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Ultimate Edition 3.5

January 8, 2024
By

Does size matter when it comes to Linux distros? Well, it very well might when it comes to Ultimate Edition 3.5. There’s nothing subtle about this distro. Everything about it screams over the top, from the color scheme to the range of software included with it.

Is it worth checking out? Read on to find out.

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Desktop

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Desktop

What’s New In This Release
I was not able to find a full list of new features in this release. I barked about the lack of such details in the review of an earlier version. Unfortunately, the situation doesn’t seem to have changed.

I wish more developers would follow the Linux Mint model and provide a clear and concise list of new features. It makes it easier for reviewers, but also for potential users of their distro.

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Desktop Settings

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Desktop Settings

Here’s what I found on the UE site:

What is Ultimate Edition 3.5? Ultimate Edition 3.5 was built off Ultimate Edition 3.4 a Ubuntu Precise Pangolin 12.04 release. All updates fully updated / upgraded old kernels purged, new initrd and vmlinuz rebuilt. Ultimate Edition 3.5 is what has everyting Ultimate Edition 3.4 has plus multiple operating environments; KDE being the default. Ultimate Edition 3.5 has a new GTK/3 theme & a comprehensive set of software packages.

System Requirements
I was not able to find a list of system requirements, but Ultimate Edition 3.5 is based on Ubuntu so use that as your baseline for running this distro.

Download
You can download Ultimate Edition 3.5 from SourceForge. The file I downloaded weighed in at 3.39GB. Wow! That’s quite the download for a distro!

If you’re a distrohopper then you might want to try it in a virtual machine via VirtualBox, VMWare, or Parallels before running it on real hardware. And if you’re totally new to Linux, then you might want to check out some of the books about linux available on amazon.

You can get Ultimate Edition 3.5 in 32 bit or 64 bit versions.

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Installation
Since Ultimate Edition 3.5 is based on Ubuntu, the install is easy. It’s a bit longer than most other Ubuntu based distros, but this is understandable given the amount of software that is installed. I’ll have more on that later in the Software section of the review.

Ultimate Edition 3.5 is a live distro, so you can boot it off a DVD and check it out before doing an install.

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Boot Menu

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Boot Menu

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Install 1

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Install 1

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Install 2

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Install 2

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Install 3

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Install 3

The Desktop
Aaaaah, the Ultimate Edition 3.5 desktop. Well, I suspect that it can be classified as “love it or hate it.” It uses KDE so that’s certainly a plus. However, the colors are dark, and there’s more than a bit of red in it.

Personally, I don’t mind it being that way. This distro is a unique entity unto itself, so I’ve tried to accept it as such. Once you accept the idea of it, you can more easily adjust to the color scheme, wallpaper , etc.

Note that in the screenshot right below, I’m showing the classic KDE menu as I hate the modern sliding menus.

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Panel Menu

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Panel Menu

If you hate the default wallpaper, check in Desktop Settings. There are quite a few other Ultimate Edition wallpapers available there from prior releases.

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Desktop Settings

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Desktop Settings

You can, of course, change things if you really don’t like it. But I suggest giving it a try, you might find yourself warming up to it after a while.

Please note that if you don’t like KDE or the default Ultimate Edition 3.5 desktop in general, then you have many options to choose from. Just logout and then click the gear icon on the login screen.

You’ll find the following desktop environments available:

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Desktop Selection Menu

Ultimate Edition 3.5 Desktop Selection Menu

Bundled Software
Here’s a sample of the software included in this release, and there’s a lot of it! Chances are that you won’t need to do much downloading after you install Ultimate Edition 3.5, it comes with so much software already.

Games
PlayOnLinux
Board Games
Card Games
Logic Games

Graphics
AcquireImages
Blender
DNGConverter
Document Viewer
ExpoBlending
F-Spot
GIMP
gThumb
Gwenview
Hugin Batch Processor
Hugin Calibrate Lens
Hugin Panorama Center
Image Viewer
Inkscape
K-3D
Karbon
KolourPaint
Krita
KSnapShot
LibreOffice
LRF Viewer
mtPaint
Okular
Panorama
Phatch Image Inspector
Photo Layouts
Ristretto Image Viewer
Shotwell
Simple Scan

Internet
Akregator
BlueDevil
CheckGmail
Chromium
ELinks Browser
Empathy
Firefox
Frostwire
gFTP
Gwibber
KMail
Konqueror
Kopete
KPPP
KTorrent
KVIRC
Lanshark
Pidgin IM
Quassel IRC
rekonq
Remmina Remote Desktop Client
Remote Desktop Viewer
Sylpheed
Thunderbird Mail Client
Transmission
Vuze
WiFi Radar
Wireshark
XChat IRC
Yarssr

