Endless OS 3.5.2 was released for existing users on Wednesday 12th December 2018; images for new installations were published on Thursday 13th. Endless OS 3.5.3 was released on Thursday 13th, to fix one more critical issue; since the issue did not affect new installations, new images were not published. (If you install 3.5.2, you’ll receive the 3.5.3 update.)
New right-click behaviour on multi-touch touchpads
On laptops with a multi-touch touchpad, a tap with one finger anywhere on the touchpad is now treated as a left (primary) click. To right-click, keep one finger in contact with the touchpad and tap with another finger. (In previous versions of Endless, a tap with one finger in the bottom-right area of the touchpad was treated as a right-click. This new behaviour is consistent with GNOME 3.28 and newer.)
If you want to switch back to the previous behaviour, open a Terminal window and run this command:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad click-method default
If you later want to re-enable the new behaviour, open a Terminal window and run this command:
gsettings reset org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad click-method
Updated hardware support
On systems with Nvidia Optimus twin GPUs, PRIME Sync is now enabled to prevent screen tearing.
External microphones are now correctly detected on several Acer and Asus systems. A crash in the PulseAudio sound server on some systems is now fixed.
On some computers with certain AMD graphics cards that were originally installed with Endless OS 3.4.8 or earlier, updating to Endless OS 3.5.0, 3.5.1 or 3.5.2 causes the system to crash when it is turned on. This issue is resolved in Endless OS 3.5.3, and is the only difference between 3.5.2 and 3.5.3. If your system is already affected by this issue, select the “Advanced …” on the GRUB menu you see when it start up, and choose an older version of Endless OS. Once that version starts successfully, open the App Center and update to Endless OS 3.5.3. (If the GRUB menu does not open automatically when you turn on the computer, follow these instructions.)
Hack
This release of Endless OS forms the basis of the Beta version of Hack, the everyday laptop that helps kids learn to code. While developing features exclusive to the Hack laptop, many minor issues in the standard Endless OS desktop have been resolved.
Other Improvements and Changes
- App Center polish. In previous versions, the App Center would sometimes show “Operation cancelled” if you typed search terms too quickly; these are no longer shown. After installing all available app updates in the App Center, it would sometimes incorrectly ask you to restart the computer, or show an empty list of updates; these problems are fixed.
- Improved timezone detection on first boot. We’ve improved the setup process shown on new computers to try harder to automatically detect your timezone.
- Fixed freeze when dragging desktop icons. Dragging icons on the desktop would cause the computer to stop responding to clicks and keystrokes until it is restarted; this is now fixed and icons can be rearranged by dragging them.
- Updated Chromium. We’ve updated to Chromium 70.0.3538.110 to bring the latest security fixes to Endless’ built-in web browser.
- No notification when the computer automatically goes to sleep. When a computer running Endless OS is idle for a while, the screen blanks; some time later, it goes to sleep. Previously, the screen would be turned back on just before the computer went to sleep, showing a “Power: 1 new notification” message. This message is no longer shown.
Known Issues
- First boot experience only partially translated. The first time you boot Endless, you are asked to choose your language, accept our EULA, configure Wi-Fi, and create your user account. Due to an oversight, if you choose a language other than English, some pages are still partially or entirely displayed in English. The same issue also affects 3.5.0 and 3.5.1; we expect to fix this in the January release (likely to be called 3.5.4).