Ubuntu 11.04′s new default desktop wallpaper revealed

By Joey Sneddon, Published March 24, 2011

The new default wallpaper for Ubuntu 11.04 has been released.

Sporting ‘subtle changes’ with ‘new light refractions’, the updated wallpaper for the April release echoes evolution rather than revolution.

Writing on the reasoning behind the subtle changes Ubuntu’s Otto Greenslade says: -

“…as we move towards becoming more of a ‘household’ platform and with the great changes coming with Unity (launcher/dash) general users will get reassurance from the familiarity of the wallpaper and will also identify with it as part of our personality in new screenshots.”

For those unable to notice a different between this and the incumbent, here’s an animated .gif alternating between the two: -

This design, along with 17 other wallpapers (see here for those), make up the default wallpaper package for Ubuntu 11.04.

natty

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Anonymous
I like other wallpapers from the default selection more.
I didn’t realize how close Unity is, judging by its current state, I’m forced to think they’ve should develop Unity all this time, but not to make it default now.
http://twitter.com/wolterh Wolter Hellmund
natty would be so better off with the narwhallpaper

https://profiles.google.com/Yogotiss Yogotiss
Agreed!

https://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 NathanLee
because narwhals are awesome.
I never understood these blank flashes as wallpapers. It annoys me on apple and windows OS’s as well, and is the first thing I change. Heck, it doesn’t even have to change dramatically, just to something that… is something.

Anonymous
that’s the power of open-source customizability- see you can change the wallpaper :P

Anonymous
as opposed to, say, windows 7 starter :D
really, that gave me a shock on my netbook.
Anonymous
It’s not open-source heh and I guess it’d have been better if named Win 7 Shocker instead!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ONZ3IXKZCKGARKX4B7GNRKEWUI PhilG
And I do change the wall paper. These blurry images hurt my eyes because they keep trying to focus. But how do I change the splash image as the computer boots? Its the same ugly, awful image. Honestly, I choose linux so not everything looks the same. I **like** the dis-unity of linux. If unity (lack of choice) is what I wanted I’d stick with Windows.

Anonymous
Do you know any good/awesome Narwhal background?

http://twitter.com/marcusklaas MarcusKlaasDeVries
Yes. There was one posted here a day or two ago. That one was awesome, yo.

Anonymous
in the 17 wallpaper pack, look at the purple background with the orange 2 narwhals. i think it’s the best so far
http://twitter.com/manzabud abraham
i see ubuntu need new ideas, i mean, it is the same wallpaper with a contrast change!!! what?

Anonymous
As Otto Greenslade said, the idea is that the wallpaper creates brand awareness. They’re keeping it similar for a very good reason.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_POBOXJ4AGBFJ5P2OE2R4AOPLQ4 Don
I guess I should have trademarked that. Narwhallpaper(TM) :)

http://twitter.com/wolterh Wolter Hellmund
Hehe, credit is all yours! It just made me laugh a lot when I read it :P

http://profiles.google.com/traymae Tracey Davis
Not much effort put into this. Yes you can change the background, but it’s first impression is not impressive. Just my 2 cents. Mint makes very nice professional wallpapers. It’s too bad they chose to do it this way.

https://launchpad.net/~jpickett Joel P
Exactly… the default wallpaper seems like a back-of-the-mind thing now.

Anonymous
if they are so afraid that people wont know is ubuntu, then why not add the logo and name to one of the narwhalpapers…

http://petercast.net Peterson Silva
I almost thought the title was ironic when I actually saw the wallpaper. It is so enthusiastic, like “attention, guys, the new wallpaper’s been revealed!”. Specially the word revealed EheHaehAEHEA — and then I look, and it’s just the same =P

http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od
I’ve added a small .gif that alternates between the two.

http://petercast.net Peterson Silva
I almost thought the title was ironic when I actually saw the wallpaper. It is so enthusiastic, like “attention, guys, the new wallpaper’s been revealed!”. Specially the word revealed EheHaehAEHEA — and then I look, and it’s just the same =P
http://petercast.net Peterson Silva
I almost thought the title was ironic when I actually saw the wallpaper. It is so enthusiastic, like “attention, guys, the new wallpaper’s been revealed!”. Specially the word revealed EheHaehAEHEA — and then I look, and it’s just the same =P
Anonymous
I can understand the need to keep the wallpaper consistent but at least make it something slightly more interesting and visually appealing.

Anonymous
And less… vomit…y.

Anonymous
Agreed

Anonymous
I can understand the need to keep the wallpaper consistent but at least make it something slightly more interesting and visually appealing.
Anonymous
I can understand the need to keep the wallpaper consistent but at least make it something slightly more interesting and visually appealing.
http://twitter.com/mastrgamr Stuart Smith
WHACK.
http://alexandos.org Alexander
Well, maybe 11.10 will give us the truly “evolving” wallpaper.

Akshat Jain
Have you seen the genetic wallpapers by doctormo?

http://alexandos.org Alexander
Yeah, though it’s too simple for me to want to use. I tried making it more sophisticated, with little luck.

