9 ms·

Natty Narwhal with Unity: Worst Ubuntu beta ever

98 points by _grrr 16y ago

joelmichael 16y ago
How much additional development will Unity get because Ubuntu has put its massive weight behind it?
rubergly 16y ago
The only complaint I've ever had with Unity is that the dock consumes the super key for shortcuts. The only reason I've been unable to stick with Unity is that I can't assign gnome-do to the super-based hotkey I'm used to. I could learn to use the Unity Launcher, but it never seemed to be anywhere near as easy to use as gnome-do.
mariuolo 16y ago
I couldn't agree more.
chuhnk 16y ago
Yes I agree with this writeup. Having tested the unity desktop I was thoroughly disappointed. I felt as though the interface was dumbed down and all of the advanced features or navigation that I once had control of were now gone. It will perhaps as they gear more towards a touch based interface and even netbooks but as a main desktop manager it really does fail quite badly.
- owaislone 16y ago
  "Interface was dumbed down.." That is a good thing. I use my computer to use websites, write code, watch videos; Those things should be more visible not the OS chrome. OS UI should be as minimal and simple as possible.
windsurfer 16y ago
This seems pretty typical of Ubuntu releases, frankly. Anyone remember the Firefox 3 fiasco? Luckily, if you don't like it, you've got lots of choice, the current version will be supported for another 12 months, and the next version will be out in 6 months. It's not a big deal.
- vacri 16y ago
  This is something that's so often overlooked. If you want a stable desktop for production use, use an LTS version of ubuntu. If you want 'close to the edge', get the last version or two, they come with 18 months support. If you want to fool around on the edge, well, that's where they do crazy stuff like this. Early adopters are beta testers, always have been, always will be.
  - androith 16y ago
    Of course, the problem is that LTS releases are horribly outdated (the packages in the repos), that it becomes hard to be productive. I needed a new version of a library (actually not THAT new) to compile something, and it just wasn't there! LTS for the lose.
    - vacri 16y ago
      backports?
    - windsurfer 16y ago
      The whole idea of LTS is to leave outdated versions of the repo and only port bugfixes and critical security stuff backwards while leaving a direct upgrade path to the next LTS open.
  - viraptor 16y ago
    > If you want a stable desktop for production use, use an LTS version of ubuntu. I'm not so sure about it. All releases are supposed to be stable (final releases at least, not the current beta). LTS has nothing to do with "not-beta" - it's about the length of support only and this is the way it's advertised on the ubuntu website. Whenever they write about "stable" regarding LTS it's in the business context - it's "not changing" rather than "not crashing".
    - nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
      There's a difference between stable (reliable) and stable (unchanged). When talking about the stability of LTS, people are meaning that the package set, and the versions of those packages, will not change throughout the support cycle of the release. Eg, if the release comes with Firefox 3.0, it will stick with Firefox 3.0 for the duration of the cycle, even though Firefox 4.0 or later versions are released in the interim.
metabrew 16y ago
I'm running unity since yesterday - feels like they compromised massively on the full desktop experience for the sake of compatibility with touch-based and netbook devices. I'll give it a week or so though; no-one likes change, and it's impossible to make any significant UI change without hoares of angry and confused users foaming at the mouth until they get their bearings.
- ch0wn 16y ago
  Well, I like change. I would even like Unity and I don't feel it's too much focused on on touch screen devices. After all, there are a lot of useful shortcuts. However, the article is right that Unity in its current state is far from being an improvement. It crashes very frequently and lacks important configuration options. When those issues are fixed, I'll certainly use it.