Multimedia
2ManDVD
Amarok
Audacious
Audacity
Audio Tag Tool
Avidemux
Banshee
Brasero
Cheese
Cinelerra
DeVeDe
Dragon Player
dvd:rip
DVD Styler
EasyTAG
Entagged
Exaile
gmusicbrowser
GNOME MPlayer
gtkpod
guvcview
gxine
HandBrake
Hydrogen
Imagination
ISO Master
Istanbul Desktop Session Recorder
K3b
k9copy assistant
k9copy
Kdenlive
Kino
KMix
LIVES
Miro
Mixer
Moovida Media Center
Movie Player
Parole
PulseAudio Volume Control
Radio Tray
RecordMyDesktop
Rhythmbox
RipOff
Songbird
Sound Juicer
soundKonverter
Sound Recorder
tovid GUI
TVtime Television Viewer
Ultimate Player
VLC
XBMC
X-CD-Roast
Xfburn
xine

Office
Abiword
Braindump
calibre
Calligra
Dictionary Client
Document Viewer
Gnumeric
KAddressBook
Karbon
Kexi
Kontact
KOrganizer
KTimeTracker
LibreOffice
Okular
Orage
Osmo
Plan

Other
Wine

Problems & Headaches
I didn’t notice any overt problems while running Ultimate Edition 3.5. Your mileage may vary, however. So please share your problems in the comments if you came across any while using it.

Where To Get Help
If you’re having problems, please post your questions in the comments below or register for the DLR forum. Other readers might be able to assist you. You might also want to check out Ultimate Edition forum to connect with other UE users.

Final Thoughts & Who Should Use It
It’s clear that minimalists should stay far, far away from Ultimate Edition 3.5. This distro is basically their worst nightmare come true.

However, those who consider themselves maximalists will love Ultimate Edition 3.5. I don’t know how many of you there are out there, but this distro was designed totally for you.

And this is one of the things I really like about Linux. There’s a distro for everybody, including those want everything and the kitchen sink thrown into their desktop operating system.

Even if you’re not a maximalist, it might be fun to give Ultimate Edition 3.5 a try, just to see what it’s like.

Beginner, intermediate and advanced Linux users can use Ultimate Edition 3.5. Beginners might be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of applications, however. So bear that in mind if you are new to Linux, and aren’t familiar with some of the apps you see in Ultimate Edition 3.5.

What’s your take on this distro? Tell me in the comments below. Visit Eye On Linux for Linux commentary; visit JimLynch.com for other technology coverage.

Summary Table:

Product: Ultimate Edition 3.5
Web Site: http://ultimateedition.info
Price: Free
Pros: Comes with an enormous range of software, uses the KDE desktop environment. There are other desktop environments included as well.
Cons: It’s a very large download, and the amount of software might be overkill for some users.
Rating: 3.5/5

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This entry was posted on January 8, 2024 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Ultimate Edition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

  • TwistyMiNDfllex

    over the last couple of years I have downloaded and tried many distros beginning with Mint 10 ,11,12,13,then on to Unbuntu,Debian,Fedora,Centos,Open SUSE,Puppy,Legacy os, Arch,Archbang,Cinnarch,Tiny core,PCLinux os, Vectorlinux,Zorin, the list goes on. I like lots of toys and Ultimate addition has become my distro of choice. 3.5 is more stable than 3.4 was and it was reasonable. I have tried KDE several time and prefer Gnome 2 classic desktop I like the cascadeing menus and tool-tip pop-ups you get . Ultimate has a dark color-rich environment that is hard to beat for customization, lots of themes ,effects, the works. In the end Ultimate is a show case for the sheer variety of Unbuntu-Debian linux derived software that you can squeeze under one roof. it is a bit bloated but that’s part of it’s charm.

    • http://jimlynch.com/ Jim Lynch

      Bloated? I prefer to think of it as “big boned.” Heh. ;)

  • Brian Masinick

    I used to run a lot of really full-featured systems; they were great to find the software I liked to use, and they are useful when you want to try several variations and groups of applications to decide what you like best. But once that’s done, they become excess.

    Over the years, I’ve cut back down; when I do want multiple versions of software, I grab them from the repos and when I’m done using them, if I stop using something or never use it, I now tend to get rid of it.

    I also tend to stick to a couple of environments (I do use more than one so that I have a backup environment, and I do use multiple browsers and text editors; beyond that, I do not use or need very many extras. So while at one time this distribution would have been handy for me, these days it is more than I personally need.

    • http://jimlynch.com/ Jim Lynch

      So you’ve become more of a minimalist eh, Brian. Interesting. I think I’m sort of the same way.

