Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Installation of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on a Dell PC with a UEFI BIOS, Secure Boot and Machine Owner Key (MOK)

This guide will look at installation of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on a Dell XPS 13 9305 equipped with an 11th Generation Intel Processor. The XPS 13 9305 UEFI BIOS will be configured with Secure Boot. In order to facilitate additional driver and multimedia codecs, a Machine Owner Key (MOK) will be setup during installation and provided to the UEFI BIOS.

Ubuntu is the Linux distribution that has the most mainstream support from chip manufacturers such as Intel, AMD and NVIDIA and OEMs such as Dell and Lenovo. In the vast majority of cases (unless your device is absolutely bleeding edge or ancient) all the required drivers will be inbuilt into the Linux Kernel or obtained via Ubuntu Software Updates. Ubuntu is open source software meaning you can download, install and use it without any payment, although there is a Ubuntu Pro version, mainly focused towards business and enterprises who want additional support contracts from Canonical.

Ubuntu uses a modified GNOME3 Desktop Environment which offers the best support for 2 in 1 Touchscreen Devices facilitating auto-rotation using the rotation sensor and a touchscreen keyboard. These are areas that most other Linux Desktop Environments sorely lack in. The modifications to the GNOME3 Desktop environment, generally make Ubuntu slightly easier to use than pure GNOME3 when coming from other Operating systems such as Windows. Pure GNOME3 is exhibited by other Linux distributions such as Fedora.

System Requirements

This guide will cover the installation of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS on a Dell Computer with a UEFI BIOS with Secure Boot and should cover all Dell PCs equipped with a 6th Generation Intel Processor or newer (manufactured in late 2015 and after). These computers have a modern UEFI BIOS with Secure Boot and generally exhibit better performance with modern Operating Systems or Browsers. Moreover with these newer computers are typically supported by the Linux Vendor Firmware Service. This allows the Ubuntu Operating System to install the (UEFI) BIOS Updates alongside other firmware Updates.

You will also get sluggish performance if the computer has a mechanical Hard Drive (HDD) and should swap this out with a Solid State Drive (SSD) where possible.

Systems with a 3rd-5th Generation Intel Processor (Mid 2012-Mid 2015) have an early UEFI BIOS with Secure Boot. This early version of Secure Boot has a Hole and is now deemed partially "Insecure". These systems are also too old to be supported by the Linux Vendor Firmware Service, so the latest (UEFI) BIOS Update has to be installed within Windows or via a FreeDOS Bootable USB. They will likely be able to run Ubuntu 22.04 LTS if the latest BIOS Update has been installed but may perform a bit sluggish as their hardware capabilities are quite limited.

Systems with a Legacy BIOS will not run Ubuntu 22.04 LTS very well and will likely be unable to use the new Display Driver Graphics Model (Wayland), reverting to the Legacy Display Driver Graphics Model (Xorg). RedHat have stated they will formally officially drop support for a Legacy BIOS and the Legacy Display Driver Graphics Model in Fedora 37 onwards. Canonical have not yet made a similar announcement for Ubuntu as of yet however they generally build upon open-source developments made by RedHat, so it is extremely likely Ubuntu will also depreciate support for a Legacy BIOS.

New Features

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS has a new Display Driver Model. This modern Display Driver Model allows Ubuntu to work with multiple monitors for example a high DPI laptop screen and a standard DPI external monitor.

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS has an updated kernel. This has much better support for Thunderbolt Docks and laptops and 2 in 1 Convertible Devices can seamlessly be attached and de-attached from Thunderbolt Docks unlike previous versions on Ubuntu which crashed when such a hardware change was made.

The new Kernel has a working NTFS driver making it much easier to work with Drives between Ubuntu and Windows.

The Application Store consists of snap packages only, although the terminal based apt tool can still be used to install other software. The FireFox and Chromium Browser are snap packages which ensures that the user is using an up to date browser with current security patches. The preinstalled FireFox browser now works with a touchscreen properly out of the box.

