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Martin Wimpress published a new beta version of the upcoming Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 images for Raspberry Pi devices, which you can download and test right now on the tiny computer.
Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 for Raspberry Pi promises major new features, such as support for the latest Raspberry Pi 4 SCBs, better graphics, experimental USB booting, basic rendering for the Firefox web browser by default, support for the rpi-eeprom utility for updating the Raspberry Pi 4 bootloader EEPROM, and a new configuration tool.
Based on the recently released Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS (Focal Fossa) operating system, the upcoming Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 for Raspberry Pi release is now in its latest stages of development, with a second beta version ready for public testing.
Since beta 1, the team fixed Wi-Fi issues that occurred on the first boot during the initial setup wizard and dropped the gpu_mem memory option that lets you specify how much memory the GPU can use from the config.txt file for better performance.
The beta 2 is also powered by the same Linux 5.4 LTS kernel used in Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS, and uses the latest MATE 1.24 desktop environment and most the core apps that are also available in the Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 LTS release for PCs.
Ubuntu MATE has been available for Raspberry Pi devices for more than five years now and it’s a very popular alternative to the official Raspberry Pi OS, due to using the official Ubuntu kernel optimized for performance and regularly patched against the latest security threats.
But Ubuntu MATE for Raspberry Pi has more advantages than other similar distributions. For example, it comes with the VC4/V3D (fkms) driver enabled by default to support powerful 3D graphics on the tiny computer.
It also supports automatic online file system expansion, audio output via HDMI or 3.5mm analog audio jack, video output via HDMI or Composite, GPIO access via GPIO Zero and WiringPi, as well as Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth support.
Some additional software is included as well, such as the Steam Link App for Raspberry Pi, which lets users play their favorite Steam games right from their Raspberry Pi computers, as well as the popular Minecraft Pi Edition open world building game.
Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 for Raspberry Pi is supported on the newer Raspberry Pi 4 models, as well as on the older Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, and even the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, which is not recommended due to low memory specs.
If you want to help the Ubuntu MATE team deliver a bug-free Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 for the Raspberry Pi release, go ahead and visit the official download page to get your hands on the Beta 2 images, which are available for both 32-bit or 64-bit architectures.
To install Ubuntu MATE 20.04.1 on your Raspberry Pi, it is recommended to use a quality microSDHC or microSDXC card of 8GB or higher. More details are available on the official website.
Image: Ubuntu MATE
Last updated 4 years ago