      Despite large hard disks, I generally don’t like having apps I don’t use on my computers. I feel like I’m wasting space. Must be a leftover from the days of tiny hard disks back in the stone age of computer.

  • Mike Storm

    Using Ultimate for a couple of years now and 3.5 is Top! It’s like having your workshop next to your house or your toolbox always near when needed. You can produce almost anything, music, video, website, etc. from scratch or not and you always have the right tool for the job, Awesome!!!

    • http://jimlynch.com/ Jim Lynch

      Very glad to hear it is working for you, Mike. Grats. That’s one of the great things about Linux, there’s something for everybody.

  • http://pc-repariert.de/ Daniel Randazzo

    the theme is hurting my eyes…really ugly

  • shadowguy14

    This is so buggy and annoying to use on my computer.

    The desktops won’t show up or if they do, they’re just ugly.

    And the fact it has so many processes running it slows everything down

  • Chavoux Luyt

    Are there any development tools that comes pre-installed with this distro? That is something I am still looking for: a distro with all/most of my development tools pre-installed. I would really consider Ultimate Edition if it had most of these already instead of me having to spend more than a few hours installing everything I need.

    • http://jimlynch.com/ Jim Lynch

      Yes, sorry I did not include them in the software list. My mistake on that:

      Translation
      Web Development
      Anjuta
      Cervisia
      Devhelp
      Gambas2
      Glade
      gPHPEdit
      Kompare
      Meld
      Qt 4 Assistant, Designer and Creator

  • tuxworx

    I run a stripped down version of Linux Mint 13 Xfce on a couple of computers. I get updates every couple of days even though I have removed more packages than I have installed. Compared to Windows, of course, the updates are only a trivial nuisance because they never require a re-boot and I’m glad to know that my computer is being kept secure. However, it seems to me that it would be a major annoyance to be constantly updating an Ubuntu-derived distro with something like 150 user applications on top of the operating system, libraries, etc.

  • Chris

    What happened to ultimate editions site? I get godaddy instead when I click on the link..

    • http://jimlynch.com/ Jim Lynch

      Chris, I do not know. Maybe the folks doing UE didn’t renew that domain? Or they are having problems? I googled and could only find the australian edition:

      https://www.ultimateeditionoz.com

      This is quite odd.

      • chris

        Ya it is. I have it installed, but haven’t been to their fourm in a while..Hope their up again soon, as this is the ony Linux distro I have liked in a long time.

  • chris

    Ok found out what happened.. I went to the Oz site and it says the UE site is experience technical difficulties. No time frame when it will be up and running again.. This site supports all OS even the UE.. I have joined that site as well..

    • http://jimlynch.com/ Jim Lynch

      Thank you for the update, Chris. I hope they get it worked out soon.

  • Delicadaz

    I use Ultimate Edition for 3yrs now, I test/play with all OS out there, but UE is my main OS, along with BlackOpal64 made by the guys at UEoz . UE 2.6 /3.4 / 3.5 are made from Ubuntu 10.04/12.04 LTS ……. These UE versions are rock solid , I run 3 HP Pavillion laptops and 2 HP D/T . i haver also installed on thinkpads, Acer inspire, and Toshiba . I love having so many options to choose from, i play with different apps, find what i like and REMOVE the ones i don’t. I find this easier than searching for apps to add !
    I also like having compiz 3D already setup and my graphics and wireless run straight out of the box !
    UE is the SHOWCASE for What Ubuntu can DO !!!

    oh by the way if you goto the UE site and install ultamatix you have 100′s of themes and wallpapers to choose from, along with an awful lot more Apps
    TheeMahn is a genius coder, if you look around the site and forum you will find lots of Apps he has written

  • Delicadaz

    about time you did a review on the OzUnity BlackOpal64 and it is based on Ubuntu12.04. it is made by the guys at Ultimate Edition OZ………. this can be found at http://www.ultimateeditionoz.com. OzUnity have released 3 OS now and the 4th one will come out in a couple of months

  • Tracy

    I cannot seem to get UE 3.5 to boot- neither DVD nor USB? I checked MD5, as well. Any ideas?

    Also- can someone help me to get my account here working properly? If I click “login”, top-right of the main page first, it leads me to a WordPress login screen & won’t accept the DLR details. At some point, I managed a work-around & made it to the “new discussion” screen, only to be met with a blank, purple area instead of a box to type in? I can’t even recall now how I did it- but I was able to use my DLR login details when I did it. Jim, can you please email me & let me know what I can do? I even tried FF, Chrome, & Opera.

    Help!

    GirlDownunder
    Linux Mint 9