Why every major OS company wants us to use tablet OS on our desktops..?

[asifnaz]

First Apple with Mac OS X Lion

Then Canonical Ubuntu 11.04 with Unity

coming up Microsoft with windows 8

Why everyone is forcing Tabletized Oses on our desktops . Why on earth somebody would like a tablet OS on a Desktop . Having no keyboard and mouse is a drawback not a functionality .

A Tablet is a tablet a handheld is a handheld and a desktop is a desktop for God sake

[galacticaboy]

With Ubuntu you don't have to use Unity and they are not forcing you to use it. 11.10 will allow you to install Gnome 3, there is also Kubuntu/Xubuntu/Lubuntu, and as for Windows 8, they will have Metro yes, but you can still access the traditional desktop as well. I see it as they are giving us options not forcing us.

[Nano Geek]

Wait, back up. How is OS X Lion a tablet operating system? It doesn't run on tablets, and it isn't designed for tablets. The only reason I can tell that people try to claim it is one is that it has support for full-screen windows, and it has the icon grid from the iPad. However, both of those things are entirely optional. The OS is has all the features it has always had.

[Mikeb85]

Unity actually works very well with a keyboard/mouse. Using the dash enables you to open any program and anything in your home folder with just keyboard input, which is a huge productivity gain IMO. The fact it also works on a tablet doesn't mean it is a bad desktop.

[thatguruguy]

Wait, back up. How is OS X Lion a tablet operating system? It doesn't run on tablets, and it isn't designed for tablets. The only reason I can tell that people try to claim it is one is that it has support for full-screen windows, and it has the icon grid from the iPad. However, both of those things are entirely optional. The OS is has all the features it has always had.

For that matter, how is Unity a tablet OS? I do most of my interface interaction with keyboard shortcuts.

[Thewhistlingwind]

Unity isn't a tablet interface....

It relies heavily on keyboard shortcuts and keyboard input for it's search paradigm. (Assuming it's as I see it is in the latest version, a not-gnome gnome shell.)

[Mikeb85]

Unity isn't a tablet interface....

It relies heavily on keyboard shortcuts and keyboard input for it's search paradigm. (Assuming it's as I see it is in the latest version, a not-gnome gnome shell.)

If you use the application launcher on the launcher then it brings up a 'tablet' style grid of icons instead of a traditional menu...

[dniMretsaM]

If you use the application launcher on the launcher then it brings up a 'tablet' style grid of icons instead of a traditional menu...

So? Just because some of the features are similar to those of a tablet doesn't make it a tablet OS. And IMO the icon grid is nice, because you don't have to go looking though 5 sub-menus to find the application you just installed. And Unity relies heavily on keyboard shortcuts. I don't know about you, but a tablet OS that uses mostly keyboard shortcuts doesn't seem too attractive to me. This is not to say that Unity wouldn't run well on a tablet. It COULD be very nice on a tablet, but that doesn't change the fact that it a great desktop OS. By the way, right-clicking on the + icon in the launcher brings up the old GNOME 2-style menu.

[kaldor]

Do people even use an OS before slandering it?

[BigSilly]

For that matter, how is Unity a tablet OS? I do most of my interface interaction with keyboard shortcuts.

I agree, I don't see how Unity is a "tablet OS" at all. Maybe Gnome 3's shell could be seen as being more tablet friendly, but it's still very much at home on a desktop.

[dniMretsaM]

Do people even use an OS before slandering it?

This is something I've wondered about many, many times.

[Thewhistlingwind]

This is something I've wondered about many, many times.

I'm willing to admit I've done this.

So my answer is: Likely not.

[krapp]

In the thread starter's defense, all trends point toward the convergence of the tablet and desktop OS.

Whether Ubuntu has stopped being a desktop OS is another question and a bad one at that.

[FuturePilot]

Do people even use an OS before slandering it?

No, that makes too much sense. :rolleyes:

[Rasa1111]

wait...
what?
:confused:

[Lucradia]

For that matter, how is Unity a tablet OS? I do most of my interface interaction with keyboard shortcuts.