  - csulok 16y ago
    people said the same thing when they realized unity lacks stability, config options and key features (like supporting drag & drop files between windows), but they never came. I don't think canonical considers it a high priority, if it's not there now, it won't be there at all for this release of ubuntu
    - owaislone 16y ago
      Use CCSM to config; or use the command "about:config" in alt-f2 dialog. Missing drag-and-drop between windows? What are you talking about?
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- owaislone 16y ago
  Yes, they made it very easy to work with touch and small screen devices but I don't see where it limits a full-desktop-experience. Example?
ratsbane 16y ago
Not the best choice in names. If there are problems people are going to refer to it as "Nasty Narwhal."
- rbanffy 16y ago
  Catchy name. I believe the Unity shell will generate that kind of buzz. Programmers (and any Linux distro is geared towards them) are notoriously averse to change and get really attached to their tools. I only hope the new shell makes sense on multiple 30" monitors, because I don't really like using the built-notebook screen unless I am out of the office (and not on my desk at home) and OSX is weird when you have your document on monitor C and its menu on monitor A...
trotsky 16y ago
Between Canonical shipping unity and Redhat shipping gnome shell with gnome 3, it's going to to be a turbulent spring on the linux desktop. The screams of protest about the gnome shell are already strong on the F15 alpha forums. I've used both and I'm not sure they're so bad, but everything takes some getting used to for people. Then again, I use KDE and am very happy, 4.6 runs and looks great though I do use a dock.
yaix 16y ago
apt-get remove unity; apt-get install gnome Done. What's the problem?
- nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
  You don't even need to do that much. Just select the classic desktop at login time.
  - Maascamp 16y ago
    The article seems to state that switching to classic still forces you to use the single menu bar.
  - dman 16y ago
    At least on alpha3, selecting the classic desktop results in broken themes. Gnome suddenly reverts to looking completely unskinned and like it did 10 years ago.
    - rbanffy 16y ago
      I never noticed how fast my GPU was until I crashed the theme engine by accidentally xkilling the bottom panel. And I don't think it looks that bad.
      - dman 16y ago
        I might be hitting a bug then on the nouveau drivers. because I am getting completely unthemed gtk which looks a lot like Tk.
        rbanffy 16y ago
        I think we have different definitions of ugly ;-) I confess. I don't think unthemed GTK 2 is ugly.
tomjen3 16y ago
A good thing I am on the LTS release then. Unfortunately if they keep the main menu is separate from the window it belongs to (a huge break with the standard usability rule which says that things which belong together should be physically together) I will have to find a new distro. It's the worst move Apple made, why did they copy that?
- elehack 16y ago
  Because by some other standards, such as Fitts' Law, it's a good move - it gives the menu infinite vertical size. Also, it is an effective way of conserving vertical screen real estate. With the increasing prevalance of widescreen displays, vertical space is (relatively) scarce. This is particularly true on netbooks, and even on full-size laptops. Merging the menu with the top dock gives you an extra 24 pixels or so of vertical space.
  - andybak 16y ago
    A couple of years back I switched from Windows to Mac and I can't say I really noticed any downside to the single fixed application menu. The gains due to Fitt's Law however are noticable and I when using a Windows box I find the menus to be annoyingly small click targets. I do miss the discoverability of Windows ALT+letter menu accelerator key presses though.
    - marchdown 16y ago
