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OMG! Ubuntu

Resources 1.10.2 fixes ‘implausible’ Intel NPU values

Several Intel NPU fixes land in the latest update to Resources, which Ubuntu is making the default system monitor in 26.04 LTS. Resources is a GTK4/libadwaita tool that shows more system usage, processes and hardware details than GNOME System Monitor, which it is replacing as Ubuntu’s default in the new LTS. The Resources v1.10 release at the start of February added (among other changes) support for AMD Neural Processing Units (NPUs). The app has supported usage for Intel NPUs since its v1.7.x release in late 2024. The v1.10.2 changelog resolves what is described as “implausible” usage values in Intel NPU [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Get Gmail alerts on Ubuntu without a dedicated mail client

Pigeon Email Notifier is a GNOME Shell extension that does one thing: show a desktop notification when new mail arrives in your Gmail, Microsoft Outlook or IMAP webmail account. If you don’t want to leave a webmail tab open in Firefox, the overhead of a desktop email app like Thunderbird, or your provider doesn’t offer a desktop Linux app (like Fastmail and Proton Mail now do), Pigeon provides a set-and-forget way to still get new mail alerts. Desktop email notifiers have been around for a long time. I’ve written about many standalone tools, like Unity Mail, Popper and Mail Nag over [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS adds Snap and web search to the Overview

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, out on 23 April 2026, ships with two new extensions installed and active by default, both adding search capabilities to the GNOME Shell Overview. Before you raise an eyebrow: no, this is not a revival of the Amazon Shopping Lens furore, where local file and app searches typed into the Unity desktop’s launcher were piped off to match against affiliate product results (anonymised, but earning Canonical a ‘Big Brother’ award). The first new extension is Web Search Provider. This lets you initiate a web search on Google straight from the GNOME Shell Overview. Initiate is the important [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Firefox Nova – we just got our first look at Mozilla’s upcoming browser redesign

A new look Firefox is on the way, with Mozilla designers working on a ‘Nova’ redesign for the browser that makes greater use of curves and colour. First reported by tech blogger Sören Hentzschel, who has published a handful of design mockups, Nova gives Firefox a more rounded appearance: tabs and the address bar sport uniform radii, and sit in a segmented island design that matches. Everything neatly nestles. Elements like hover effects, settings pages and parts of the New Tab Page are similarly rounded. If you look closely at the image above you’ll notice new icons that (you guessed [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Linux Mint shows off its new lock screen/screensaver

Linux Mint is working on a redesigned screensaver and lock screen for the Cinnamon desktop. Based on our first look, it’s a solid improvement. If the word “screensaver” conjures flying star fields or photo slideshows, that’s fair, but in Cinnamon it also acts as the ‘screen locker’. In 2026, ‘saving’ the screen is less of a concern than ‘locking’ it, but many users enjoy seeing a pretty ‘idle’ display. Cinnamon’s new lock screen will, based on designs shared by Linux Mint, convey more information without you needing to unlock. Battery level, time and date, media player controls and unread notifications [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Xournal++ adds tablet-friendly toolbar mode

If you take handwritten notes on a Linux tablet, chances are that Xournal++ is already on your radar as its solid stylus support and touchscreen compatibility has earned it a loyal following among those who’d rather annotate PDFs or sketch diagrams than type everything out. One criticism that follows it around is its interface. It’s rather pointer-led; lots of menus, buttons and tiny hit targets in toolbars. It doesn’t prevent you from doing what you opened the app to do – write, draw, scrawl and markup – but it’s not ideal. Well, that’s what a new tablet mode toolbar configuration [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Memerist is a desktop meme generator for Linux

Did I get old or has the humble image meme atrophied under the glut of AI slop? Don’t sugar coat it; it’s the former, as a new Linux app called Memerist hit Flathub recently to make it easier to customise and generate meme templates. Memerist is a native (GTK4/libadwaita) app for Linux desktop. It is technically an image editor with a focused set of features, geared to those who want a convenient, local tool to quickly create and share popular memes. While the primary use case is for making memes, Memerist will open any image file. You can use it [
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OMG! Ubuntu

GIMP 3.2 issues third release candidate with fresh fixes

GIMP 3.2 RC3 is now available for testing, giving those interested in trying the image editor’s upcoming features, the chance to do so. This is the third (and likely final) release candidate before the stable GIMP 3.2 release arrives. It’s said to deliver “a number of bug fixes and final polishes” to the many new features added in the development and beta builds. The changes mentioned below are from between RC2 to RC3, not from GIMP 3.0 to GIMP 3.2. If you’ve not tracked development, don’t think that what follows is an overview of what’s new in GIMP 3.2 as [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Linux Release Roundup (February 2026)

