Updated April 2012 with Ubuntu 12.04′s new default wallpaper
With Ubuntu 12.04′s default wallpaper now signed, sealed, although not yet delivered, it’s time for us to take our bi-annual gawp back through the annuls of Ubuntu wallpapers past…
Ubuntu 4.10 Warty Warthog
When people have complained about the ‘brownness‘ of Ubuntu in releases gone by, I have often wanted to point back to this wallpaper – Ubuntu’s first – so that their opinion could manoeuvre itself into something called ‘context’.
With hindsight this wallpaper is nothing more than an utterly spiritless block of brown with a logo. Sure the gradient adds a bit of activity but the pallid brown colour lent itself to an uninspiring start to the design of Ubuntu’s desktop.
Ubuntu 5.04 Hoary Hedgehog
For the Hedgehog ideas on first impressions were bucked up: out went the subtle-almost-invisible gradient used previously and in came some wispy light effects and a darker, homely brown hue.
This was the first of two wallpapers to use an off-centre Ubuntu logo – a decision which still bugs me to this day – but the overall tone was one of a burgeoning personality. It’s for this reason 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 ‘tan’ brown was used in the default wallpaper giving the desktop a softer feeling, and the addition of elegant light refractions give the whole design a bokeh-esque persona.
This entrant is notable for being the last default wallpaper to use the Ubuntu logo.
Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake
One word sums up the Drake’s dapper wallpaper and that is dark.The swirly and curvy lines coupled with the rich, chocolate brown made this wallpaper one of the warmest – and darkest – including in Ubuntu thus far. By no means iconic but by no means bland, either.
Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft
For the virulent mac haters whose paranoid eyes see ties back to Apple everywhere they turn, the default wallpaper of Ubuntu 6.10 would surely have flipped them into a spin givens its clear influence from the then default Mac OS X 10.4 wallpaper ‘Aqua‘.
The light skin tones really worked well here and made for a calm, amiable looking desktop.
Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn
It has been remarked on occasion that the Ubuntu 7.04 wallpaper resembled nothing other than a patch of bruised skin! I find it hard to see what the aim was with this wallpaper; its so utterly bland it borders on aggravating.
Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon
Reverting from the skin tones of the prior two releases we see the return of the chocolate brown of Dapper-era Ubuntu. With Gutsy being my first Ubuntu this wallpaper holds a nostalgic hold over me and, as such, it’s hard for me to be entirely objective about it.
This choice again echoed the well worn design lines of OS X’s iconic Aqua wallpaper but, to its credit, was distinctive enough in colour choice to feel ‘Ubuntu’.
Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron
Hardy’s wallpaper is widely regarded by many to be the best default wallpaper so far. It’s easy to see parallels between the look of the wallpaper and the changes occurring in the OS itself at that time: there was an emboldened sense of identity amongst users, and Ubuntu felt assertive enough in its own aims to stand up tall and do things its own way.
Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex
Playing to the success of Hardy’s wallpaper the Intrepid Ibex featured its titular mascot in abstract style. The result was not as popular as its predecessor but the emblematic design still stamped personality onto the millions of Ubuntu desktops worldwide.
There were, as always, complaints. These mainly centred around the image resembled a coffee stain/splash rather than an Ibex – one which isn’t hard to see.
Regardless of opinion Ibex’s wallpaper displayed its identity with pride, something that would be sorely missing from the choice of default desktop art herein.
Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
It’s back to basics with Jaunty’s drape: out are the the mascots and back are the gradients and swooshy light effects. This wallpaper was both unimaginative and an incredible let down compared to the standards and originality of the previous two designs.
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 smooth earthy gradients were swapped out for the super cosy tones of, well, orange.
This wallpaper perhaps more than any other gave off a warm and inviting first impression to Ubuntu.
The texture of the wallpaper also baffles me to this day: is it a photograph or just clever trickery? I still don’t know!
Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx
There was certainly no brown to be found in the wallpaper of Ubuntu 10.04 as the introduction of a new colour scheme and visual identity signalled a fresh start for the look of the Ubuntu desktop.
The lens flares, blurry artefacts and purple gradients used in Lucid’s default wallpaper were dreamy and in keeping with the ‘Lucid’ moniker. Sadly many found this unobtrusive style to have been at the cost of personality.
Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat
The original plan for the Maverick background was something a bit more ambitious than what resulted. Sadly time ran out and they were forced to come up with this alternative. But, thankfully, the result was a beautiful abstract affair laced with ethereal strobing to lend an otherworldly quality.
Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal
If the changes in tone of the previous wallpapers were considered a ‘subtle evolution’ then Natty’s approach to the wallpaper front could be considered pretty much extinct!
Deciding to err along a consistent, iterative approach to wallpaper changes from here until Ubuntu 12.04 the design boasts only a handful of very minor, barely noticeable changes from 10.10.
Ubuntu 11.10
I promise you that the wallpaper for Ubuntu 11.10 was updated from that in 11.04 – it’s just a very subtle upgrade.
Ubuntu 12.04
And so we arrive at the default background for the 5-year long Ubuntu 12.04 LTS release. There’s no squinting needed to reveal the main change in this one – it has a whole new colour! But other than the addition of a warming glow little else has changed.
Why? Reasoning once again falls to the ‘iterative & familiar’ approach towards Ubuntu branding as discussed previously.
Poll: Which wallpaper do you consider the ‘best’ so far?
Thanks to: ubuntu.ecchi.ca/wallpapers