Although the Chromium Browser does not automatically display the Touchscreen Keyboard when entering an input (address bar or search box) making the Chromium Browser unusable in Tablet or Tent Mode. There is a GNOME Shell Extension called Improved Onscreen Keyboard which partially addresses this issue.

Making a Ubuntu UEFI Bootable USB

The latest Ubuntu 22.04 LTS ISO can be downloaded from Ubuntu Releases:

Making a UEFI Bootable USB on Windows

To make a UEFI Bootable USB on Windows we will need to download Rufus:

Launch Rufus:

Accept the User Account Control Prompt:

There is no need to search for updates as we have just downloaded Rufus:

Select the Select Button:

Select the ISO and select Load:

Insert your 16-32 GB USB Flash Drive, it should display under the Device:

Change the Partition scheme to GPT and select Start:

Select Write in ISO Mode and select OK:

Select OK at the warnings about losing data:

Rufus will create a new GPT partition table on the USB flash drive, add a FAT32 partition spanning across the USB flash drive and then copy the files from the ISO. When it is finished, the green bar will be full and state Ready. You may now close Rufus:

Making a UEFI Bootable USB on Ubuntu

On Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, we can use the Startup Disk Creator to create a USB Flash Drive:

It will automatically list an ISO image in the Downloads folder and a USB Flash Drive under Devices if attached. Ensure the options are correct and then select Make Startup Disk:

Select Yes:

This action will require authentication, so input your password and select Authenticate to proceed:

The Startup Disk Creator will create a new GPT partition table on the USB flash drive, add a FAT32 partition spanning across the USB flash drive and then copy the files from the ISO. When it is finished, it will say "installation is complete" and your installation media is therefore created. Select Quit:

UEFI BIOS

In this section we will have a look at the optimal UEFI BIOS Settings to use with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

UEFI BIOS Overview

To enter the Dell UEFI BIOS power off your system and then power it up holding down [F2]:

In the UEFI BIOS Setup Overview, you will see your model, Service Tag, Manufacture Date, Processor Type, Memory Installed, Video Controller, Audio Controller and Wireless Card:

Both Dell and Intel use a similar model system.

Dell use 4 digit numbers which indicate the Quality (3 Entry, 5 Mid, 7 High and 9 Premium), Screen Size (3 for 13", 4 for 14 ", 5 for 15 "), Generation (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 0 where 0 is used for 10) and Variant (numeric index). The XPS 13 9305 corresponds to an eXtreme Performance System with a Premium Quality of 9, Screen Size of 13 ", Generation of 10 and a variant of 5.

Intel use a designation which specifies the Quality (3 Entry, 5 Mid, 7 High and 9 Premium), Generation (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and 11), SKU and Graphics version. The i5-1135G7 corresponds to a Mid Quality of 5, an 11th Generation, and a Graphics version of 7.

Storage Controller (SATA Operation)

Ubuntu should be installed on a 256 GB NVMe SSD or SATA SSD. It will not perform well on a legacy HDD.

Ubuntu Installation Media does not have the required F6 Drivers for the RAID SATA Operation, as these don't exist for Ubuntu. Ubuntu will only install when the AHCI/NVMe SATA Operation is enabled.

The Storage controller for the M.2 PCIe SSD should be On. The drive information should be detected, in this case a SN530 NVMe manufactured by WDC with 256 GB storage:

Trusted Platform Module Security

On Dell Systems with a 6th Generation Intel Processor and newer, the TPM Version 2.0 Security should be enabled by default. If not ensure that these systems have the latest BIOS Update and TPM Version 2.0 Update. Note that the TPM Version 2.0 isn't a system requirement for Ubuntu however it is recommended to leave this security setting enabled when available:

Additional Security options may be available if Enterprise Computrace software or BIOS Passwords are set on the Device. These are not required for Ubuntu.

These Security options will help prevent your Device from being stolen and sold on however if set incorrectly and forgotten will make your Device Unusable.

