So what is really better in 15.04?

[oldgeek]

I am almost a constant Kubuntu user, and only use Windows when I have to (work with ppt. usually). I have 14.04 installed on my desktop, and frankly it's the most error-free operating system I've ever used. It simply does everything I need it to do, never crashes, and is quick as well. I'm not a programmer and do not know how to use terminal commands (I just copy-paste whatever I need from those who do know) but I have gained quite a lot of experience from multiple installations of Kubuntu since 2009 or so. I've had a few problems with all the releases (though nothing deadly) and have both upgraded and freshly-installed the various versions of Kubuntu up to the current 15.04. I use my laptop (a Lenovo netbook, Atom processor) to try out new releases, and currently have the latest 15.04 Plasma 5 edition installed. After some experimentation, I have not yet figured out what is improved in this release. Apart from the cosmetic changes, and slower startup and shutdown times, it doesn't seem to be different from 14.04. I'm sure it must be, but this doubt keeps me from installing the latest version on my desktop. Judging from the comments in the forum, the main problems seem to come from Plasma 5. I think it looks pretty but so does 14.04--I can't think that a new color scheme is the main innovation of this release. If so, then that's a good reason for not installing it on my main working computer. If not, could someone who has more knowledge and experience with the new operating system please tell me just what else is new and improved in 15.04? Is it worth switching over from an OS which has never given me trouble to something which to me doesn't seem to offer anything beyond cosmetic changes. If I install this system, what positive things will I actually observe in my computer's performance? Should I install 15.04 immediately or just experiment with it and its successor on my netbook until the next LTS release? I lean to the latter at this point.

[rybnik]

My thinkpad touchpad works in 15.04 but not 14.04, but that's really my only reason for using the former. I typically only use LTS releases.

I really identify with your situation as you described it and agree with just about all of it.

Don't upgrade to 15.04. Plasma 5 is far from polished. I discovered just today that certain widgets have yet to be ported to Plasma 5, and certain other widgets, although available, are better in Plasma 4. Also, the Folder widget gives an absurd amount of spacing between icons that just needlessly takes up screen real estate. I have a feeling that Plasma 5 will be cool once some things are ironed out, but right now, I'd still call it very experimental.

The one upside of 15.04 is that it does really run faster than the older releases that are still supported. As I understand it, that's because it (i.e. Plasma 5) now has Qt underpinnings.

If not for my touchpad only working in 15.04, I would be running the LTS like you do.

[claydoh]

I think you hit the nail on the head here. Plasma 5 is not really a major jump forward, as everything functions in the same ways it used to, it has just been re-written in a more modern language, if you will (qml, etc). 15.04 isn't supposed to be 'better'.

Personally, with the switch to systemd that no one really seems to have noticed (which is the way it should be), I see much quicker boot times, especially on my old-ish PC running an older 5400 rpm laptop hard drive. The boot time difference is definitely noticeable there.

On my old laptop, desktop graphics feel faster, smoother all around on the meager Intel gpu, much better than KDE 4 ever was. This is likely a combo of kernel/xorg as well improvements in kwin/plasma, but then again every new KDE version since I got the lappy has been better in this regard.

[NickStone]

To find out what's new in plasma5 read this -> https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma5.0/

Oops! I mis-read what you wrote. You were asking about differences in Kubuntu 15.04, well you should find them here -> http://www.kubuntu.org/news/kubuntu-15.04

[elijathegold]

Well:

It seems to be faster, just an impression from using it. I have ran no benchmarks.
It uses less processor power.
It uses (slightly) less RAM.
My laptop is running about 3C cooler.
You can turn off the bloody cashew!