While there is no shortage of derivatives of Ubuntu, the release of Ultimate Edition 5.0.1 is worthy of mention. Most importantly, the operating system (OS) is a Long Term Support (LTS) release as it was built from the Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerius tree and will continue to be supported until 2019.

What is especially impressive is that the developer Glenn "TheeMahn" Cady built Ultimate Edition 5.0.1 using a mixture of his own programming skill and his very own tool Tmosb (TheeMahn's Operating System builder), which also has received an overhaul in honor of the latest release [1].

In fact, TheeMahn, who has been coding for over 30 years, has been developing Ultimate Edition Linux since 2006. In December 2006, he created a special edition of Ubuntu known as Ubuntu Christmas Edition . Its successor was named Ubuntu Ultimate , but after a polite email from Canonical regarding trademark issues, this was changed simply to Ultimate Edition .

Since the initial release of Ultimate Edition 1.8, which was based on Ubuntu 8.10 (Hardy Heron), the project has branched. In addition to the full install, there is now a Lite , Gaming , and Server edition. Although the releases are based on the biannual stable versions of Ubuntu, Ultimate doesn't follow a fixed release schedule, which TheeMahn claims is to allow for more extensive beta testing [2].

At the time of writing, the Lite 64-bit and 32-bit version of the OS has been released, based on the 4.4.0-25-generic kernel with MATE 1.14.1 ; there are plans for a Full and Server edition. Currently, the only way to install Ultimate Edition is by downloading the 2.7GB ISO directly from SourceForge. The Ultimate Edition website also has a direct download of Unetbootin to allow the OS to be run from a USB stick without burning to disk [1].

Ultimate Eye Candy

One of the main criticisms of Linux is that the graphics sometimes look rather dated. Consequently, it's pleasing to hear that Ultimate Edition's stated intention is to create a complete, seamlessly integrated, visually stimulating, and easy-to-install OS [3] (see Figure 1). The installation wizard is the same for Ubuntu, but it is much more visually appealing out of the box. The wizard is readily customizable with tweaks for icons available via the ACYL (Any Color You Like) Icon Theme Manager. Desktop themes are managed by Emerald Theme Manager . There are a number of preinstalled themes from which to choose, including one that makes the desktop resemble Windows 7 and four that resemble Windows Aero. The cursor set for the default theme is particularly impressive, with a rotating loading icon and mouse.

Figure 1: The default desktop has stunning electric blue icons, a revolving cursor, and transparent windows.

If you have a compatible video card, CompizConfig Settings Manager will also allow you to enjoy more 3D desktop visual effects, such as wobbly effects on Windows and Desktop Cube (see Figure 2). CompizConfig is disabled by default, but it's possible to use the Live version of the OS to check if your machine's video card is compatible by going through the steps outlined in Ultimate's Release notes [4].

Figure 2: CompizConfig allows for some spectacular effects in Ultimate Edition, such as making your desktop rotate as a cylinder.

The Caja-Actions Configuration tool (formerly know as Nautilus-Actions Configuration tool) also allows you to create new context and location options for items in the File Manager. Ultimate already has put this to good use. Right-clicking on files shows extra options under Scripts not usually integrated into MATE, such as the ability to automatically mount an ISO or convert an image to PNG.

Ultimate Hand Holding

Ultimate gives the impression of an OS attempting to seduce both Mac and Windows users to move to Linux. Aside from the desktop themes to parallel Windows, the NTFS Configuration tool is available to provide read/write support for NTFS drives in a single click, a feature unavailable in vanilla installations of Ubuntu.

The Caja-Dropbox application can also be launched with a single click to install and launch the proprietary Dropbox daemon. Clicking on the app takes the user straight to the Dropbox sign-in screen without the usual warning about closed source software.

The bundled gtkpod application allows for managing iPod playlists, photos, and videos without installing additional software. The inclusion of VLC Media Player v2.2.2 (Weatherwax) also means that DVD playback is supported out of the box along with a multitude of video and audio formats.

Ultimate Edition Version 5.0.1 no longer includes support for Ultamatix, which allowed for single-click installation of software programs. However, it is possible to install additional software from the command-line application Terminator, which allows for multiple Terminal windows. By default, the restricted and multiverse repositories are enabled, and Ultimate maintains its own repositories for apps and games [5].

Conveniently, Wine v1.6.2 is preinstalled, allowing for installation of certain Windows programs. It's not clear why a more recent version of Wine isn't bundled instead, as the latest version (1.8.3) includes support for a much broader range of Nvidia graphics cards [6], but this can be solved with a simple update.

TheeMahn also claims that the Full versions of Ultimate Linux have been accused of being overly large in the past due to having more than one type of the same application (e.g, three music players). A number of proprietary drivers, particularly for wireless cards, are supported out of the box in the name of convenience, but they also increase the overall size of the OS. Nevertheless, TheeMahn maintains that what others call "bloat" he calls "choice" [7].

