Ubuntu MATE 15.04 was the release that proved MATE belonged in the official Ubuntu family. The project had existed as a community remix for 14.04 and 14.10, but with 15.04, Ubuntu MATE became a recognised Ubuntu flavour — complete with official ISO builds, Canonical infrastructure support, and a seat at the Ubuntu release table alongside Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and Lubuntu. The release shipped with MATE Desktop 1.8.2, the MATE Tweak layout switcher that would become the project’s signature feature, optional Compiz integration, and a curated default application set that balanced functionality with resource efficiency. This guide reviews what made Ubuntu MATE 15.04 notable, walks through the installation and initial setup, covers MATE Tweak’s layout options in detail, and examines the day-to-day experience of using it as a primary desktop. We ran Ubuntu MATE 15.04 on a Dell Latitude E6430 and a Raspberry Pi 2 (yes, Ubuntu MATE was one of the first Ubuntu flavours to support the Pi) — both were remarkably solid. For other Ubuntu flavour coverage, see our Ubuntu 15.10 Flavours roundup.
What Shipped in Ubuntu MATE 15.04
MATE Desktop 1.8.2
MATE 1.8 was the version that MATE went from “functional GNOME 2 fork” to “polished desktop environment.” Version 1.8.2 included:
- GTK3 support — MATE 1.8 began the transition from GTK2 to GTK3. Both toolkits were supported, but the default build for Ubuntu MATE 15.04 used GTK2 for stability (the GTK3 port was not yet complete for all components).
- Caja improvements — the file manager (forked from Nautilus) gained better performance with large directories, improved search, and extensions support.
- Marco compositor — MATE’s window manager included a built-in compositor for shadows, transparency, and window animations. Lightweight enough to enable by default without penalising performance.
- Atril document viewer — the PDF/document viewer (forked from Evince) with improved rendering speed and annotations support.
MATE Tweak
MATE Tweak was Martin Wimpress’s (Ubuntu MATE project lead) answer to a persistent question: “Can MATE look like [my preferred desktop]?” Instead of forcing users to manually reconfigure panels, applets, and compositors, MATE Tweak offered one-click layout presets:
- Traditional — the classic GNOME 2 layout: menu bar and system tray on top, window list and workspace switcher on bottom.
- Contemporary — similar to Traditional but with a dock added (Plank) for frequently used applications.
- Redmond — a single bottom panel with a Start-menu-style application menu on the left and system tray on the right. Familiar to Windows users.
- Cupertino — a top panel with global menu bar and a Plank dock at the bottom. Familiar to macOS users.
- Pantheon — inspired by elementary OS, with a minimal top panel and bottom dock.
- Netbook — a space-efficient layout for small screens with maximised windows and a single panel.
Switching between layouts was instant — MATE Tweak reconfigured panels, applets, and the compositor in real time.
Step-by-Step Setup
Step 1: Download and Install
Download the Ubuntu MATE 15.04 ISO from the Ubuntu MATE website. Write it to a USB drive:
sudo dd if=ubuntu-mate-15.04-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress
Replace /dev/sdX with your USB drive’s device path. Boot from the USB drive and follow the standard Ubuntu installer. The installation process was identical to standard Ubuntu — select language, timezone, disk partitioning, and user creation.
Step 2: Post-Installation Updates
After first boot, update the system:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
Step 3: Explore MATE Tweak
Open MATE Tweak from the menu (System → Preferences → MATE Tweak) or from the terminal:
mate-tweak
The Windows tab lets you switch between Marco (compositing on/off) and Compiz as the window manager. The Desktop tab shows the layout presets described above.
Try each layout to find your preference. We recommend starting with Traditional (the GNOME 2 classic) and switching to Redmond or Cupertino if you are coming from Windows or macOS respectively.