      You might find Cmd+Shift+/ useful then. It allows you type menu commands on keyboard, see where they are in the menu, and discover new functionality.
    - sjs 16y ago
      The default shortcut to focus the menu bar is Ctrl-F2. I change it to Ctrl-2 and frequently do things like "Ctrl-2 F <Return> O <Return>" to open recent files. For leaf menu items I set per-app keyboard shortcuts in the Keyboard pref pane so I don't have to do the Ctrl-2 song and dance to find things I use all the time. There are some undiscoverable ways to use the keyboard on OS X. In many alert dialogs you can hit Cmd-[first letter] to select that button, e.g. Cmd-D for Don't Save, and Cmd-M for Move to Trash. They don't underline the letter because it's ugly, but once you know about the convention it doesn't matter. I like the way Windows displays the underlines when alt is pressed.
hasenj 16y ago
Completely disagree. I've been using Unity for a while now, it's pretty awesome and much much better than anything (classical) gnome could ever be. This article sounds like "I've just used OS X for the first time and there's no start menu, instead it has a weird thing that's like a dock or something." So, no more gnome-panel applets. What's the big deal? Most of them were useless and ugly anyway. And yes, there is a weather indicator application that you can install. On the other hand, you have a global menu that becomes also a title bar when the window is maximized. So in Ubuntu 10.10 if you maximize Firefox, you have the following taking up vertical space: - The top gnome panel - The title bar - The menu bar - (by default) a bottom gnome panel. With unity, there's only one thing: - The Unity panel. It's the panel, title bar, and the menu bar combined into one panel. (there's no bottom panel). I would never want to go back to the classical gnome desktop. The Ubuntu button at the top-left is like gnome-do[0] on steroids. There's honestly nothing from classical gnome that I miss. Btw, you can drag and drops applications onto the launcher. At least it works when you drag them from the desktop. He's right though, the lense view[1] doesn't let you drag/drop. You've gotta keep in mind though that's not a finished product yet. Having said that, dealing with application icons in (classical) gnome was never a pleasant experience, so in this sense, Unity doesn't really lose you anything. [0] gnome-do is a quicksilver clone [1] That's the new fancy thing that pops up when you click the Ubuntu button on the top-left
- mcantelon 16y ago
  >You've gotta keep in mind though that's not a finished product yet. If it's in the beta you'd think it probably should be a finished product. Nonetheless, I think it's good that Ubuntu is pushing this if it'll result in a more competitive desktop offering (and diehards can simply change to GNOME).
- dman 16y ago
  One thing that threw me off in Unity was the lack of a hierarchical menu for launching applications. Is there someway to create a button that shows the hierarchical menu? btw this isnt a criticism of unity, just me trying to pick the brains of a power unity user.
  - 16y ago
davidw 16y ago
Can anyone using the beta tell me whether: * I can still do focus-follows-mouse if I hack around with the settings? * If it has a 'workspace manager' thing that lets you have multiple workspaces? Without those, no way, no how. Other stuff I can probably get used to.
- dman 16y ago
  Multiple workspaces - yes it does have multiple workspaces and devilspie continues to work in Natty. Dont know about focus follows mouse.
- c0un7d0wn 16y ago
  focus-follows-mouse is pretty much impossible to use with the menu bar being in the panel. When you need something from the menu, you have to try to avoid moving your mouse over other windows while trying to reach the menu so that they don't get the focus. You can disable the main menu bar by removing the appmenu-gtk package.
dman 16y ago
One thing I wish for is that they would show the Unity panel if I move the mouse past the left edge of the screen.
- fader 16y ago