Processor Virtualization Technologies

The following Processor Virtualization Technologies should be Enabled by default. It is recommended to leave these enabled for optimal performance:

Processor Performance Technologies

The following Processor Performance Technologies should be Enabled by default. It is recommended to leave these enabled for optimal performance:

Boot Configuration

For optimal Security Ubuntu should be installed using a UEFI Only Boot with Secure Boot Enabled. Secure Boot should be in Deployed Mode.

These settings should not be modified until Ubuntu installation media is created as altering the settings will result in the current Operating System from Booting.

Expert Key Management should be Disabled by default:

Integrated Devices

You can use the UEFI BIOS to optionally Enable or Disable your Camera and Audio Devices:

Many modern systems will have Thunderbolt ports. The default Thuderbolt settings should be:

In my case I am attaching my XPS 13 9305 to a Dell WD19TB and have enabled all the Thunderbolt preboot technologies so I could output the video to a USB Capture Device to get the screen shots of the installation.

Keyboard

By default the FN lock will be configured to use the multimedia keys primarily by default and the function keys respond secondarily when the FN key is held down. To switch this behaviour you can optionally change the Lock Mode to Standard:

Updating the Dell UEFI BIOS

Before installing Ubuntu we want to make sure that our (UEFI) BIOS is at the latest version as it may contain some fixes which facilitate the Ubuntu Installation. The latest BIOS Update should be downloaded from the Dell Website:

Change the category to (UEFI) BIOS and download the latest (UEFI) BIOS Update for your model:

Save the UEFI BIOS Update to your Ubuntu USB Flash Drive.

We can update the Dell UEFI BIOS from the Dell UEFI BIOS Boot Menu. Power off your Dell. Insert your Ubuntu Bootable USB and power up your Dell and press [F12]:

To the left hand side your Ubuntu Bootable USB will be listed, we don't want to select it just now. Instead select BIOS Update:

Then select Flash from File:

Select your USB Flash Drive:

Select your UEFI BIOS Update and then Submit:

The version of the current UEFI BIOS revision and the version of the UEFI BIOS Update will be listed. Select Update (UEFI) BIOS. If it is current you don't need to Update. Otherwise select Update (UEFI) BIOS:

Select Confirm Update (UEFI) BIOS:

Your systems UEFI BIOS will be updated and then restart:

Removing Old Boot Entries and Dell Data Wipe

Power off your Dell. To enter the (UEFI) BIOS Setup power up your Dell and press [F2]:

Select the Boot Configuration tab to the left hand side. To prevent confusion delete any Boot Entries from a previous Windows or Linux installation, leaving only your Ubuntu Bootable USB:

Select Apply Changes:

Then select OK:

The Dell UEFI BIOS has the capability to Securely Erase (make unrecoverable) any data on a NVMe SSD. Select the Security Tab to the left hand side and turn on Start Data Wipe. Note that some Dell models have Dell Data Wipe on a separate Maintenance Tab:

Select OK to proceed:

Select No when you are prompted to Cancel:

Select Apply Changes:

Select OK:

Select Exit:

Your Computer will restart and the Dell Security Manager will display the Data Wipe Operation. Select Continue:

Select Erase:

The NVMe SSD should be wiped in a couple of minutes. If the system has any SSDs or HDDs these will take slightly longer and several hours respectively:

Select OK:

Ubuntu Live USB

Select Ubuntu to launch the Ubuntu Live USB:

The Dell Ubuntu splash screen will display and the Ubuntu Live USB Environment will load:

On the next screen you have the option to "Try Ubuntu" or "Install Ubuntu":

The "Try Ubuntu" option essentially copies a number of processes to RAM and uses your USB Flash Drive in place of a Solid State Drive. Because the access time of the USB Flash Drive is slower than a Solid State Drive, the Ubuntu Live USB will perform worse than a physical install. The Ubuntu Live USB will also use a more basic driver set which won't be as optimised for your computer.

