can anyone who likes the 12.xx Unity interface tell me why?

[craig10x]

Think about it though....which way is easier to bring up the terminal? mousing through a "fan-out" applications menu as you had on your old ubuntu...or hitting the "super" (windows) key which opens the dash and typing "ter" there it is and launch...not to mention the space waste taken up by having 2 panels (top and bottom)....

Global menu in unity saves space...unity launcher (that is what canonical calls it but it's still a dock...lol)...add your favorites and most used apps and just 1 click and you are there!

After 2 weeks you will likely turn around so as i said earlier...highly suggest you give it a fair chance...i did just like you did when it first came out...then came back a week or two later, decided to approach it with a positive outlook and now i really enjoy it...

After that point, if you still don't like it...you can always try the alternates mentioned by montag dp....

[orb9220]

As pointed out there is no reason to stubbornly stick with Ubuntu or roll back to an older versions that are going to be seeing less love as time goes by.
Of course if it's LTS then fine to do so if it works for you.

I tried multiple times for more than a day a week and couldn't accept it.
The reason being Unity is more keyboard centric to get things done. Many times my other hand is busy. Phone,Coffee,Documents,etc.
My keyboard is setup above and to the right not in front of me. Easy enough for like typing here in forums and such.
And it's just my setup in mind and conditioning of using a computer more mouse centric for 90% of the time to get things done.

As mentioned by other's some Love it and some Hate.. The Unity!.
Just a personal preference and neither is right or wrong or Better than the Other! Just what is right for you!.

Tried and found used most of the workarounds to remove Unity keyboard or global menu's,etc.. making into more what I was used too.
Didn't make sense for me. So jumped ship to Mint which still is Ubuntu under the hood.

Also got tired of DE's that don't support apps remembering Size & Position KDE does. As critical to my workflow having 6-8 apps open on 3 Virtual Desktop spanning Dual displays. So as a long time Gnome user switched to KDE. As was ending up using apps like K3b,Digikam,Amarok,etc.. As many times Gnome doesn't have the app with features I needed and had to pull in KDE apps anyways. Then switched to SolydK as based on a Debian rolling release and no more need to clean install every 6 months kind of thing.

It's nice that other's are sharing the positive ways in which Unity is working for them. But for me I tried and tried. But just wasn't my cup of tea. And instead of the frustration and constant need to take away or add to get it back to my way. I just found a distro that fit me and my needs with minimal tweaking and workarounds. And that presented the desktop to my workflow style to get work done instead of constant fiddling with. So evaluate if Ubuntu is your really cup of tea? Or are you just sticking with it thru habit and stubbornness ?

To Each their own.
.

[buzzingrobot]

As pointed out there is no reason to stubbornly stick with Ubuntu or roll back to an older versions that are going to be seeing less love as time goes by.

So true. We have an abundance of interfaces at our disposal.

...switched to KDE... SolydK as based on a Debian rolling release and no more need to clean install every 6 months kind of thing.

I was one of those folks who never liked KDE. Then, I tried Netrunner Enigma, a Kubuntu derivative from Blue Systems. I was immediately impressed. The latest KDE releases are very nice, and Netrunner seemed to eliminate or smooth over all the configuration clutter that used to annoy me. Actually, it still annoys me, but now I know what to turn off and what to turn on.

I gave SolydK a quick install last week. Very tempting. If the Ubuntu font patches were available for it, I might jump ship. (I guess I could build them myself. Or... I wonder, would grabbing the binaries from Ubuntu or Mint work?)

[craig10x]

Yeah...that is often the problem with a lot of non-ubuntu based distros...they often do not have the great ubuntu patching (i think it's called libcairo or something like that) that makes both fonts and web page rendering so extra special looking...
and debian does not use it by default either...

Let's face it....ubuntu has a LOT of refinements and polish you just don't often find in many other linux distros...that is why i am never tempted to stray

[rebeltaz]

I installed gnome-panel last night and I am happier. I MAY try to use Unity later when I am feeling braver, but ehhh.... I don't know. That just ain't me. I appreciate all of the responses.

I do have a couple of questions, though. Is there anyway to get the top bar under Classic Gnome to work the way it did under 10.04 - e.g. I used to could arrange the quick-start icons anywhere on the bar, even leaving spaces between them if I wanted to; and I used to be able to right-click on the bar to add new items. I can't do either under 12.04.

Also, I installed gnome-tweak-tool as well, and now I can't seem to control the date/time format. If I right-click the clock and select Date/Time settings, it just pulls up the System System/All Settings. When I click on Date/Time, all I can change is the time zone, 12- or 24-hour format and internet sync. The Date/Time controls under gnome-tweak doesn't have any effect on the clock.