The bloat issue seems to have been addressed in the Lite version, as its installation footprint (around 4GB) is much smaller than that of previous Full versions (around 8GB). Nevertheless, some of the bundled applications still seem superfluous. For instance, Kodi Media Player (formerly XBMC) is installed along with VLC Media Player. There also doesn't seem to be a preinstalled email client, as Mozilla Thunderbird has been removed since version 3.6 [3].

The trend of software working out of the box also continues for Ultimate Server Edition, which is still in the testing phase. The software was created using uecorebuilder , a subprogram of Tmosb ; it can be downloaded from the Ultimate Edition website. Step-by-step instructions are available to set up the server on a dedicated VPS to avoid issues with your rig. Once successfully installed, the server includes Secure Apache2, an FTP server, PHP and SSH support, and even Wordpress.

For those with no virtual private server (VPS), Ultimate Edition 4.2.1 Minimal Server LTS, based on Ubuntu 14.04, can be downloaded as a compact ISO of just 712MB from either SourceForge or Os-builder.com [8].

Ultimate Gaming

A fun fork of the main Ultimate Edition OS is Ultimate Edition Gamers. Each version is built from a Lite version of the main OS and comes with over 30 preinstalled games (see Figure 3), such as the brilliant first person shooter "Alien Arena" or, for the more educationally inclined, the "Childsplay" Suite of educational activities for youngsters.

Figure 3: Ultimate Edition Gamers comes with over 30 preinstalled, open source games, such as scrolling space-shooter chromium-bsu.

Older games and titles for other platforms are also supported. Ultimate Edition Gamers includes ScummVM , which can be used to play classics like "Monkey Island," while Wine , Winetricks , and PlayOnLinux help to play some more modern Windows titles [9].

The most recent Ultimate Edition Gamers is version 4.6, which is based on Ubuntu 15.04 (Vivid Vervet). It's available for download from SourceForge, either as a 4.2GB ISO incorporating the LXDE/Openbox environment [10] or as a 3.2GB ISO based upon Xfce [11].

Given the inclusion of gaming features and the more visually rich environment, there is naturally a greater demand on system resources. The Ubuntu website's stated minimum hardware requirements of a 700Mhz processor and at least 512MB [12] will not make for a fluid desktop experience.

When running in a virtual machine, the file manager and web browser worked perfectly with a 1GHz Processor and 1024MB of RAM. Requirements for individual games may be greater, particularly if compiz is also enabled. For this reason, there is an extensive section in the Ultimate Edition forums on which hardware works best with the OS [13].

Ultimate Builder

Although Ultimate Developers Edition has yet to be released, Ultimate Edition 5.0.1 does come with the ability to build a custom OS with Tmosb .

The user guide to the current version (1.9.2) is so extensive that TheeMahn has devoted a website specifically to it. Like Ultimate Edition itself, the tool focuses on simplicity, and TheeMahn claims the builder will build one of 138 different operating systems with the simplicity of a single command dropped in the terminal (Figure 4). A GUI for Tmosb is also in production.

Figure 4: The Operating System builder can build any Ubuntu OS from the ground up and can even include your choice of desktop environments with a single command.

This has been put to good use by the Ultimate Edition community, and the forum for Australian users, "Ultimate Edition Oz," lists some of their contributions, such as Ultimate Edition 17.3 LTS, which is based on Linux Mint rather than Ubuntu [14].

Ultimate Pride and Pitfalls

Ultimate Edition 5.0 seems to be enjoying some popularity. According to SourceForge, almost 12,000 people downloaded it within the first week of its release, and it enjoyed a four out of five star rating. DistroWatch also ranked it as the 29th most popular distribution that week, beating Xubuntu, Kubuntu, and Kali Linux to name a few. Since the release of version 5.0.1, which is a precursor to the full 5.1 update, it has dropped to the 40th most popular distribution. Most of the negative comments on the download page relate to difficulties with getting the Live DVD to boot up in the first place as opposed to the user experience once installed [15].

While Ultimate Edition installs neatly into VirtualBox, OS test drivers should note that the OS defaults to the login screen after a few minutes on the desktop. A quick search of the forums shows the default username is "ultimate" and the password field should be left blank to return to the desktop [16].

TheeMahn claims to have received no negative feedback to date regarding the 5.0.1 release [17]. However, any issues that do arise can be addressed by the community either on the forums [18] or on the dedicated IRC channel run by Freenode [19].

Finally, for those who are interested in testing the OS, there is also a Facebook page for Ultimate Edition [20] where users have posted pictures of their own setup to showcase some of the more advanced graphics features.