Installing Ubuntu

Language and Keyboard Layout

To the left hand side, select your language and then select Install Ubuntu:

Select your Keyboard Layout and select Continue:

Network

In the vast majority of cases, the driver for your wireless card should be inbuilt into the Linux Kernel and your wireless card should be detected and you should be prompted to connect to the network. Select your Wi-Fi network and select Connect:

Input your Wi-Fi password and select Connect:

You should see an indication to the top right that you are connected:

If you are not prompted to connect to the Wireless network, there may be a problem detecting your Wireless Card…

On my XPS 13 9365, the Intel 8265 wireless card was not detected… and there seem to be a number of similar issues reported with Intel 3165 wireless cards.

The driver for these Intel cards is inbuilt into the Linux Kernel. There seems to be a powering saving mechanism inbuilt into the UEFI BIOS that prevents Ubuntu from being able to access the card.

In my case using the airplane mode switch to disable the wireless card and then shutting down the computer.

Then powering up the computer and pressing [F2] to enter the UEFI BIOS Setup and changing the Fastboot Post Behaviour from Minimal to Thorough:

And finally using the airplane mode switch to enable the wireless card seemed to resolve this issue.

Updates and Other Software

In order for Ubuntu to work correctly, you should select Normal Installation, Download Updates while Installing Ubuntu and Install third-party software for graphics and Wi-Fi hardware and additional media formats.

In order to do so you'll need to check Configure Secure Boot. You will need to create a Secure Boot Password (known as a Machine Owner Key abbreviated MOK by the UEFI BIOS) and confirm it.

During the first time boot of Ubuntu, your UEFI BIOS will detect that your new Operating system has a Secure Boot signature and wants to configure additional drivers or components that do not pass Secure Boot. You will be prompted for MOK management. This will be discussed in more detail during the first time boot.

Installation Type

You will be asked for your installation type. In my case as I have performed a Dell Data Wipe, the only option I am given is Erase Disk and Install Ubuntu.

On other systems with an existing Windows Installation or Linux Installation you may get additional options to install alongside an existing Windows Installation… Note in order to have a dual boot between Windows and Ubuntu, the SATA Operation has to be AHCI, and if Windows was installed using the RAID SATA Operation it won't boot…. The Windows installation must be clean installing using the AHCI SATA Operation and then Ubuntu can be installed alongside it.

You will be informed of the proposed changes you are making to your Disks, select Continue to proceed:

User Account Setup

Your location should automatically be detected if you are connected to the internet. If not select your capital city on the map or dropdown list and then select Continue:

Under name, input your full name.

In Linux is a good convention to use only lower case characters for folders and to use no spaces or special characters. Numbers can be included in a folder name but the folder should not be entirely numeric and cannot start with a number. The reason for this, is it makes it much easier to work with folders using scripts or within the terminal directly. Your username will dictate the name of your home folder (which is accessed by such scripts by the Operating System). Under username input your first name, in lower case with no special characters or spaces.

Your computer name will be automatically generated from your username and PC model. This can be changed if required. I will change this to PC (although a more descriptive name is usually recommended).

Input and confirm your user account password and then select Continue.

Note that the user name is going to dictate the name of your home directory. In my case, the full address is:

/home/philip

The short hand abbreviation for this location (when accessed in the terminal via your user account post-installation) is:

~

Note the terminal states the user name (philip) @ the pc name (PC) : the address (~) and then has a $ indicating a new prompt.

philip@pc:~$ 

First Time Boot and Machine Owner Key (MOK) Management

The Ubuntu Setup will copy files from the installation media to your SSD and install Ubuntu:

You will be prompted to Restart, select Restart Now:

You will then be instructed to remove the Ubuntu Bootable USB. Once you have done so press ↵: 

During the first time boot of the Operating System you will be taken to the UEFI BIOS MOK Management screen:

Press the ↓ key until you get to Enroll MOK and then press ↵:

Press the ↓ key until you get to Continue and then press ↵:

You will be asked, whether you want to enrol the keys. Press the ↓ key until you get to Yes and then press ↵:

Input the Machine Owner Key (Secure Boot Password) that you created when installing Ubuntu and then press ↵. Note that the box does not display any characters or * as you type.

If the password is accepted, you will not see any confirmation and instead just see this screen. Reboot should be highlighted, press ↵:

If the Machine Owner Key does not match the Secure Boot Password you will be warned and be prompted to input it again.