February 2026 delivered a fresh batch of Linux app releases, with updates to VLC, GIMP, Vivaldi, and VirtualBox among the many that filtered out. I covered some of the month’s biggest releases with fully-featured articles, like Firefox 148 with AI ‘kill switch’, a more capable ONLYOFFICE 9.3 productivity suite and Typhoon’s Qt 6 port. They weren’t the only ones of note. Below, I roundup a fleet of February’s other software releases. Some updates were more of the modest maintenance variety, while others were more substantial new features. Ardour 9.2 finally arrived Ardour, the open-source digital audio workstation (DAW), saw its [
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OMG! Ubuntu

ONLYOFFICE 9.3 makes document editing easier than ever

A new version of ONLYFFICE Desktop Editors, a open source office suite for Windows, macOS and Linux, is out with a fresh set of features and tools. ONLYOFFICE 9.3 adds more signature options for PDF forms, multipage view for documents, new solver tools and regex formulas in the spreadsheets and support for animated GIFs in presentation slides made with the suite’s PowerPoint equivalent. But there’s a less-obvious change lurking within that may have a more appreciable impact on day-to-day document editing. For a closer look at the changes this update brings, read on. ONLYOFFICE 9.3: Highlights ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors provide [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Ubuntu 26.04 Snapshot 4 is now available to download

Canonical’s engineers have announced the fourth and final monthly snapshot of Ubuntu 26.04, ahead of next month’s all important beta release. Ubuntu 26.04 Snapshot 4, like all other monthly snapshots, not a blessed build intended for mainstream usage. It’s a “throwaway artifact” that enables the distro’s engineers to fine-tune and hone a new automated build system. Compared to the January release of snapshot 3, there’s more ‘of note’ packed inside of this one, like the Linux 6.19 kernel and more GNOME 50 beta components (Mutter, Files, etc). In announcing the release of Snpshot 4, Canonical’s Utkarsh Gupta also notes Ubuntu [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Ubuntu 26.04 breaks a sudo tradition older than most of its users

Name: Password feedback in sudo. Age: New, but it’s absence is over 40 years old. Appearance: ********. What’s changed? When you run a command in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS with sudo and you are asked to enter your password, you’ll now see asterisks appear as you type. Previously: nothing. A blinking cursor, the void, a creeping fear that your keyboard had stopped working, etc. I’ve always wondered why it didn’t do that
 You and a lot of other people. Linux Mint enables password feedback by default since, y’know, some feedback is better than none. Not showing feedback is a behaviour that stretches back to the original [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Ubuntu 26.04 ‘Resolute Raccoon’ Default Wallpaper Unveiled

Ubuntu has unveiled the default wallpaper that will grace millions of screen in the upcoming 26.06 LTS ‘Resolute Raccoon’ release. As is tradition, the new desktop background features mascot artwork in the middle of a rich purple gradient. I shared the official mascot art with you a couple of week ago. It looked great in isolation but here, sit against the gradient backdrop, it looks even better. However, the new design does deviate heavily from the past five wallpapers as curved shapes frame the mascot instead of sharp, diagonal geometric planes. Those angular folds created more of a folded paper [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Typhoon weather app blows in with Qt6 rewrite

The forecast is looking Qt for fans of open-source weather app Typhoon, the latest update to which swaps its GTK3 backend for a more modern Qt 6. Most interesting about the change is that it doesn’t have any impact on the UI. Typhoon still shows a colourful, borderless window with transparency, and conveys weather forecast data using stark white text and glyphs. Archisman Panigrahi, Typhoon’s developer, says the Qt port means the app is no longer using the deprecated GTK3 toolkit, but that moving to GTK4 was a non-starter as it ‘does not play well with simultaneously borderless and draggable [
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OMG! Ubuntu

Showtime video player edges closer to Ubuntu debut

Those testing Ubuntu 26.04 daily builds or monthly snapshots may have noticed that Showtime, GNOME’s spiffy new video player, is not preinstalled in the ‘extended selection’, despite being announced as a replacement for Totem. It’s especially confusing since Resources system monitor, announced as a software swap the same time as Showtime, has been on the ISO for a while. Credits need not roll on hope yet, as Showtime could be making its debut soon. Its latest package upload to the resolute archives includes a change that goes some way to explaining why it’s not been present sooner. It reads: “Depend [
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