A new version of GCalctool, the default calculator application used in Ubuntu has been released. The new version (5.31.1) has some changes, most notably its speed. It is now faster than Chromium. (Yes the browser. See this: http://castrojo.tumblr.com/post/619330509/calculators-you-need-them
Here is a list of the changes with GCalctool 5.31.1 :
New color scheme, as you have already seen from the picture above.
It starts really fast.
Keyboard input and accessibility works without any problems.
Although it is supposed to come with Maverick, you can install it from the PPA if you are using Lucid. To do it, open the terminal and execute the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:robert-ancell/gcalctool
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gcalctool
Here is the reason behind this ‘improvement’, from this link http://castrojo.tumblr.com/post/619330509/calculators-you-need-them
Calculators. You need them.
On the Friday of the Ubuntu Developer Summit we do 5 minute lightning talks. Evan Martin from Chromium did a bit on Speed, and why they’re so obsessed with it.
To prove his point he compared Chromium’s launch time vs. gcalctool. Yes, the web browser was launching faster than the calculator.
I am not sure if Evan knew it or not, but Robert Ancell (one of the gcalctool guys!) was in the audience. And not content with failure, he went and fixed it. The ball is in your court now Chromium!
(Note: I am not advocating any kind of Calculator acid test or Calcspider speed test, before anyone gets any bright ideas.)