Ubuntu will now perform its first boot with the additional third-party drivers and multimedia codecs:

And you will be taken to the login screen:

Welcome to Ubuntu

You will have the option to Connect to your Accounts (this can also later be done in Settings). Alternatively you can select Skip:

Asked to submit system information/feedback to Canonical. Select your option and then select Next:

Asked whether you want to enable location services (needed for regional based news and maps to work correctly). Select your option and then select Next:

Finally you will be informed about the snap packages you can install within the Ubuntu Software Store. Select Done:

Software Update

The Software Updater should automatically launch otherwise it can be launched from the All Apps Screen:

In Ubuntu there are five icons on the All Apps Screen that often get confused with one another by beginners… The Software Updater, Software & Updates, Ubuntu Store, Settings and Additional Drivers.

As an end user, using Ubuntu for the first time, having five separate Applications for Settings and Updates feels a bit fragmented… Under the hood however these are likely compartmentalised because of the way Ubuntu is developed i.e. Ubuntu is a Debian based Linux Distribution which uses the GNOME3 Desktop Environment…

In Ubuntu the Software Updater only searches for Software Updates. The Software Updater is inherited from Debian. This includes fixes for the Linux Kernel including driver updates and multimedia codecs. Software updates will also apply fixes for the GNOME3 desktop environment. You will be informed if the Software Updater finds Updates. Select Install Now:

You will need to Authenticate to install the Updates. Input your password and select Authenticate:

Select Restart Now when prompted:

Recheck the Software Updater for Updates. Once all Updates have been installed it should say "The Software on this computer is up-to-date". Select OK:

The Software & Update Settings and Additional Drivers are different tabs of the same "Software & Updates" Application which is once again inherited from Debian. There is not usually any need to change the settings within this utility. The Additional Drivers tab will only list a handful of drivers. Usually this applies to non-Intel hardware as Intel drivers are inbuilt into the Linux Kernel. It is typical to see an additional driver for a NVIDIA graphics card and a Realtek Wireless Card:

The Ubuntu Store Explore only lists snap applications which are essentially installed with the press of a button, alongside all their required dependencies and frameworks required to run. snap applications are sandboxed for security purposes and will automatically update to the latest version which is important for browsers, as you want your browser to contain the most recent security patches to prevent hackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities, for example when it comes to things like browser based online banking.

The Ubuntu Store Updates incorporates the Linux vendor Firmware Service and will list firmware updates provided to Canonical by your OEM. On my XPS 13 9365 for example three updates for the WD19TB Dell Thunderbolt Dock are listed. Selecting Update on any of these will apply the three updates that apply to the Dell WD19TB. There is also a IEFI BIOS Update for the XPS 13 9365 itself. This should install and then prompt you for a reboot, the UEFI Capsule Update will be added to the Boot Menu and selected only during the next boot. Unfortunately this did not work on my system and I instead downloaded the UEFI BIOS Update and saved it to the USB and updated from the UEFI BIOS Boot Menu as instructed above:

Appearance Settings (GNOME3)

In the Settings Application you can configure the GNOME3 Desktop Environment settings. Select Background to change your Background:

Select Appearance to change the Style and Color. The default is Light and Orange:

Dark looks like the following:

Light with Blue looks like the following:

The Panel/Dock to the left can be set to Autohide:

The Panel can be set to a Dock by changing the Panel Mode. Technically it is a Panel when extended and a Dock when not extended but the terms are often used interchangeably:

The Position on the screen can be changed from left (default) to right or bottom:

Unfortunately the All Apps button is to the right and not the left when the Panel is set to the Bottom and there is no Setting to change this.

Multi-Monitor Configuration

Since Ubuntu has a new display driver graphics model the XPS 13 9365 and XPS 13 9305 now work as expected with a Dell WD19TB Thunderbolt Dock and external monitors. Ubuntu works seamlessly when attaching and deattaching the XPS 13 laptops to and/from the WD19TB Thunderbolt Dock. Doing so on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS which used the old display driver graphics model resulted in Ubuntu freezing.

