With Ubuntu’s forthcoming 10.04 release finally getting its new default wallpaper late last week, what better time for a gawp backwards into the past of Ubuntu’s wallpapers?
Ubuntu 4.10 Warty Warthog
When people have complained about the ‘brownness’ of Ubuntu in recent releases I have often wanted to point back to this wallpaper so their opinion could move itself into a position of better context…
This, of course, was the very first default wallpaper in Ubuntu and, with hindsight, what an utterly spiritless block of brown it is! The simple gradient on a pallid brown made for an uninspiring start to the design of Ubuntu’s desktop.
Ubuntu 5.04 “Hoary Hedgehog
For the hedgehog ideas were bucked up. Out went the super-subtle gradients of the previous releases’ wallpaper and in came some wispy light effects and a more engageable brown hue. The off-centre logo still bugs me to this day, but the overall effect was one of personality.
The Hedgehog’s wallpaper represented the first true design of Ubuntu’s wallpaper linage.
Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger
For Ubuntu 5.10 a lighter brown was used in the default wallpaper making the whole desktop ‘feel’ softer. The off-centre logo returns for the OS – perhaps representing that this OS was coming from off-centre, too?
The light refraction and general ‘sparkle’ of the wallpaper make it one of the best. Sadly it was the last default wallpaper to use the Ubuntu logo.
Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake
One word sums up the Drake’s ‘dapper’ wallpaper – “Dark”. And then again for emphasis.
The swirly and curvy lines coupled with the rich, chocolate brown made this wallpaper one of the warmest included in Ubuntu.
Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft
I think many of the ‘mac haters’ would have flipped out if there were using Ubuntu around the time of Edgy as the default wallpaper certainly draws influence from the then default Mac OS X 10.4 wallpaper ‘Aqua’.
That said, the lighter skin tones really worked well and the next releases’ wallpaper wouldn’t deviate too far from this look, either.
Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn
I once remarked that this wallpaper resembles some bruised skin. I think I stand by that. One of the blandest entry’s into the pantheon of ‘buntu wallpapering. Utterly forgettable.
Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon
Reverting from the skin tones of the prior two releases we see a welcome reversion to the chocolate brown of Dapper.
This was my “first” Ubuntu so this wallpaper holds a nostalgic hold over me so it’s hard for me to be entirely objective about it. Easily the best wallpaper up until this point, but the next release was to easily surpass it…
Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron
Hardy’s wallpaper is egarded by many to be the best default wallpaper so far. The Hardy Heron summed up in its wallpaper what the OS was experiencing at that time: an emboldened sense of identity amongst the Linux community, a bright, forward looking future and standing up to be counted.
Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex
For the second, and so far last, time the default wallpaper featured its titular mascot – this time being an Ibex.
Many users disliked this wallpaper – the main complaint being that it resembled a coffee mug ‘ring’ than an Ibex!
I think that the Intrepid artwork once again shone with a unique identity and talent a la Hardy – something that would be sorely missing from the next release’s choice of desktop art…
Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
Back to basics with Jaunty. Gone are the mascots and back are the gradients and light effects.
The wallpaper was unimaginative and an incredible let down after the previous two wonderful pieces.
Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
“WHERE IS THE BROWN??!” would’ve been a lot of users first reactions when booting into Karmic for the first time. The super cosy tones of this orange wallpaper were a winner with me. The texture of the wallpaper also lead me to study it closely trying to work out whether it was a photograph or just clever trickery.
Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx
Ahhh – there certainly is no brown to be found in this wallpaper as the Lucid Lynx heralds a new colour scheme and a fresh start for the visual identity of Ubuntu.
Public opinion on the wallpaper will be properly gauged when Lucid hits the mainstream come April 29th. In the mean time it’s proved to be a relative success – only 30% of voters in our poll signalled that they’d be switching it to something else ASAP.
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