jthirt
November 13th, 2009, 11:49 AM
While waiting for the delivery of my Netbook I thought I should try the latest Karmic Netbook live CD and see how the specific launcher looks. But what a disappointment! Not in terms of look. It does look really cool (when it displays correctly), but I have yet to find one PC that runs it properly.
I tried it on 7 different PCs (Dell, Medion, Gateway desktops and Dell, IBM and Gateway laptops with various specs and ages...) and none of them were able to operate properly with that desktop launcher! None are actual Netbooks, but that shouldn't be an issue (from Launchpad (https://launchpad.net/netbook-remix)):
Ubuntu Netbook Remix is a 'remix' of the standard Ubuntu Desktop release to enable it to work better on devices with small screens, such as Netbooks (sub-notebooks), although these packages will work on any 8.04 (Hardy) or 8.10 (Intrepid) installation.
Well, it doesn't say 9.04 or 9.10, but I would expect the idea extends to later versions too.
I was particularly keen to use this launcher on laptops that I want to dedicate to my kids (5 & 7 years old now), but the only way to make it work is using the keyboard and even then you better be prepared for a challenging exercise:
1) Work your way down the left pane with the down arrow to highlight the requested topic.
2) Press Enter to select the topic.
3) Move to the right into the topic's items area and use any arrow keys to select the required item. Forget about Home or End, they don't work either.
NB: Forget the favorites topic as it won't work at all.
Moving back into the left pane is also kind of a challenge and I will not even try to explain how it can be done.
This experience may differ from system to system. If you're lucky, the mouse moves may trigger some change of appearance in the left pane, but no actual result when clicking on a topic or after so long that you have gone somewhere else in despair!
I have been browsing the forum in search for evidence of an issue, but it is not obvious.
- Am I the only one suffering like this?
Trying to understand, I switched on the control center that kind of does the same thing but obviously using a different (less sophisticated) technique that works a treat (except if you try to use the arrows, but that I can accept it was not designed for).
- Anyone else interested to see this launcher work for non netbooks?
:frown: I am!
JT - Frustrated
I tried it on 7 different PCs (Dell, Medion, Gateway desktops and Dell, IBM and Gateway laptops with various specs and ages...) and none of them were able to operate properly with that desktop launcher! None are actual Netbooks, but that shouldn't be an issue (from Launchpad (https://launchpad.net/netbook-remix)):
Ubuntu Netbook Remix is a 'remix' of the standard Ubuntu Desktop release to enable it to work better on devices with small screens, such as Netbooks (sub-notebooks), although these packages will work on any 8.04 (Hardy) or 8.10 (Intrepid) installation.
Well, it doesn't say 9.04 or 9.10, but I would expect the idea extends to later versions too.
I was particularly keen to use this launcher on laptops that I want to dedicate to my kids (5 & 7 years old now), but the only way to make it work is using the keyboard and even then you better be prepared for a challenging exercise:
1) Work your way down the left pane with the down arrow to highlight the requested topic.
2) Press Enter to select the topic.
3) Move to the right into the topic's items area and use any arrow keys to select the required item. Forget about Home or End, they don't work either.
NB: Forget the favorites topic as it won't work at all.
Moving back into the left pane is also kind of a challenge and I will not even try to explain how it can be done.
This experience may differ from system to system. If you're lucky, the mouse moves may trigger some change of appearance in the left pane, but no actual result when clicking on a topic or after so long that you have gone somewhere else in despair!
I have been browsing the forum in search for evidence of an issue, but it is not obvious.
- Am I the only one suffering like this?
Trying to understand, I switched on the control center that kind of does the same thing but obviously using a different (less sophisticated) technique that works a treat (except if you try to use the arrows, but that I can accept it was not designed for).
- Anyone else interested to see this launcher work for non netbooks?
:frown: I am!
JT - Frustrated