5.0 Release Notes

New Look and Feel

The default Shock OS theme has been slightly changed to feel smoother, faster and more polished.

New Panel Layout

By default, the panel now uses window icons instead of a window list and also features a 'Show Desktop' button. You will be prompted to choose between 'Modern' (the new layout) and 'Traditional' (the old layout) upon first boot. You can also change the layout anytime by launching 'Panel Layouts' from the Menu or the Control Center.

Updates Indicator

When updates are available, a package icon will appear in the notification tray (with the Wi-Fi, bluetooth and volume controls). The update window will appear when this icon is clicked. This is much less annoying than the update window randomly popping-up every time updates are available.

LibreOffice Now Uses System Theme

LibreOffice will now use the system-wide theme instead of the old-school Windows 98 style theme.

New Default Video Player

VLC has been abandoned as the default video player and has been replaced by GNOME MPV on Legacy Edition and Celluloid on the Bullseye Editions.

'Desktop Tweaks' App has been Removed

Thanks to the new 'Panel Layouts' application, the 'Desktop Tweaks' application is now obsolete and it's launcher has been removed from the menu. However, if you would still like to launch it, you can simply run 'mate-tweak' in a terminal window.

Calendar App Now Included

Previous versions of Shock OS did not include a calendar application. From now on, Shock OS will come included with gnome-calendar.

New User Manager

The 'Users and Groups' app has been replaced with 'Users' to make adding and removing users more straightforward. However, if you would still prefer the 'Users and Groups' instead, just got to Users > Advanced and the classic 'Users and Groups' app will launch

New Login Screen

Shock OS has always used the GNOME login screen (GDM3). However, LightDM has now replaced GDM3 as it has better and more direct support for the MATE, the desktop environment used by Shock OS.

New Chromium Home Page

The Google-based Shock OS Search Engine is now the default home page of Chromium.

Login Screen Now Shows on First Login.

In previous releases, Shock OS would automatically log in the user after the initial setup process has been completed - only on the first boot, and then the normal login screen would appear. From now on, this will no longer happen and the login screen will always show by default, even on first boot.

Mouse Cursor is Now Black

In previous releases the cursor was white by default. Now it is black. Yay!

New Default Wallpaper

The default Shock OS wallpaper now has a darker look to better compliment the light theme of Shock OS.

Timeshift Removed from Legacy Edition

Timeshift, for some odd reason, does not function properly on Legacy Edition. Thanks to this, it is no longer included in the Legacy Edition. However, Timeshift is still built-in and fully functional in the Bullseye Editions.