  Currently the panel will display if you mouse to the upper-left of the screen. It took me a day or so to get used to but I strongly prefer it over the entire left edge of the screen being a hotspot -- on other OSes I waste a lot of time waiting for the panel/dock to go away when I mistakenly mouse just a little too far to the edge of the screen when trying to interact with a window.
motters 16y ago
I've been using the 11.04 beta for a day or so, and it seems ok to me. Sure, it's not exactly the same as Gnome 2.x, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's worse. I never used panel applets much anyway, and like the keyboard shortcuts and the universal menu bar. So far I havn't found anything which I thought was really irritating or stopping me from working.
wazoox 16y ago
I remember there was about the same whining last time about the "wrong" placement of the window controls. How old this seems now :)
- jan_g 16y ago
  It seems old, but I still can't stand it:) and that's why I switch those controls back to the right side on every new machine that I use/install (via gconf-editor).
  - mixmastamyk 16y ago
    They should be split, actually. The close button should not be next to other buttons.
rbanffy 16y ago
To be fair, we have been program-and-file centric for since the arrival of the Mac (Lisa was less like that, with the stationery thing, Star even more and Smalltalk 80 didn't look like this at all) and a new metaphor could be useful.
esmevane 16y ago
"The problem isn't that everything you know and love about GNOME is suddenly gone, and Ubuntu 11.04 is, for all intents and purposes a completely different experience than everything that came before it." Am I to assume, then, that it follows that because I haven't used Gnome since 1998, the article's claim that this is the "worst Ubuntu beta ever" is absolutely inapplicable to me? I suppose that since it says "with Unity" in the title as well, I'm expected to forgive its overall link bait nature?
riledhel 16y ago
People understand this is why other people release betas right? To test new things? To test unfinished products? To gather early feedback? I've been using Unity for a month or so in Maverick Meerkat (10.10) and I find it great for daily usage, in spite of it's minor glitches.
- csulok 16y ago
  Except for critical issues, nothing will change. The things that make the most important UI unusable / annoying are not critical issues, but in fact very low priority usability issues and or missing features.
mnazim 16y ago
Users always resist change. We should not be afraid to change because of that. Unity has a huge potential IMHO and the best time is when unity does not do very much. It will evolve with people learning to use it. "Release Early, Release Often". I am completely with Canonical, Mark and Ubuntu. The fate favors the brave. Go for it Team Ubuntu. As for the geeks, they know how to take care of themselves.
bgruber 16y ago
"Unity is a radical departure, but no less so than GNOME 3.0, which has wisely been pushed back until later this year." I was wondering where the article author got this idea. It seems as if he must have fallen for an April fool's joke (http://www.gnome.org/press/releases/2011-04-gnome-3.0-rescheduled.html http://www.gnome.org/press/releases/2011-04-gnome-3.0-resche...). I compared Unity and Gnome Shell a couple of months ago. At that point there was no comparison; Unity felt like a hacked-together prototype, and Gnome Shell felt like a beta. That's a very short-term view of course.
Symmetry 16y ago
I installed it myself today. The W7 style auto-tiling feature is really pretty convenient when you combine it traditional Linux Alt-clicks. I installed the Compiz Settings Manager and made some modifications to the default keybindings, of course, and sped up the animations but nothing too invasive. I'm going to give it a chance before deciding if I want to go back to my beloved tiling window managers.
zokier 16y ago
So how long until a Gnome remix of Ubuntu appears? Already with Natty, or in 2012? I guess gubuntu name is free. Or maybe some existing remixes get a sudden popularity spike. Or maybe nobody cares, and those who care switch to Fedora/Arch/Debian/<distro-du-jour>.

98 points by _grrr 16y ago

How much additional development will Unity get because Ubuntu has put its massive weight behind it?

The only complaint I've ever had with Unity is that the dock consumes the super key for shortcuts. The only reason I've been unable to stick with Unity is that I can't assign gnome-do to the super-based hotkey I'm used to. I could learn to use the Unity Launcher, but it never seemed to be anywhere near as easy to use as gnome-do.

mariuolo 16y ago

I couldn't agree more.

chuhnk 16y ago

Yes I agree with this writeup. Having tested the unity desktop I was thoroughly disappointed. I felt as though the interface was dumbed down and all of the advanced features or navigation that I once had control of were now gone. It will perhaps as they gear more towards a touch based interface and even netbooks but as a main desktop manager it really does fail quite badly.

owaislone 16y ago
"Interface was dumbed down.." That is a good thing. I use my computer to use websites, write code, watch videos; Those things should be more visible not the OS chrome. OS UI should be as minimal and simple as possible.

windsurfer 16y ago

This seems pretty typical of Ubuntu releases, frankly. Anyone remember the Firefox 3 fiasco? Luckily, if you don't like it, you've got lots of choice, the current version will be supported for another 12 months, and the next version will be out in 6 months. It's not a big deal.

vacri 16y ago
This is something that's so often overlooked. If you want a stable desktop for production use, use an LTS version of ubuntu. If you want 'close to the edge', get the last version or two, they come with 18 months support. If you want to fool around on the edge, well, that's where they do crazy stuff like this. Early adopters are beta testers, always have been, always will be.
- androith 16y ago
  Of course, the problem is that LTS releases are horribly outdated (the packages in the repos), that it becomes hard to be productive. I needed a new version of a library (actually not THAT new) to compile something, and it just wasn't there! LTS for the lose.
  - vacri 16y ago
    backports?
  - windsurfer 16y ago
    The whole idea of LTS is to leave outdated versions of the repo and only port bugfixes and critical security stuff backwards while leaving a direct upgrade path to the next LTS open.
- viraptor 16y ago
  > If you want a stable desktop for production use, use an LTS version of ubuntu. I'm not so sure about it. All releases are supposed to be stable (final releases at least, not the current beta). LTS has nothing to do with "not-beta" - it's about the length of support only and this is the way it's advertised on the ubuntu website. Whenever they write about "stable" regarding LTS it's in the business context - it's "not changing" rather than "not crashing".
  - nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
    There's a difference between stable (reliable) and stable (unchanged). When talking about the stability of LTS, people are meaning that the package set, and the versions of those packages, will not change throughout the support cycle of the release. Eg, if the release comes with Firefox 3.0, it will stick with Firefox 3.0 for the duration of the cycle, even though Firefox 4.0 or later versions are released in the interim.

metabrew 16y ago

I'm running unity since yesterday - feels like they compromised massively on the full desktop experience for the sake of compatibility with touch-based and netbook devices. I'll give it a week or so though; no-one likes change, and it's impossible to make any significant UI change without hoares of angry and confused users foaming at the mouth until they get their bearings.

ch0wn 16y ago
Well, I like change. I would even like Unity and I don't feel it's too much focused on on touch screen devices. After all, there are a lot of useful shortcuts. However, the article is right that Unity in its current state is far from being an improvement. It crashes very frequently and lacks important configuration options. When those issues are fixed, I'll certainly use it.
- csulok 16y ago
  people said the same thing when they realized unity lacks stability, config options and key features (like supporting drag & drop files between windows), but they never came. I don't think canonical considers it a high priority, if it's not there now, it won't be there at all for this release of ubuntu
  - owaislone 16y ago
    Use CCSM to config; or use the command "about:config" in alt-f2 dialog. Missing drag-and-drop between windows? What are you talking about?
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
owaislone 16y ago
Yes, they made it very easy to work with touch and small screen devices but I don't see where it limits a full-desktop-experience. Example?

ratsbane 16y ago

Not the best choice in names. If there are problems people are going to refer to it as "Nasty Narwhal."

rbanffy 16y ago
Catchy name. I believe the Unity shell will generate that kind of buzz. Programmers (and any Linux distro is geared towards them) are notoriously averse to change and get really attached to their tools. I only hope the new shell makes sense on multiple 30" monitors, because I don't really like using the built-notebook screen unless I am out of the office (and not on my desk at home) and OSX is weird when you have your document on monitor C and its menu on monitor A...

trotsky 16y ago

Between Canonical shipping unity and Redhat shipping gnome shell with gnome 3, it's going to to be a turbulent spring on the linux desktop. The screams of protest about the gnome shell are already strong on the F15 alpha forums. I've used both and I'm not sure they're so bad, but everything takes some getting used to for people. Then again, I use KDE and am very happy, 4.6 runs and looks great though I do use a dock.

yaix 16y ago

apt-get remove unity; apt-get install gnome Done. What's the problem?

nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
You don't even need to do that much. Just select the classic desktop at login time.
- Maascamp 16y ago
  The article seems to state that switching to classic still forces you to use the single menu bar.
- dman 16y ago
  At least on alpha3, selecting the classic desktop results in broken themes. Gnome suddenly reverts to looking completely unskinned and like it did 10 years ago.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    I never noticed how fast my GPU was until I crashed the theme engine by accidentally xkilling the bottom panel. And I don't think it looks that bad.
    - dman 16y ago
      I might be hitting a bug then on the nouveau drivers. because I am getting completely unthemed gtk which looks a lot like Tk.
      - rbanffy 16y ago
        I think we have different definitions of ugly ;-) I confess. I don't think unthemed GTK 2 is ugly.

tomjen3 16y ago

A good thing I am on the LTS release then. Unfortunately if they keep the main menu is separate from the window it belongs to (a huge break with the standard usability rule which says that things which belong together should be physically together) I will have to find a new distro. It's the worst move Apple made, why did they copy that?

