This is the perfect example of why Linux is not yet ready for prime time. Installing the latest version of a software is not just about downloading it and running it as you would do on windows. Worse most of the solutions (see here and here) proposed require you to use the command line, which is a serious no go for beginners.
Being a Linux noobie myself I decided to learn how to install the software without using the terminal, and found a relatively simple solution.
- Click your “Menu” button then “Administration” then”Run Synaptic Package Manager”
- Click the “Settings” menu and then click “Repositories”
- Go to the “Other Software” tab, click “Add” and put “deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/otto-kesselgulasch/gimp/ubuntu precise main” without the quotes in the text box
- Click the “Edit” menu and “Reload package information”
- If you have already removed the old version of gimp you can skip this step. Enter “gimp 2.6” without quotes in the search box, right click, mark for removal, and click the big “Apply” button.
- To install the new gimp, put “gimp 2.8” in the search box without quotes and when it appears, right click, mark for installation, and click the big apply “Apply” button, and you are done.
That’s it to start Gimp 2.8 just go to “Menu” then “Graphics” and “GIMP Image Editor”