• Supported for 9 months, until July 2021.
• Graphic environment Plasma 5.19.5, with Frameworks 5.74.0 and Qt 5.14.2.
• Squid installer.
• Ubuntu Studio Controls has been renamed just Studio Controls and goes up to version 2.0.8.
• Support for Firewire devices is back.
• Lots of bug fixes for audio.
• The new session manager goes up to v1.3.2.
• Updated many audio editing programs to newer versions, such as Ardor 6.3, Audacity 2.4.2 or Carla 2.2. Also those of graphics and video, whose complete list you have in the link above these lines.

Ubuntu Studio 20.10 can be downloaded from this linkNot without first remembering that it cannot be updated from previous versions. Personally, I would not recommend reinstalling on top of Focal Fossa either.