Akshat Jain
Have you seen the genetic wallpapers by doctormo?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DWSOTHNJWUCFFCL5XJPX6CNABQ Renan
don’t want to wait until there…

http://twitter.com/humphreybc Benjamin Humphrey
Keeping the default wallpaper similar between releases but having it evolve is an excellent idea.

http://fitch.myopenid.com/ mikeru
except when the default wallpaper is already an evolution of a previous wallpaper, and the new one is barely changed. The difference between lucid’s and maverick’s is noticeable but not striking, yet the difference between maverick’s and natty’s has to be shown in a GIF for you to notice.
the only other OS that I know does this with default wallpapers is Mac OS X, but then the differences between the Aquas and the Auroras in the releases are very noticeable (and now, they ditched the auroras for Mount Fuji…)

zekopeko
They didn’t ditch auroras for Mount Fuji. It’s going to be one of the wallpapers they ship but most certainly they will use something abstract as default.

http://fitch.myopenid.com/ mikeru
well, no new Aurora is available in Lion :(

Anonymous
If it wasn’t for the animated GIF i wouldn’t see the difference between then.
Anonymous
If it wasn’t for the animated GIF i wouldn’t see the difference between then.
http://twitter.com/doseofsyanide Simo
Completely agreed with mikeru btw. Lucid to Karmic was revolution, Maverick to Lucid was evolution. This… This is nothing.

http://twitter.com/doseofsyanide Simo
Since when do turds evolve?
http://eriksteinmann.wordpress.com/ Erik
The idea of an evolving wallpaper is great but if the base where it evolves from is boring subsequent evolutions will be boring too for a long time :P Maybe it might one day evolve into a cool dinosaur when we arrive at release 99.10 or something.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FX5ITOLLHVNOY673XBRGCKF3DI Freddi
What happened to the idea to morph the wallpaper at each boot?
Anonymous
I think that keep the default wallpaper similar is a pretty good idea too. But this is not similar this is equal !

http://twitter.com/afuegoo lombardo arizmendi
what a shame… nothing new more of the same :(((
http://profiles.google.com/icamilomoya Camilo Moya
Linux is getting big…. it just will be a matter of time…. so proud….
http://profiles.google.com/icamilomoya Camilo Moya
Linux is getting big…. it just will be a matter of time…. so proud….
Anonymous
at least on maverick, i think that the wallpaper of the 2 narwhals, the purple background with the orange narwhals (included in the 17 pack) is beautiful, especially with the ambiance theme.
http://listento.jaketolbert.com Jake T
Seriously?

http://www.redtube.com ActionParsnip
Exactly. I mentioned stuff like this in the questionnaire. Reporting on pointless stuff like this makes this site a joke for me. Sometimes it’s genuinely useful, other times it’s dross like this.

http://5o1.co.cc/ master5o1
Wallpapers isn’t pointless. It’s splitting it into TWO posts that is pointless.
http://twitter.com/Sephiroth_VII NCLI
And I wrote in the questionnaire that I’d like smaller, more frequent posts. :)
So hooray!
http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od
The ‘default wallpaper’ for an Ubuntu release is an important (and very popular) update that many readers are interested in.
You don’t have to read posts that don’t interest you.
https://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 NathanLee
Strangely I thought “Seriously” was referring to how similar the wallpaper was.

https://launchpad.net/~winniemiel05 KÃ©vin PEIGNOT
This is a joke. It’s stupid to keep the same wallpaper (no one will see the difference)

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FX5ITOLLHVNOY673XBRGCKF3DI Freddi
I don’t believe Mark & the Design team consider us as so stupid as people show it here.
A wallpaper that is not the same but nearly the same does not mean the design team refused to work, but rather more it’s likely that the work is “under the hood”. Wasn’t there the idea of metamorphosing wallpapers that change their appearance for every user and every day?
https://profiles.google.com/nathanlee2 NathanLee
Except… maybe… the entire UI?

https://launchpad.net/~winniemiel05 KÃ©vin PEIGNOT
This is a joke. It’s stupid to keep the same wallpaper (no one will see the difference)
http://twitter.com/joe4therecord Joseph Koch
How disappointing! I was expecting Narwhalpaper steak, and instead it’s generic purple salad.
http://twitter.com/joe4therecord Joseph Koch
How disappointing! I was expecting Narwhalpaper steak, and instead it’s generic purple salad.
http://twitter.com/davidshaheen93 David Shaheen
Well im officially let down :(

http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od
I think the total awesome selection that will ship by default more than make up for this ‘duffer’

http://twitter.com/davidshaheen93 David Shaheen
indeed, i just noticed those :D

http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od
I think the total awesome selection that will ship by default more than make up for this ‘duffer’

http://twitter.com/davidshaheen93 David Shaheen
Well im officially let down :(
http://dylanmccall.blogspot.com/ dylan-m
On one hand, I totally agree with keeping art consistent between releases. Earlier, we wanted to refresh the boot splash, the login screen and the wallpaper (and, for some reason, the shutdown / logout interface) with Every Single Release. That was always fun and interesting, but with a six month cycle it’s a silly amount of work being done that could go in shinier directions. It also sits contrary to how we expect people to get new software: by upgrading to the next stable Ubuntu release. With all the artwork changing at the same time, it feels like a much bigger move than it should.
(Granted, Maverickâ†’Natty is a pretty big change, but after that!).
On the other hand, that wallpaper has never really astounded me. The giant dark spot is gone, but it’s still too busy to be particularly satisfying to me as a background.
But I’m happy with keeping art stable for a while, because I like the boot splash :)
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GE4EYP3QOQ246PLG2Y2DOD2NIQ Dr. Fly
GAH! They did it again!?
When will Canonical get it? A large part of the reason we didn’t like 10.10′s first wallpaper was because very little had changed since 10.04. After all the varied and creative wallpapers in the past, it feels like we’re being ripped off when the “new one” looks almost exactly like the old one.
A personal gripe about this too: my laptop has an LED screen, and to maximize battery life during lectures when I take notes, I intentionally choose a darker background and theme to compensate. The fact that Canonical just took 10.10′s wallpaper and did a 2-minute GIMP brightening to it definitely will not make me stick to the default now. It looks nice, but it’s impractical for me and totally unoriginal on Canonical’s part.
If Canonical wants “evolving wallpapers”, then why don’t they just implement a script or something to change the wallpaper slightly at each login, or maybe even put in a live wallpaper?
It just really boggles my mind that Canonical has now twice tried to say they have a new wallpaper when the differences are so slight you basically need to see them side-by-side in an animated .gif. The wallpaper may not be that important compared to other parts of the OS, but really…just the way they handle it now makes me shake my head and just say “Wow”. And not in a good way.
Well, at least we got the narwhal-themed wallpapers we wanted added in…right?

http://twitter.com/JR0cket John Stevenson
Lots of great points here, I concur with all of them…
http://twitter.com/wilfgilbert wilfgilbert
Actually using dark wallpapers on LED screens makes no difference to battery life. The backlight on your screen is on at the same level no matter what the colour of the wall…

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GE4EYP3QOQ246PLG2Y2DOD2NIQ Dr. Fly
Speak for yourself on the boot splash. It looks polished in screenshots, but the way the dots just suddenly light up one by one doesn’t look smooth to me…it reminds me more of the way the progress bar in pre-Vista Windows was handled with individual blocky rectangles appearing.
I know we can get better if smoothly-animated Plymouth themes like Ubuntu Sunrise are out there made by third-parties. Here’s to hoping 12.04 LTS at least will see a change there.
http://dwiash.github.com Dwi Asharialdy Hambali
laaaamme!!! -_-’
http://twitter.com/explodingwalrus Carl Draper
I can’t see why changing the default wallpaper to something different means less familiarity. Surely when people upgrade they keep the wallpaper they were already using? New users haven’t seen the previous wallpaper. oh and animated gif giving me a headache..must turn away…

Yi Sun-sin
People that use the default wallpaper have it to automatically change at every update. That’s why the default wallpaper of each and every release is always contained in a file named warty-final-ubuntu.png, by the way. Funny fact.

http://twitter.com/luisfmercado Luis Mercado
The problem by having an official wallpaper with something instead of abstract blobs is: how do you determine the universal something?

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DWSOTHNJWUCFFCL5XJPX6CNABQ Renan
Maybe “Natty Narwhal” could be a Narwhal?
And “Intrepid Ibex”, an Ibex?
And “Jaunty Jackalope”, a Jackalope?
…

Anonymous
I still love Intrepid’s wallpaper. Nostalgia for simpler (and by simpler I mean more difficult) days.

http://twitter.com/conorsulli Conor O Sullivan
Kind of liking the idea of seeing in 3 years and 6 releases the gradual transition to a very refined desktop with the wallpaper, icons and UI gradually becoming perfect.. Not like windows that only manage to make a decent release every decade or so, In which case a company would feel sort of obliged to ship with loads of bloatware, bells, whistles and general chaos ! :-)
I like this route better ;-P
Anonymous
Man… what a disappointment. Canonical have really big issues with wallpapers.
http://twitter.com/victor617 VÃctor MartÃn
Are you kidding me?

http://twitter.com/nlguve guve
What does she got that i don’t have.

Anonymous
It is too bright, you can’t use it for too much time.
http://twitter.com/LostCrescendo Kyle Shouldice
Should have just renamed Ubuntu to Intrepid Ibex and kept that release’s wallpaper as the default for all releases. It’s the best default wallpaper I’ve seen in my treks across the Linux landscape.

ninjapirate89
Hardy Heron’s was best IMO.
https://launchpad.net/~andrewsomething andrewsomething
Just goes to show how subjective this whole issue is. I personally though that Intrepid had the worst wallpaper of any Ubuntu release, especially after the awesomeness of Hardy’s.

http://twitter.com/LostCrescendo Kyle Shouldice
I accept your judgement and yes Hardy was awesome as well. Still liked Intrepid better though.

Armitage
Ubuntu always has poor default wallpapers and colors in general. I’m tired of the purple, orange, gray, and brown.
The look of the OS is what kept myself and many others from using it for so long. They should do a nice nature picture or something for the wallpaper. Show people how nice it can look. Maybe show off some nice transparency too.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7GDSUK2NG6DBLX6A7HKSLGZN3Q eddy
The look kept you from using it? Wow. Last time I heard, it’s pretty easy to change it.

Armitage
Granted, that was a long time ago but it’s still not as easy as it should be, not for new users and that’s what ubuntu is trying to attract right? You have to go here to adjust the transparency, another place to adjust the background, the icons, the command line to adjust the login and boot screens. Finding themes and installing them is another problem. Many require some command line work. A lot of this stuff only makes sense to experienced users/geeks. That’s what I hear repeatedly. It was getting better until recently but unity & gnome shell both look less customizable.

https://launchpad.net/~bazonbloch Bazon
I disagree. Before Ubuntu, I always changed the wallpaper. Since using Ubuntu (Breezy), I stick the default (or the default of a previous version). I like them. :-)

Anonymous
Does anybody else think that Ubuntu would be better off with one of GNOME’s nature wallpapers as default?
The nature wallpapers that come with Ubuntu are a subset of what i’m talking about.
http://twitter.com/spacepengu Susan
A boring wallpaper doesn’t get more interesting by evolving its staleness…
The designers exaggerate consistency in this case. Consisteny can also be achieved by using just the same colors but a different design. How about a similar “evolving” background with the animals representing the release on it?
I’d prefer a wallpaper that shows the identity of the release, like the two orange narwhales on purple background of the additional wallpapers.
BTW: I very much liked the wallpaper style of Hardy & Intrepid.
http://twitter.com/lynch_69 lynch_69
Creating that took no effort what so ever.
http://twitter.com/Jebril Pedo Bear
They had the easiest theme ever, just put a Narwhale and anything you make looks awesome then.

http://twitter.com/danizmax Daniel
So you don’t approve this? For once I agree with you xD
http://twitter.com/danizmax Daniel
So you don’t approve this? For once I agree with you xD

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DWSOTHNJWUCFFCL5XJPX6CNABQ Renan
they really need a new wallpaper designer…
http://www.facebook.com/SnowmanX11 Kornel Nagy
Mark! Fire your idiot marketing and design people! That is a joke…poor…stupid…small play with photoshop… Where is the invention? This will be the first one that I will change! Probably together with the OS if it continues like this. Ubuntu is started to leave the right path why many of us has joined to this journey.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7GDSUK2NG6DBLX6A7HKSLGZN3Q eddy
Leave the right path? Really? Wow, some of you sissy men make me sick. Because of a wallpaper? Shallow, plastic people suck.

Anonymous
Erm no, because of all the retarded changes that have been made completely against what the people want. I know Ubuntu isn’t a democracy, but maybe it should be.

http://claimid.com/el-bhm bhm
Wallpaper SUCKS!
DISTROHOP UP THIS B***!
I hope you kid, because this qualifies for “Parents just don’t understand”.

http://twitter.com/JR0cket John Stevenson
There are lots of great wallpapers that could help with user identity of Ubuntu, the default choice is not one of them.
I feel there are some big design flaws with the default wallpaper
1) Its far too bright and uneven. A background that is too bright is not great for evening use, which is when most home users will be using their computer. Bright backgrounds cause more eyes strain and therefore will reduce the amount of time home users spend with there computer – or more likely drive them to change or hide the wallpaper.
Using transparent terminal with a an overly bright and unevenly bright background makes the text harder to read. It certainly is not great when connected to most projectors. So the option is usually be to change the background or give the terminal a solid colour when I give demos.
2) No brand identity representation
I feel that the wallpaper is a very poor version of the OSX wallpaper, which looks much more visually stunning. To me the wallpaper is unattractive and has no meaning and therefore has limited user affinity.
I felt there was much more brand awareness when you did have a specific wallpaper for each release. I really liked al the default wallpapers up to Lucid Lynx. Since then I change my wallpaper that actually shows off I am using Ubuntu – like having the work Ubuntu on it along with the logo.
As it seems that you have chosen a design that most people want to change, I dont see how you are going to drive recognition. An unpopular wallpaper is not going to do the job you have in mind.
It seems the design team have a concept that they treasure too much to consider the real value its giving to people. Sorry.
3) Its the first thing everyone changes
If the wallpaper is the first thing that most people change because there are better Ubuntu wallpapers, then how is that going to help with recognition. If most people have a different background when they show it to their friends, then the default wallpaper becomes insignificant.
4) You cant tell what version of Ubuntu you are running
The great thing with specific wallpapers for each release is that you always knew what version of Ubuntu you were using.
I am afraid that the default as it is will be changed straight after install, so when I create tutorials and show Ubuntu to others they wont see the default wall paper.
I feel a little embarrassed to show Ubuntu with the default wallpaper, especially when Linux has a long history of amazing wallpapers.
Thank you

Anonymous
But wallpapers are often such a personal thing for many people, it is impossible to create one that will suit everyone.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/adam-willoughby-knox/20/1/b31 Adam Willoughby-Knox
disagree strongly.
wallpapers are personal for people who know how to change them, that they can change them, care enough to change them.
impossible is an overstatement, and general appeal is the whole point

Yi Sun-sin
â€œUsing transparent terminal with a an overly bright and unevenly bright background makes the text harder to read.â€
Using transparent terminal makes the text harder to read.
If you want to be sure the text is easy to read, DON’T use a transparent terminal. As simple as that !

Anonymous
is this a joke?
best wallpaper style was in Ubu 8.04 imo
Glaasje
i wanna see a moving wallpaper default in the wallpaper selection! :P
http://twitter.com/cyrildz cyrildz
Oh God, please help me, I feel like I will a heart attak. why on the earth do the have to do it to us ? is that really the natty default Whal-paper ? I’m gonna die if they continue to play with us like that.

http://profiles.google.com/victor.zamanian Victor Zamanian
Overreactions <3

http://twitter.com/cyrildz cyrildz
this was a bad day for me. I don’t know if it is because I put my eyes on this wallpaper, but I won’t be surprise if it is the case. still feel like an Heart Attack.

Bilal Akhtar
In case you didn’t realize, you can always change the wallpaper :)

Yi Sun-sin
Can you please post a tutorial ? I’m stuck !

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_S7GZSLCX2ELU2UXUHS5OK2APL4 Davorin
Son, I am disappoint. :(

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_S7GZSLCX2ELU2UXUHS5OK2APL4 Davorin
Don’t want to offend anyone, but maybe Steve was right, some people just don’t have taste. :/

Anonymous
I think that instead of trying to keep the wallpaper so similar, they should instead have the Ubuntu logo centered on the wallpaper, and only keep the main colors consistent. Reasons being:
1) This allows people to easily identify with Ubuntu, as it doesn’t get any more obvious than the logo sitting right there on your desktop
2) It adds more chance of possible promotion of Ubuntu, as people would see the logo rather than just a bright flash of color.
3) Keeping the MAIN color consistent would be good so that its not such a drastic change.
And for every release, a symbol, number and name of the release could be added to fit with the different theme, while ensuring that there is a fresh new wallpaper every six months.
–Just rambling =D

Anonymous
But not ideal for people like me who HATE logos on their wallpaper.
The ubuntu icon is clearly seen on the panel, the ubuntu logo is seen on login and while booting up, we don’t need it EVERYWHERE.
I’m a bit “meh” about the wallpaper. It’s nice enough but not sure the difference was even worth the effort. May as well have left it as-is.
I don’t particularly like it but I don’t dislike it enough to bother changing it so it would stand as my default wallpaper.

Anonymous
Fair enough, but I’m thinking that having the logo would make more sense PR wise. The logo on the panel isn’t really eye catching to someone who’s just looking over the shoulder, and the one during bootup only lasts a short while.
Of course, personal likes and dislikes are another matter entirely.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IOIYOCHLLECLUM66M4SHUJGBWY Guillaume
No, having the logo is not a good idea. We’re on a computer, not on an advertising panel.
One in the panel is really enough.

Anonymous
I disagree. It should be both. Ubuntu has been and still is trying to gain market share from both Mac OS X and Windows. No matter how you look at it though, Ubuntu and other forms of Linux are not getting anywhere near the PR that they should be getting if they’re trying to target that market. Most people know of Microsoft Windows, and it doesn’t need any advertising. Mac OS on the other hand, is being carried by the Apple brand name, and even if people don’t know of the underlying OS, they know of Apple and all the I-this I-that. Also note that the Apple logo on the back of any Macbook is a bloody giveaway.
Windows doesn’t really need advertising, Mac OS has the Apple brand name to help promote it to the masses, but Ubuntu has nothing. It needs all it can get. (I’m not talking about tech blog etc as the normal end-user doesn’t really frequent those.)
http://johannpopper.myopenid.com/ Johann Popper
In other words, a little advertisement now and then (for a good cause) is relished by the wisest men.

https://launchpad.net/~isantop Ian
I like to think of it this way: it’s a lot easier to add a logo to a blank wallpaper than it is to remove one from a branded wallpaper. A sort of Creamy vs. Crunchy Peanut Butter scenario.
https://launchpad.net/~isantop Ian
I like to think of it this way: it’s a lot easier to add a logo to a blank wallpaper than it is to remove one from a branded wallpaper. A sort of Creamy vs. Crunchy Peanut Butter scenario.

http://twitter.com/cyrildz cyrildz
hey, I’m not going to drop my laser gun, just it is pointed straith to this default whal-paper, i’ll fire it.
http://nosheep.org.ua ÐÐ»ÐµÐºÑÐµÐ¹ Ð Ð°ÑŽ
The visible change from a bit darker to a bit lighter same wallpaper reveals, that it is still slowly dawning on them.
Anonymous
… hard work
http://twitter.com/danizmax Daniel
What? This must be a premature aprils fool joke…
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_X25RR47EAWBYCUOUIY65UGSQBM M.I.R.A.G.E
I dont understand them…Mint makes extremely nice wallpapers, opensuse looks very professional with its wallpapers, why is ubuntu making such bad wallpapers, i cant understand!!!
When u release a new version, u really should change the default wallpaper, i mean how hard is it?
THE FIRST INTERACTION WITH ANY OS IS A VISUAL INTERACTION, SO WHY NOT BE A GOOD ONE?!!!!!!!!!!
As an idea, please show us some wallpapers and let the community vote, when clearly u cant decide!!
My 2 cents!!

http://bioselement.com/ William Chambers
And the first interaction with your post is ‘u’ and YELLING.

http://ghetto.k2city.eu Matej MoÅ¡ko
I love this natty wallpaper. It is gorgeous and I use it already on maverick for quite a time now. And I still cannot blame it. http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/01/this-is-one-gorgeous-narwhal-themed-natty-wallpaper/

Anonymous
Thanks! I’m really flattered to hear that you like it. I think you’ll be happy to see that it was included in the default wallpaper pack, and will be shipping in Natty. (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/03/ubuntu-11-04-gets-17-new-default-wallpapers/)

Anonymous
Sorry, that link was broken: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/03/ubuntu-11-04-gets-17-new-default-wallpapers/

Anonymous
One of the few wallpapers shown on this site that aren’t awesome is this one…
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_43QWMHEO2T24W5ONPMHAADTMOY alex
“general users will get reassurance from the familiarity of the wallpaper”
I approve!
It’s them shipping the OS, not some “bunch of users”. They know their strategy. But if you don’t like it, they give you the ability to customize it! You’re gonna change it anyway by the time the next release goes out.
Anonymous
Reminds me of the new “default” wallpaper in Maverick that was changed again lateron…
Brandon
What a letdown, definitely changing this upon release!!
http://twitter.com/HRQPK HRQ
What the flip? it’s not April fools! is this a joke?
http://twitter.com/bstins Brian Stinson
Another 10-second work day from the graphics department.
Anonymous
Seriously? It’s (almost) the same wallpaper. With all the innovating going on I think they really could at least try to come up with something new… And it wasn’t even that good to begin with, just looked that way compared to the wallpaper first selected to be the default in 10.10 (which ironically looked almost exactly like the wallpaper of 10.04). I mean, it’s just a flat looking blur… I liked jaunty’s default for example, which gave an impression of depth and motion. Something like that in new colours would imho look better…
http://twitter.com/aTokersInsight Mc2 thats E = . . .
This has to be a joke . Serious why bother even if thats the effort they are gonna put into it. Oh I know we’ll brighten it up. Disappointed !
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_35C4VFILBRPONLTLCP57Y536TE Danilo
Althou default wallpaper seems like no big deal, but I think it is. Look just OSX wallpaper, its some kind of stamp that say “THIS IS OSX”, the space, u can recognize it from distance right away etc… also win xp wallpaper is iconic, we all know what it is when we see the green field and blue sky. I think Ubuntu should have some unique wallpaper, i like the extra wallpapers but the default is just too simple and look like the old one …
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_35C4VFILBRPONLTLCP57Y536TE Danilo
Althou default wallpaper seems like no big deal, but I think it is. Look just OSX wallpaper, its some kind of stamp that say “THIS IS OSX”, the space, u can recognize it from distance right away etc… also win xp wallpaper is iconic, we all know what it is when we see the green field and blue sky. I think Ubuntu should have some unique wallpaper, i like the extra wallpapers but the default is just too simple and look like the old one …
http://twitter.com/Afrodiseum N.C. Weber
I like this wallpaper. It makes me think of seeing sunlight underwater, perhaps being filtered by ice floes. I’ve seen similar patterns watching old Jacques Cousteau films. Very nice.
http://eriksteinmann.wordpress.com/ Erik
Wallpapers are on of those things I would change anyway but I don’t like this one. Probably a matter of taste, it looks too much like the wallpaper of another OS. Ubuntu had pretty nice wallpapers in the past although they don’t fit Ubuntu’s contemporary color set.
http://twitter.com/joewfro Joe Lawrence
Its not april first yet guys…
http://twitter.com/DavidCoq Davide_G
Are committed to do!! xD
http://shkm.myopenid.com/ shkm
This is astoundingly better than the 10.10 wallpaper. You can see that someone put a lot of time and effort digitally remastering this piece of work.
http://shkm.myopenid.com/ shkm
This is astoundingly better than the 10.10 wallpaper. You can see that someone put a lot of time and effort digitally remastering this piece of work.
http://mark-y-a.myopenid.com/ Mark
If there’s one thing strange I notice Ubuntu lacks a lot of branding. Where do you see the name Ubuntu displayed prominently but only in the bootsplash.
There is none in the login screen except for the Logo, then another tiny one on the Menu icon, top right. Maybe that Menu Icon can be made bigger and bolder to say like “Hey I’m Ubuntu, not just another Gnome desktop on another linux distro.” (no offense to other distros)

Anonymous
Well, on the other hand, people might get turned away by excessive branding. It’s a fine line, you know?

http://mark-y-a.myopenid.com/ Mark
Maybe I may have said it wrong with “lot of branding” but what I meant is more prominent branding. The Menu icon does not do it. It’s too small and lacks color. Yeah, maybe it’s the mono theme, but that one Logo on the desktop can be an exception – bigger and more catchy – so that it does not look like just another indicator or applet.

Anonymous
Why any need for branding?
The person who installs surely knows what they are installing.
Someone who has the install done for them probably doesn’t care what it is and I for one don’t feel the need to shout about what distro/OS I’m using to other people nor do I want my desktop to be nothing but a flashy advert.
In fact my current “main” distro – kubuntu, simply has the KDE logo for the menu and that’s it.

Anonymous
*facepalm*
http://mark-y-a.myopenid.com/ Mark
Spoken like a true Linux g33k. No wonder we’re still not 1%. ;)
Anonymous
How on earth do you come to that conclusion?
I just don’t feel the need to shout ubuntu if I’m using it just like I don’t feel the need to wave my iphone around to let everyone know what phone I’m using.
How many people here drink their coffee out of a Nescafe (or whatever brand of coffee they drink) mug or eat cornflakes out of a bowl emblazened with kellogs logos?
I drive a Honda which has a Honda badge, I don’t feel the need to remove the badge but I don’t feel the need to put a bigger badge or have it sprayed with Honda graphics either.
And far from a linux geek I use what is best for me and in recent days have actually been using Windows 7 more than anything else
I am not using ubuntu or kubuntu to try to convert everyone who happens to look over my shoulder to use it and I don’t tend to have my computer in such a position people can see it anyway.
Maybe that is what some people want and maybe there are plenty of people who DO want to advertise it to the world or as a sign of support for ubuntu or whatever but personally I am using my OS for me.
Having said that, if I go to a football match I DO wear my teams shirt so not sure what that says :)
https://launchpad.net/~isantop Ian
Agreed. It’s much better to have underly prominent branding than overly. Overly just shouts egocentric and flashy, and makes customization difficult.

http://mark-y-a.myopenid.com/ Mark
Maybe I may have said it wrong with “lot of branding” but what I meant is more prominent branding. The Menu icon does not do it. It’s too small and lacks color. Yeah, maybe it’s the mono theme, but that one Logo on the desktop can be an exception – bigger and more catchy – so that it does not look like just another indicator or applet.

Yi Sun-sin
Well, don’t worry : Unity will yell to the users â€œI’m not a Gnome desktop, I’m an Ubuntu desktopâ€ ;).

http://mark-y-a.myopenid.com/ Mark
If there’s one thing strange I notice Ubuntu lacks a lot of branding. Where do you see the name Ubuntu displayed prominently but only in the bootsplash.
There is none in the login screen except for the Logo, then another tiny one on the Menu icon, top right. Maybe that Menu Icon can be made bigger and bolder to say like “Hey I’m Ubuntu, not just another Gnome desktop on another linux distro.” (no offense to other distros)
http://xeptf4.myopenid.com/ xeptf4
Will all those bugfixes and Unity development, I think they forgot to allocate funds to the new wallpaper department.
http://xeptf4.myopenid.com/ xeptf4
Will all those bugfixes and Unity development, I think they forgot to allocate funds to the new wallpaper department.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TLL2FJYJSJH6VKCI6KLSRZ3Y2E TurtleKing
Why not use the money from the salary of the person who is in charge of creating the default wallpaper, (or reduce his pay if he works on something important) and give it to a nature photographer who enjoys actually doing his job, instead of trying to get the job done in 15-20 seconds. This is ridiculous that someone didn’t think in the office. “Dude are you serious? Get back to work now!” I mean what kind of dumb argument you make for this change? “its brings out the eyes in Ubuntu” *rolls eyes* Now another thing to add to the fix right away list on Ubuntu new releases.
http://www.facebook.com/tudor.alex Tudor Alex
they let the same as the one in maverick???

http://twitter.com/cyrildz cyrildz
they said it is not the same … i need some glass now.

http://twitter.com/MrStoozer Stu Hobbs
Its not so much the actual images i have an issue with, it’s the quality that’s poor.
The only wallpaper i really liked out of the 11.04 pack was the blue one with the silhouette of a tree and birds……apply it and eurgh!!! Noisy and super LOW-res!! Get a grip Ubuntu, it’s not rocket science.
Anonymous
My life still the same after that.
http://twitter.com/aldonogueira aldonogueira
I thought the default would be this one:
http://big-sb.deviantart.com/art/Relax-172678061
Much better.

Anonymous
Wow… i really like this one.

http://twitter.com/tardegrade tardegrade
That looks like what I see when I get a full blown migraine.

Anonymous
Lucky you – usually when I get a full blown migraine I’m looking at Windows

http://twitter.com/tardegrade tardegrade
That looks like what I see when I get a full blown migraine.

http://richardlyon.co.uk richthegeek
lucky you – usually when I get a full blown migraine I’m looking at Windows

http://ghogaru.tumblr.com ghogaru
we have been trolled
http://twitter.com/MarcCoquand Marc Coquand
I like the idea of it envolving but I rather have something fresh on each release. The hop from 10.04 -> 10.10 was decent enough. Although this feels kinda lazy, 12.04 better be ridicolously good looking.
http://twitter.com/yogaxpto Diogo
they got the same image, put some brightness on there you go: a wallpaper with no imagination at all…
http://twitter.com/yogaxpto Diogo
they got the same image, put some brightness on there you go: a wallpaper with no imagination at all…
Anonymous
AMAZING! MARVELOUS! BEST WALLPAPER EVER! I CAN’T BELIEVE SOMETHING SO GOOD COULD EXIST!
Sarcasm.
Anonymous
This is borderline pathetic. Have the design team gone completely lazy? Did they fire the team responsible for the awesome default wallpaper in Hardy Heron. *Sigh*
http://twitter.com/thecosmicfrog Aaron Hastings
Laziness. That’s what this shouts.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HZILZGJ4PKNN67IK7JYXIKHLSM DjznBR
I like evolution instead of revolution. Unfortunately, it will be ‘revolution’ when Unity lands. I am already seeing thousands of users fleeing to Linux Mint. I already see Linux Mint hitting for the first time the absolute top of Distrowatch.com. I think that if distros don’t do the Mint approach (codec, flash, etc) it will be harder to get out of one niche.

https://launchpad.net/~isantop Ian
I believe legal issues are what keeps Ubuntu from shipping those.

http://twitter.com/Webchuzz Daniel Nepomuceno
Well, it’s a little ridiculous, after all, it’s the same wallpaper, only the saturation seemed to change. I vote for defaulting the narwhal wallpaper.
veldar
lol
no comment
Edit: im not trying to be rude it would be a lot better with new default wallpaper
anyway
its their distro they can do what they want but ill change it immediately after fresh install

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/adam-willoughby-knox/20/1/b31 Adam Willoughby-Knox
Am I the only one that thinks it is silly to have animals in the background? The fact that the release has a nickname doesn’t inspire me to display the creature in a place I look every day…
Give me an Ubuntu logo and something inspirational / awe inspiring / decent photography.
In the last 4 releases I’ve been let down.