The new graphics display driver model also allows each screen to be used at its optimal resolution unlike the old graphics display driver model which required a uniform resolution across all screens.

As the XPS 13 9365 has a high resolution screen it operates with 200 % DPI Scaling. I attached it to 2 Dell standard resolution Monitors which use 100 % DPI Scaling.

There is a setting in Appearance to show the Dock (Panel) on a specific screen.

With the new Display Driver Graphics Model, the GNOME3 Desktop Environment has taken a massive leap forward towards a multi-monitor configures however there are a lot of options lagging when compare to other Operating Systems such as Windows 11.

There is no option to have an independent Dock (Panel) on each screen and therefore there is no option to have only icons display on the panel associated with the window that they are open in. There is therefore also no option to have an Application open up on the monitor the Application was launched from. There is also a lack in other multi-tasking features such as window snap layouts. Hopefully these features will be worked on, now that there is a stable graphics display driver model.

2 in 1 Convertible Touchscreen Devices

The GNOME3 Desktop Environments natively handles touchscreen devices pretty well.

Touchscreen Keyboard

If using a touchscreen device, it is recommended to turn on the accessibility Menu:

This will give you the option to bring up the Touchscreen Keyboard:

When enabled, as you press into a text input field, the Touchscreen Keyboard should automatically display when enabled:

The Touchscreen Keyboard has been updated to include emojis:

Unfortunately it is still a bit behind Microsoft's offering in Windows and lacks mathematical symbols and Greek letters.

The Touchscreen Keyboard seems to work well with settings, Files and Firefox. Firefox now responds well to Touch Input (unlike Firefox in previous versions of Ubuntu):

Unfortunately there is no response by the Touchscreen Keyboard when entering a text input field in Chromium or Chrome making these browsers unusable in tablet or tent mode. The browsers otherwise respond well to touchscreen input, so hopefully this minor issue will be addressed.

By default there is no means of adding a Touchscreen Button to the address bar or the Panel, like there is in Windows. However there is a GNOME Extension that partially does this called Improved Onscreen Keyboard.

GNOME Extensions is typically browser based but has not been updated to support browsers in the form of snap packages. Instead we can install the GNOME Extension manager by searching for it and installing it from the Ubuntu Store. Once installed, the GNOME Extension Manager can be launched from the All Applications screen. Select Browse:

The GNOME Extension Manager is a bit simplistic compared to the browser version. However we can use it to search for improve onscreen keyboard and select Install on the supported version:

Now go to Installed and under User-Installed Extensions you will see Improved OSK. Select settings:

Ensure Show Statusbar Icon is active:

Now there is an additional button which can be pressed to invoke a slightly modified version of the GNOME3 Touchscreen Keyboard:

Unfortunately this button only invokes the Touchscreen Keyboard when the Touchscreen Keyboard is Enabled in the Accessibility Menu. If it is not Enabled in the Accessibility Menu, the button doesn't do anything. This modified GNOME Keyboard has additional characters but lacks the emojis in the standard Touchscreen Keyboard.

Auto-Rotation

The GNOME3 Desktop recognises the IIO Proxy Sensor embedded within the XPS 13 9365. When the system is folded, the GNOME3 Desktop Environment looks at the position of the IIO Proxy Sensor and auto-rotates the screen and touch input matrix of the screen. This allows it to be used in Laptop, Tablet and Tent Mode:

Note when the system is unfolded it is assumed to be in Laptop Mode and the GNOME3 Desktop Environment doesn't look at the position of the IIO Proxy Sensor. If you unfold the laptop too quickly, the screen will be locked in the last orientation the screen was in as a tablet, you will have to fold it, rotate it, wait a moment and then unfold it for laptop mode to be the right way up. This is a very minor bug but hopefully it will be addressed.

Recommended Applications

Below is a list of (mainly) snap applications which replace the functionality of the most commonly used programs in Windows.