[rebeltaz]

Wow... when I replied, I didn't realize that there were TWO more PAGES of replies! I guess I did ask, huh? lol...

Someone mentioned that Unity is more like Windows 7. Maybe that is one reason I don't like it. As far as Microsoft goes, I dislike them in general, but I will admit that Windows XP was a good operating system. Windows Vista and Windows 7 are just plain annoying in the way that things are handled - they seem to fixated on making things "easier" for dummies rather that allowing intelligent people to do things their own way. And Windows 8 - don't get me started. That might be great for a touchscreen based system, but 99% of the systems running it aren't touchscreen so it just gets messy. At least that's my opinion.

I promise when I have more time and *****, I'll give it a fair shake, but I still don't think I'll like it. Right now, I am just to busy to learn to love something new when the old worked just fine.

Oh... and my issue with typing in a program name to pull it up is that I have a hard time remember what programs I have installed, much less what the names are of the programs when I need them!

Why do I like it? Because my liking it upsets people like you. Stop trying to dictate to me what I can like or not like. It is only a computer operating system user interface. I am under no obligation to justify my decisions to you.

You're right, you are under no obligation to justify anything to anyone. As a matter of fact, you were under no obligation to even reply, yet for some reason you saw fit to do so anyway. If you like it, great. If you feel like sharing with the rest of the group, that's great too. If not, then go back to your "does not play well with others" coloring book and let the rest of us have a pleasant time discussing this topic like adults.

[sanderj]

You are right about the Left-Alt key bringing up HUD

Ohhhh ... is that the HUD?! I read about it, but until I didn't know what it was.

So ... the HUD searches the keyword you type in the current window's menu options ... handy.

[craig10x]

If you really, really must have a fan-out apps menu like in your old ubuntu, i believe that can be added to the unity launcher (dock)...someone else here who is familiar with it can probably tell you how to do that...
Also, in regards to one poster's comparison of it to windows 7...i don't think i'd go along with that one...

In actuality it is more like the MAC....Global menu (like mac) dash search (similiar to the mac's) and dock (just like the mac) although it is on the left instead of bottom, which actually probably makes more sense these days since most computer screens are widescreen now (instead of square like years ago)...

Interesting note: My friend has a mac and he put his Mac Dock on the left (which you can do on there)..i asked him why? he said because it makes more sense to have it there...

I guess it really comes down to how you feel about docks...if you hate docks i guess you won't ever like unity...that is really the bottom line i think...

Also...how many favorites and frequently used apps do you have? I have about 12 (favorites and frequently used ones) and they are all on the unity dock...1 click and there it is...
Terminal i use rarely...so that one i bring up in dash search...

[paul_c2]

Interesting note: My friend has a mac and he put his Mac Dock on the left (which you can do on there)..i asked him why? he said because it makes more sense to have it there...

And that's what I don't get about Unity, I had Macs for a log time (started back then when Macs had "clones", I started on MacOS 8.5 and had a Mac up until OS 10.3), loved the dock and the fact that you could move it around (same with Windows bar : you can move it around.) I would LOVE the Unity launcher if I could only move it where I want! Having it locked there is the biggest gripes I have with it and the reason I switched to Xfce ("uglier" but much more customizable!)

And like craig10x said (or rather his friend), it's all up to what the user feels right, I think it's kind of downgrading the user experience to go with main features that can't be customized! People got used to the Windows and MocOS look and feel, it's honorable to try and "break" that mold, but I reall feel like someone is orcing my hand when I found out the launcher couldn't be moved!

BTW, don't get me wrong about the launcher, it's great, but I don't feel like it's at the right place on my desktop, saw the demo on a phone and tablet and I think that's where it should be! Looks much better on a mobile device / touch screen device than on the desktop, and again, this is only my humble opinion!!!

[craig10x]

Paul: have you considered Cairo Dock session instead of XFCE? I agree that they should provide the option of moving the unity launcher to the bottom but Cairo Dock is a very decent way around it...
When Cairo Dock is installed, you can log into it as a seperate session on which you would still have the global menu/top panel as on unity session but instead of Unity Launcher, you'd have Cairo Dock on the bottom instead...And instead of the dash search, they give you a "fan out apps menu" just like old ubuntu had...

Also, the available Cairo Dock in the software center has a customized ubuntu-style default (though that can be changed to look even more mac-like but the default one is a great blend in for ubuntu)...
http://www.glx-dock.org/