elehack 16y ago
Because by some other standards, such as Fitts' Law, it's a good move - it gives the menu infinite vertical size. Also, it is an effective way of conserving vertical screen real estate. With the increasing prevalance of widescreen displays, vertical space is (relatively) scarce. This is particularly true on netbooks, and even on full-size laptops. Merging the menu with the top dock gives you an extra 24 pixels or so of vertical space.
- andybak 16y ago
  A couple of years back I switched from Windows to Mac and I can't say I really noticed any downside to the single fixed application menu. The gains due to Fitt's Law however are noticable and I when using a Windows box I find the menus to be annoyingly small click targets. I do miss the discoverability of Windows ALT+letter menu accelerator key presses though.
  - marchdown 16y ago
    You might find Cmd+Shift+/ useful then. It allows you type menu commands on keyboard, see where they are in the menu, and discover new functionality.
  - sjs 16y ago
    The default shortcut to focus the menu bar is Ctrl-F2. I change it to Ctrl-2 and frequently do things like "Ctrl-2 F <Return> O <Return>" to open recent files. For leaf menu items I set per-app keyboard shortcuts in the Keyboard pref pane so I don't have to do the Ctrl-2 song and dance to find things I use all the time. There are some undiscoverable ways to use the keyboard on OS X. In many alert dialogs you can hit Cmd-[first letter] to select that button, e.g. Cmd-D for Don't Save, and Cmd-M for Move to Trash. They don't underline the letter because it's ugly, but once you know about the convention it doesn't matter. I like the way Windows displays the underlines when alt is pressed.

hasenj 16y ago

Completely disagree. I've been using Unity for a while now, it's pretty awesome and much much better than anything (classical) gnome could ever be. This article sounds like "I've just used OS X for the first time and there's no start menu, instead it has a weird thing that's like a dock or something." So, no more gnome-panel applets. What's the big deal? Most of them were useless and ugly anyway. And yes, there is a weather indicator application that you can install. On the other hand, you have a global menu that becomes also a title bar when the window is maximized. So in Ubuntu 10.10 if you maximize Firefox, you have the following taking up vertical space: - The top gnome panel - The title bar - The menu bar - (by default) a bottom gnome panel. With unity, there's only one thing: - The Unity panel. It's the panel, title bar, and the menu bar combined into one panel. (there's no bottom panel). I would never want to go back to the classical gnome desktop. The Ubuntu button at the top-left is like gnome-do[0] on steroids. There's honestly nothing from classical gnome that I miss. Btw, you can drag and drops applications onto the launcher. At least it works when you drag them from the desktop. He's right though, the lense view[1] doesn't let you drag/drop. You've gotta keep in mind though that's not a finished product yet. Having said that, dealing with application icons in (classical) gnome was never a pleasant experience, so in this sense, Unity doesn't really lose you anything. [0] gnome-do is a quicksilver clone [1] That's the new fancy thing that pops up when you click the Ubuntu button on the top-left

mcantelon 16y ago
>You've gotta keep in mind though that's not a finished product yet. If it's in the beta you'd think it probably should be a finished product. Nonetheless, I think it's good that Ubuntu is pushing this if it'll result in a more competitive desktop offering (and diehards can simply change to GNOME).
dman 16y ago
One thing that threw me off in Unity was the lack of a hierarchical menu for launching applications. Is there someway to create a button that shows the hierarchical menu? btw this isnt a criticism of unity, just me trying to pick the brains of a power unity user.
- 16y ago

davidw 16y ago

Can anyone using the beta tell me whether: * I can still do focus-follows-mouse if I hack around with the settings? * If it has a 'workspace manager' thing that lets you have multiple workspaces? Without those, no way, no how. Other stuff I can probably get used to.