And at that point, Canonical realized what they did wrong, and removed keyboard shortcuts, and the config for them from Unity :P

Remember when they did that for the icons in the menus for GNOME?

[dniMretsaM]

No, that makes too much sense. :rolleyes:

Common sense is not so common anymore.

[mamamia88]

because they only have to invest in development in 1 os?

[haqking]

I must of fell asleep and woke up in cuckooland.

Ive never even seen a Tablet OS nor used a tablet

oh hang on i have android OS in a VM somewhere, but i dont remember someone forcing me to install it ;-)

[Rasa1111]

Common sense is not so common anymore.

Soo *sadly* true. O_o

[viperdvman]

I do not think Canonical was making a Tablet/Smartphone OS. Unity, if I remember right, originally started as a netbook OS in order to make better use of the limited vertical real estate on netbooks. So no, Unity is not a Tablet/Smartphone OS.

If anything, GNOME Shell is more of a Tablet/Smartphone than Unity even though it too has a full-screen app list main menu.

Microsoft specifically said that Windows 8 is made to work on everything from desktops to netbooks to tablets and smart phones. As far as Apple is concerned, Mac OS X Lion is still Mac OS X, and still retains the Mac OS X features. All they really did was add an iOS feature (full-screen app list) to their existing interface. And it can be turned off too.

If anything GNOME was the one putting a Tablet/Smartphone OS on a desktop, and Microsoft is following. Unity... is a netbook interface on a desktop. I like Unity, though it's gonna be hard to drag me away from GNOME 2.x

[dyltman]

In microsoft's case it's prolly easier for them to maintain one OS for everything. I guess ubuntu and mac are moving towards the same thing. I mean for instance ubuntu would be super nice if it was well integrated into the eee pad transformer.

[earthpigg]

because they only have to invest in development in 1 os?

Makes sense to me.

Apple pulled it off with iOS serving as an MP3 player, cell phone, and tablet OS - and now the line between the three is getting fuzzy, and even the line between laptop and tablet is getting fuzzy in general. Smart business.

And, people seem to want this sort of thing. Android ports to x86, porting Desktop OSs to ARM, people wanting their mobile apps to run on their desktops/laptops, et cetera.

So it is partially a cost-saving measure and partially a response to consumer demand.

[moorhead98]

Unity is not a tablet os. It's still not developed enough to be close to something like that. In my mind its a beta release. But it will probably become one.
Gnome 3 is definitely going to be a tablet os. And it should do great as a tablet os. It is perfectly designed for it.
I can not say where OSX is going. It could stay as a computer os, or a tablet os, or some other "Magical" purpose.
And Windows 8.... ugh ](*,) Whatever Microsoft is trying to do, it looks like the beginning of the end of Microsoft and Windows. It looks bad even for a tablet os. Even though its still in development, I can tell it will be a fail. Which is why I think they're trying to get manufacturers to FORCE all of their computers into windows, so people can't download and boot into linux, cuz let me tell you, that will be the first thing they do after they turn on the computer and realize how bad it is.

[SirDrexl]

Yeah, the feeling is that tablets will take over and many people will just have them instead of desktops. So they're starting this early for when that day comes.

Personally, I dislike touch interfaces in general, and you will pry my mouse and keyboard from my cold, dead hands. I accept touchscreens on things like cellphones because there's just no other way to do it, but at home I want a large screen and the tactility of real input devices.

[3rdalbum]

Small buttons? Check.

Things that only appear on mouseover (scrollbars and menus)? Check.

Unity is NOT touch-friendly, therefore it cannot be used on a tablet in any of its current or previous forms.

[Gone fishing]

Unity is not a tablet OS - however, it is very nice on small screen, on netbooks and the like.

However, I also like the way it is efficient on the screen (one of the nice things about BeOS in its day) even on larger screens. Further more I like the way it encourages full screen working using different virtual desktops