What's going to happen to the Unity desktop environment and default Ubuntu version?
I've heard that Ubuntu 18.04 will be using GNOME desktop by default. So, what is going to happen to Unity?
- Will Ubuntu 16.04 (with Unity) receive updates until 2021 for Unity desktop?
- What desktop environments will we get while upgrading from 16.04 to 18.04?
Will Unity be dead?
Will there be an Ubuntu Unity Flavor?
And my major question is:
- Can I still be able to Download Ubuntu Unity 17.10 or need to upgrade from Ubuntu 17.04 to get 17.10 with unity ??
Solution 1:
Unity will eventually be removed from the archives. The default experience on Ubuntu is moving to GNOME. There is no more "Ubuntu GNOME" flavor of Ubuntu. You can either upgrade from 17.04 to 17.10, install 17.10 from scratch, or if you run LTS, stick to 16.04 and upgrade when 18.04 is ready.
You can install GNOME directly from the archive already, with no need to re-install your system. You can simply install the ubuntu-gnome-desktop package on 16.04, to get the standard Ubuntu GNOME install in 16.04.
Ubuntu 16.04 is an LTS and will continue to receive updates until May 2021, when it will be End of Life. However, unless there is a major bug affecting the Unity software, it's unlikely there will be many updates for it.
Solution 2:
Your information is not valid. Ubuntu is switching to gnome in October, in version 17.10. If you like your unity, you can keep older version, nothing will push you into downloading new one.
Since 17.10, Ubuntu will not be avilable with Unity, but some kind of Ubuntu specific gnome version. You can keep it, or you can still download another Desktop enviroment at your will and replace it with Ubuntu stock gnome.
You can read a bit here:
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/09/ubuntu-17-10-gnome-shell-ambiance
OR here
https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-17-10-release-features/
Sorry for not posting any official declarations, Im not sure if there are any.