GNOME Extension Manager and GNOME Tweaks

GNOME Tweaks can be used to change some additional settings of the GNOME Desktop and can be installed from the Ubuntu Software store. These Tweaks include additional settings that are unfortunately not in the standard Settings (the standard Settings also apply to the GNOME Desktop Environment and both GNOME Tweaks and Settings are developed by the GNOME development team).

The GNOME Extension Manager allows installation of GNOME Extensions and was demonstrated earlier using the Improved Onscreen Keyboard GNOME Extension. Note that you should only install supported Extensions and it is sometimes better to be a bit conservative about the number of Extensions you install as a huge number of Extensions may lead to system instability.

Browsers

Firefox is preinstalled and Chromium is available as a snap package in Ubuntu Software. Google Chrome is available as a .deb package which can be installed on Ubuntu by right clicking and selecting Open with Software Install.

Office

Libre Office is preinstalled. This is a functional Office Suite with Writer (similar to Word), Calc (similar to Excel), Impress (similar to PowerPoint) and Draw (similar to Visio). While functional, the user interface of Libre Office feels a bit cluttered.

Another Office Suite, available as a snap package in the Ubuntu Store or as a .deb package is Only Office Desktop Editors which has a more similar User Interface to Microsoft Office. At the time of writing the .deb package (version 7.0.2) is more up to date than the snap package (version 7.0.1). I asked the Only Office Desktop Editors support team about this and they have stated that they are working on bringing all the other packages such as snap and flatpak up to date.

This has Document (similar to Word), Spreadsheet (similar to Excel) and Presentation (similar to PowerPoint). Sadly there is no Visio alternative. This has a similar user interface to Microsoft Office and incorporates the most commonly used features.

Unfortunately sometimes the implementation of some features is a bit cumbersome, for example pasting cells transposed in Spreadsheet transposed is much more difficult than in Excel.

This Office Suite is however undergoing rapid development and becoming more and more useful with each upcoming version. The newer version 7.0.2 addresses this slightly, a paste special button now displays at the bottom of pasted cells which can be used to transpose the cells. This option would be better incorporated into the right click context menu under paste.

Screenshot and Video Capture

If you press the Print Screen Button you will get the following screen capture options, allowing you to draw a Rectangle Selection to Capture, Screen Capture or Windows Capture. There is also a screen-recording option but this did not work well in my computer and in case has limited video format options:

The Vokoscreen NG capture is much more capable when it comes to Screen Recording. Unfortunately only an older non-functional version of it is available as a snap package in the Ubuntu Store which should be avoided. Instead it should be installed using the advanced package tool. Open the Terminal and type:

sudo apt install vokoscreen-ng

For more details on using the Terminal and the advanced package tool (apt), see my guide Essential Terminal Commands:

This program has not completely been upgraded to support the new display graphics driver model however its primary purpose of carrying out a screen-recording appears to be stable:

And the screen recording plays back as expected:

Photo and Video Editors

There is no inbuilt photo editing program like Paint. The closest alternative to Paint is KolourPaint however it is more similar to the Paint on Windows XP opposed to Windows 10. This program is also slightly more quirky and less smooth to use than Paint for example when resizing or cropping an image:

A popular image editor is Krita which is more modern and has more functionality:

There is also GIMP, the open source version of Photoshop. This is a very powerful program but it will take you some time to learn to use its many features:

kdenlive is a popular video editor and can replace the functionality of Windows Live Movie Maker:

Programming

If you are wanting to use Python for Programming and Data Science it is recommended to install the Anaconda Python Distribution. I have put together a detailed installation guide for Anaconda on Ubuntu here:

FlatPak

Another commonly used Linux package manager is flatpak. This can be installed using the advanced package tool and adding the flatpak repository:

sudo apt install flatpak
sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

flatpak has similar commands to apt.

Making a Windows UEFI Bootable USB

Want Windows back? Or want to repair another computer. No problem I have put together a detailed guide on making a Windows 11 or Windows 10 UEFI Bootable USB using Ubuntu. This is now much easier to do than previous releases because Ubuntu has an updated NTFS Driver: