6 ms·

I really can't stand Unity. Does this work OK with Cinnamon, for example?

reactor 14y ago
It has really come a long way, you may try it now. I was also in the league of people couldn't stand for Unity when it launched, but now I'm using it for couple of weeks now, its been very pleasant.
- kijin 14y ago
  There are two kinds of people who hated Unity when it first came out. The first kind of people were mostly unhappy about Unity's bugginess and lack of functionality. These folks should be OK by now. The second kind of people just don't like the UI paradigm that Unity represents. Nothing they can ever do will make them happy with Unity. After all, that's why Ubuntu has alternative DEs! I use Xubuntu on my netbook and I'm lovin' it. (Unity 3D is too much for that little bugger.)
  - Random_Person 14y ago
    I switched to Xubuntu as well when Unity hit for all of my machines. I think I'm going to give Unity a shot this time on at least one of my laptops and see what happens. It has occurred to me that most things I want to use require GDK anyways, so XFCE isn't all that light weight any more.
    - kijin 14y ago
      You're right, XFCE isn't all that "lightweight" when you add in all the things you need to make it usable. XFCE still feels faster than GNOME or KDE on old hardware, probably because it doesn't use any semi-transparent 3D gimmicks. It is also shaping up to be a very good option for those who prefer the old GNOME look. The panel and most other UI elements are even more configurable than I remember GNOME 2 to have been. I'll be sticking with Xubuntu 12.04 for quite some time.
      - Random_Person 14y ago
        I'm conflicted really. I am used to the old GNOME desktop, so XFCE just feels like home to me... I'll miss right-clicking my desktop for instance... but I feel that in order to better support customers going forward I need to get used to the UI's that they will be using. I do very little Linux support currently, but there are talks of deploying Linux in our schools very soon and I can't see them using anything other than Ubuntu. It will do me well to have familiarity with the product. I'm upgrading my desktop to Xubuntu 12.04 now, but I think I'm going to switch my secondary laptop to Ubuntu and start getting used to it.
        keithpeter 14y ago
        I've had teenagers using a couple of netbooks in classes running 12.04. No fuss, just handed them the netbook to access Moodle course in-class during group work, along with a few College windows laptops. No problem. Just needed a word about how clicking on the 'cog wheel' to close Firefox won't work (windows controls hidden until mouse over). They just clicked around the interface to find things.
        Random_Person 14y ago
        That's really what I expect from implementing Ubuntu in our current classrooms. West Virginia is making a BIG push on the school districts to have a 1:1 student/computer ratio. Most districts going forward with it are purchasing netbooks to cut costs. Their technology budgets are already thin and they are desperately looking for ways of trimming even more to make room for more machines.
        keithpeter 14y ago
        Campus wifi? A central server running Moodle as the VLE in each school? It could work very well for them. The further education college in which I work has Windows, but they have installed GIMP, Inkscape, Audacity college wide. Some great work with Audacity, people find GIMP a bit harder. Inkscape isn't used much (but then neither is Adobe Illustrator).
  - silverlake 14y ago
    I tried Unity in VMware, but I think that's Unity 2D. It was too buggy to deal with (as of 2 weeks ago). Gnome 3 works better in VMware for me.
- pimentel 14y ago
  The thing is, I need my taskbar: one click to change to another window, and I usually have several browser windows opened (each with several tabs) and hate having to right-click the application icon to choose the window. That's why on Windows I have the classic taskbar (never grouping windows) and on Mac OS... I just keep hating the dock.
jrgifford 14y ago
From what I can tell, it does work ok with Cinnamon. You can also revert to a gnome2.x-style panel - full instructions here - http://askubuntu.com/q/58172/6005 http://askubuntu.com/q/58172/6005
fexl 14y ago
I keep trying Unity every once in a while, but I always find it difficult to bring up exactly the right window I want. So I go back to Gnome, which has the task bar where I can simply click something to maximize it, and click it again to minimize it. I'm gonna try Unity again, because I want to like it, but I always find myself getting angry at the "application-centric" grouping of my open windows, and how when it zooms out and I click the window I want, all sorts of other things I'm using become obscured.

It has really come a long way, you may try it now. I was also in the league of people couldn't stand for Unity when it launched, but now I'm using it for couple of weeks now, its been very pleasant.

kijin 14y ago
There are two kinds of people who hated Unity when it first came out. The first kind of people were mostly unhappy about Unity's bugginess and lack of functionality. These folks should be OK by now. The second kind of people just don't like the UI paradigm that Unity represents. Nothing they can ever do will make them happy with Unity. After all, that's why Ubuntu has alternative DEs! I use Xubuntu on my netbook and I'm lovin' it. (Unity 3D is too much for that little bugger.)
- Random_Person 14y ago
  I switched to Xubuntu as well when Unity hit for all of my machines. I think I'm going to give Unity a shot this time on at least one of my laptops and see what happens. It has occurred to me that most things I want to use require GDK anyways, so XFCE isn't all that light weight any more.
  - kijin 14y ago
    You're right, XFCE isn't all that "lightweight" when you add in all the things you need to make it usable. XFCE still feels faster than GNOME or KDE on old hardware, probably because it doesn't use any semi-transparent 3D gimmicks. It is also shaping up to be a very good option for those who prefer the old GNOME look. The panel and most other UI elements are even more configurable than I remember GNOME 2 to have been. I'll be sticking with Xubuntu 12.04 for quite some time.
    - Random_Person 14y ago
      I'm conflicted really. I am used to the old GNOME desktop, so XFCE just feels like home to me... I'll miss right-clicking my desktop for instance... but I feel that in order to better support customers going forward I need to get used to the UI's that they will be using. I do very little Linux support currently, but there are talks of deploying Linux in our schools very soon and I can't see them using anything other than Ubuntu. It will do me well to have familiarity with the product. I'm upgrading my desktop to Xubuntu 12.04 now, but I think I'm going to switch my secondary laptop to Ubuntu and start getting used to it.
      - keithpeter 14y ago
        I've had teenagers using a couple of netbooks in classes running 12.04. No fuss, just handed them the netbook to access Moodle course in-class during group work, along with a few College windows laptops. No problem. Just needed a word about how clicking on the 'cog wheel' to close Firefox won't work (windows controls hidden until mouse over). They just clicked around the interface to find things.
        Random_Person 14y ago
        That's really what I expect from implementing Ubuntu in our current classrooms. West Virginia is making a BIG push on the school districts to have a 1:1 student/computer ratio. Most districts going forward with it are purchasing netbooks to cut costs. Their technology budgets are already thin and they are desperately looking for ways of trimming even more to make room for more machines.
        keithpeter 14y ago
        Campus wifi? A central server running Moodle as the VLE in each school? It could work very well for them. The further education college in which I work has Windows, but they have installed GIMP, Inkscape, Audacity college wide. Some great work with Audacity, people find GIMP a bit harder. Inkscape isn't used much (but then neither is Adobe Illustrator).
- silverlake 14y ago
  I tried Unity in VMware, but I think that's Unity 2D. It was too buggy to deal with (as of 2 weeks ago). Gnome 3 works better in VMware for me.
pimentel 14y ago
The thing is, I need my taskbar: one click to change to another window, and I usually have several browser windows opened (each with several tabs) and hate having to right-click the application icon to choose the window. That's why on Windows I have the classic taskbar (never grouping windows) and on Mac OS... I just keep hating the dock.

jrgifford 14y ago

From what I can tell, it does work ok with Cinnamon. You can also revert to a gnome2.x-style panel - full instructions here - http://askubuntu.com/q/58172/6005 http://askubuntu.com/q/58172/6005

fexl 14y ago

I keep trying Unity every once in a while, but I always find it difficult to bring up exactly the right window I want. So I go back to Gnome, which has the task bar where I can simply click something to maximize it, and click it again to minimize it. I'm gonna try Unity again, because I want to like it, but I always find myself getting angry at the "application-centric" grouping of my open windows, and how when it zooms out and I click the window I want, all sorts of other things I'm using become obscured.