dman 16y ago
Multiple workspaces - yes it does have multiple workspaces and devilspie continues to work in Natty. Dont know about focus follows mouse.
c0un7d0wn 16y ago
focus-follows-mouse is pretty much impossible to use with the menu bar being in the panel. When you need something from the menu, you have to try to avoid moving your mouse over other windows while trying to reach the menu so that they don't get the focus. You can disable the main menu bar by removing the appmenu-gtk package.

dman 16y ago

One thing I wish for is that they would show the Unity panel if I move the mouse past the left edge of the screen.

fader 16y ago
Currently the panel will display if you mouse to the upper-left of the screen. It took me a day or so to get used to but I strongly prefer it over the entire left edge of the screen being a hotspot -- on other OSes I waste a lot of time waiting for the panel/dock to go away when I mistakenly mouse just a little too far to the edge of the screen when trying to interact with a window.

motters 16y ago

I've been using the 11.04 beta for a day or so, and it seems ok to me. Sure, it's not exactly the same as Gnome 2.x, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's worse. I never used panel applets much anyway, and like the keyboard shortcuts and the universal menu bar. So far I havn't found anything which I thought was really irritating or stopping me from working.

wazoox 16y ago

I remember there was about the same whining last time about the "wrong" placement of the window controls. How old this seems now :)

jan_g 16y ago
It seems old, but I still can't stand it:) and that's why I switch those controls back to the right side on every new machine that I use/install (via gconf-editor).
- mixmastamyk 16y ago
  They should be split, actually. The close button should not be next to other buttons.

rbanffy 16y ago

To be fair, we have been program-and-file centric for since the arrival of the Mac (Lisa was less like that, with the stationery thing, Star even more and Smalltalk 80 didn't look like this at all) and a new metaphor could be useful.

esmevane 16y ago

"The problem isn't that everything you know and love about GNOME is suddenly gone, and Ubuntu 11.04 is, for all intents and purposes a completely different experience than everything that came before it." Am I to assume, then, that it follows that because I haven't used Gnome since 1998, the article's claim that this is the "worst Ubuntu beta ever" is absolutely inapplicable to me? I suppose that since it says "with Unity" in the title as well, I'm expected to forgive its overall link bait nature?

riledhel 16y ago

People understand this is why other people release betas right? To test new things? To test unfinished products? To gather early feedback? I've been using Unity for a month or so in Maverick Meerkat (10.10) and I find it great for daily usage, in spite of it's minor glitches.

csulok 16y ago
Except for critical issues, nothing will change. The things that make the most important UI unusable / annoying are not critical issues, but in fact very low priority usability issues and or missing features.

mnazim 16y ago

Users always resist change. We should not be afraid to change because of that. Unity has a huge potential IMHO and the best time is when unity does not do very much. It will evolve with people learning to use it. "Release Early, Release Often". I am completely with Canonical, Mark and Ubuntu. The fate favors the brave. Go for it Team Ubuntu. As for the geeks, they know how to take care of themselves.

bgruber 16y ago

"Unity is a radical departure, but no less so than GNOME 3.0, which has wisely been pushed back until later this year." I was wondering where the article author got this idea. It seems as if he must have fallen for an April fool's joke (http://www.gnome.org/press/releases/2011-04-gnome-3.0-rescheduled.html http://www.gnome.org/press/releases/2011-04-gnome-3.0-resche...). I compared Unity and Gnome Shell a couple of months ago. At that point there was no comparison; Unity felt like a hacked-together prototype, and Gnome Shell felt like a beta. That's a very short-term view of course.

Symmetry 16y ago

I installed it myself today. The W7 style auto-tiling feature is really pretty convenient when you combine it traditional Linux Alt-clicks. I installed the Compiz Settings Manager and made some modifications to the default keybindings, of course, and sped up the animations but nothing too invasive. I'm going to give it a chance before deciding if I want to go back to my beloved tiling window managers.

zokier 16y ago

So how long until a Gnome remix of Ubuntu appears? Already with Natty, or in 2012? I guess gubuntu name is free. Or maybe some existing remixes get a sudden popularity spike. Or maybe nobody cares, and those who care switch to Fedora/Arch/Debian/<distro-du-jour>.