Anonymous
Must have taken some time to accomplice this. At least the time to drink a cup of coffee i would say……I can not take this very seriously though.
http://facebook.com/domcan2 DOM
Canonical seriously needs to put the wallpaper artist “pro9studio” on their payroll. He truly knows how to make beautiful Ubuntu wallpapers.
http://pr09studio.deviantart.com/
Anonymous
Remember the wall paper of Hardy Heron? it was beautiful.
I know Ubuntu wants to control his branding, but at that level the UI needs help for the current one I think.
Is it possible to engage a vote for the best official non-picture wallpapers?
Then ask that the best become THE official wall paper.
Vote:
1. the current default one
2. the two orange narvals (sA5dz.jpeg) [my current wall paper]
3. The narval with the bubbles (8v7rv.jpeg)
4. The purple narval with purple sea (UoRZI.jpeg)
Anonymous
ok, so the next wallpaper for 11.10 will be the same but again a bit more brighter ????? :s
Anonymous
ok, so the next wallpaper for 11.10 will be the same but again a bit more brighter ????? :s
Anonymous
Am I the only person who LOVES the Ubuntu wallpapers from Lucid to Natty??
I actually really love these wallpapers.. They are beautiful to look at and I can even see my desktop icons perfectly..
I never found Ubuntu attractive before 10.04 with the dark/purple/orange color scheme, honest….
http://johannpopper.myopenid.com/ Johann Popper
Seriously? Is it April 1st already? Subtle!? There’s no difference! Hahaha… “Evolution rather than revolution” will make me laugh all week. You can’t save it, Joey. What a whopper of an excuse too. It was amorphous and distasteful in Maverick; it’s just as amorphous and distasteful in Natty… A new default wallpaper (by which I mean an actual new default wallpaper) is the single most looked-forward-to thing for the average shallow user, by far, no comparison. Quite probably the only reason most people go to OMG!Ubuntu! every six months is to see what the new default wallpaper will be, hoping each time it will be significantly better than the last. Well, most people are proud to be shallow when it comes to the UX, so this decision bespeaks such a huge disconnect now between the designers (I suppose) and the users or potential users, I just don’t know what to say anymore.
I mean, has the team just run out of time and resources? We’re talking about just one new decent default wallpaper. I guess no community contribution stood out. At least one thing is obvious: nobody can believe the rationale reported here because it is blatantly self-contradictory.
â€œâ€¦as we move towards becoming more of a â€˜householdâ€™ platform and with the great changes coming with Unity (launcher/dash) general users will get reassurance from the familiarity of the wallpaper and will also identify with it as part of our personality in new screenshots.â€
Huh? Reassurance? The colors in this design are not going to appeal to anyone, least of all “household” users. They certainly didn’t for Maverick. 99.9% of the human race loves light airy colors. This design team specifically said a few months back that they wanted the Natty default wallpaper to be “light, bright, and something or other,” so this is a complete reversal for specious reasons. More importantly, isn’t Unity revolutionary? Why then should Natty’s wallpaper be evolutionary? Why would you ever want users of a radically new experience to identify it with the old experience? Haha… This is a riot. Unity isn’t familiar to anyone yet. Ergo, Natty doesn’t have to seem familiar to anyone, and shouldn’t in the first place. The first impression is everything! What a fail odyssey.
If the implication here is that the Unity experience turned out so horrible as to require a familiar wallpaper to reassure users, then I fear Ubuntu now has more serious problems than aesthetics.
http://openid-provider.appspot.com/alexbruce7 Alex Bruce
Well Ill add my 2 cents not that it matter much.
Look at the difference in comments between this post and the post on the 17 default wallpapers.
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/03/ubuntu-11-04-gets-17-new-default-wallpapers/
Its a no brainer… get rid of this stupid wallpaper Canonical.. its embarasing.
I like the purple and how it works on the business website but this wallpaper is not good.
Remember the Hardy Heron Wallpaper? It took balls to come out with that and it looked great. Grow some balls now please… 8)
Anonymous
I’ve randomly just discovered that gif above keeps perfect time with Girls & Boys by Blur. Very weird…
http://twitter.com/pablocampis Pablo Abraham Campis
The irony here is that Canonical has spent a lot of time in Unity and just 2 or 3 minutes on the Wallpaper.
http://profiles.google.com/josephlobosco Joseph Lobosco
The word underwhelmed seems appropriate.
http://twitter.com/Klevin92 Kleverson Royther
This must be like the Lucid wallpaper with red circles they showed up as default in Maverick, they must change it later. Please, they must.
Anonymous
It would be nice if it wasn’t so grainy.
Pingback: Desktop wallpaper calender – March 2011 by Smashing Magazine

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