Step 4: Configure the Panel
Right-click any panel and select Properties to configure:
- Size — panel height in pixels
- Orientation — top, bottom, left, or right
- Auto-hide — hide when not in use
- Background — solid colour, gradient, or transparent
Add applets by right-clicking the panel → Add to Panel. Useful additions include:
- System Monitor — CPU and memory graphs in the panel
- Weather — current weather in the system tray area
- Notification Area — for applications that use tray icons
- Workspace Switcher — shows virtual desktops in the panel
Step 5: Enable Compiz (Optional)
For desktop effects (wobbly windows, desktop cube, window previews):
Open MATE Tweak → Windows tab → select Compiz as the window manager.
The first time you enable Compiz, the display may flicker briefly as the window manager switches. Compiz settings can be configured with:
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
ccsm
Use Compiz judiciously — it adds visual flair but increases memory usage by approximately 50-100 MB compared to Marco.
Step 6: Configure the Default Applications
System → Preferences → Preferred Applications lets you set defaults for:
- Web browser — Firefox (default), or install Chrome/Chromium
- Email — Thunderbird (default)
- Terminal — MATE Terminal (default)
- File manager — Caja (default)
Step 7: Multimedia Codecs
Ubuntu MATE 15.04 did not include restricted codecs by default. Install them:
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras
This adds MP3 playback, H.264 video, DVD playback libraries, and Microsoft fonts.
Day-to-Day Experience
After running Ubuntu MATE 15.04 for several months, here is what stood out:
Performance — on the Dell Latitude E6430 (i5-3320M, 8 GB RAM, Intel HD 4000), Ubuntu MATE felt noticeably snappier than Unity on the same hardware. Application launches were faster, window management was more responsive, and the system used approximately 350 MB RAM at idle compared to Unity’s 500+ MB.
Stability — no crashes, no session failures, no display glitches across months of use. Marco was rock-solid. Compiz had occasional hiccups with fullscreen video but nothing that required intervention.
Application compatibility — every Ubuntu application worked perfectly. MATE’s GTK2/3 support meant both older and newer applications integrated well visually.
The Pi experience — on the Raspberry Pi 2, Ubuntu MATE 15.04 was the best Ubuntu desktop experience available. LXDE was lighter, but MATE provided a more complete, more polished desktop with acceptable performance on the Pi’s 1 GB RAM and quad-core ARM CPU.
Common Pitfalls
Compiz crashes and leaves you with no window decorations. If Compiz crashes, windows lose their title bars and borders. Open a terminal (you may need to use Ctrl+Alt+T) and switch back to Marco: mate-tweak --wm marco-compton or marco --replace &. If MATE Tweak is not responsive, run marco --replace directly.
Panel applets rearrange themselves after layout switch. MATE Tweak replaces the entire panel configuration when switching layouts. If you have custom applet arrangements, they will be overwritten. Note your panel configuration before switching layouts — there is no “undo” in MATE Tweak.
Global menu (Cupertino layout) does not work with all applications. The global menu bar (appmenu-gtk) worked with GTK2 and GTK3 applications but not with Qt applications or some Java-based tools. Firefox and LibreOffice supported it; some electron-based apps did not.
Plank dock (Contemporary/Cupertino layouts) shows wrong icons. Plank reads .desktop files for icon information. If an application’s icon is not found, it shows a generic placeholder. Ensure application .desktop files are correct in /usr/share/applications/.
Login screen theme does not match desktop theme. LightDM’s theme was separate from the MATE desktop theme. Configure LightDM with: sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf and set the theme, icon, and font settings to match your MATE desktop.
Ubuntu MATE’s Significance
Ubuntu MATE 15.04 mattered because it demonstrated that the GNOME 2 desktop paradigm was not dead — it was just maintained by different people under a different name. MATE proved that a traditional desktop could be modern, well-maintained, and relevant in an era when GNOME, KDE, and Unity were all pursuing radically different interface designs. The Ubuntu MATE project, led by Martin Wimpress, brought professionalism, consistent quality, and genuinely useful innovations (MATE Tweak chief among them) to what started as a fork born from disagreement. By 15.04, it was no longer a protest — it was a product.