Anyone else impressed/won over with how quick unity has been coming together lately?

[Macfunky]

At first i didn't like unity but i tried out alpha 3 and besides a few bugs, which is to expected from alpha material, it is looking very well. I do think that even when it is released that it may take awhile for it to get to where it wants to be. The developers really set themselves a tight schedule but bear in mind it is not a finished product yet. For everyone who has actually tried it, how do you think it's coming along? From updates on various ubuntu related websites lately it seems to have bug fix after bug fix, feature after feature being added. I didn't like it at first, mainly because it was a netbook interface, which i never liked, but it is really grabbing my attention and i actually can see it becoming my desktop environment once it sorts out a few problems. One thing i do miss though is that i can't as quickly access menus even with the new submenu from the launcher. I am actually very surprised in general though at how it's looking and coming along. When i seen it as the interface for the netbook edition in maverick i actually thought it was quite bad but seeing as how they are adapting it towards the desktop, more and more i like it. Any other converts and is anyone else amazed at how quickly updates are coming and even how quickly suggestion being implemented?

[NightwishFan]

I have been using Unity 2d on 10.10. I like it a lot. The 3d I will wait to try until late April. :)

[scouser73]

I'm impressed by it, I think it's far better than Gnome shell and it makes for a great user experience in my opinion.

[forrestcupp]

I'm just glad to see a thread about Unity that is positive.

[3rdalbum]

I didn't like Unity in 10.10, but I enjoy using it on 11.04. Some of the integration features are pretty awesome, like dragging files over a program in the launcher and having its windows show themselves, then completing the drop onto the window you want.

[mehaga]

It looked much better than regular desktop on screenshots, so I decided to try it last night, and thought it was... ok. It crashes randomly after I start an app, but that's understandable at this stage, I guess. I also didn't like having so many icons on the side bar, but I assume that can be fixed. I also tried KDE with 'search and launch' layout, and it seems to be exactly what I was looking for.

[sffvba[e0rt]

Been using 11.04 now since Alpha 3 as primary OS... Filed a few bugs and had a few hick-ups, but now it seems to be getting very solid... I run VBox in it and have a few times had enough applications open to really start eating my RAM and it stays fighting (until later when it keels over for no reason :p Hey, it's an alpha :D)


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[Philsoki]

I'm just glad to see a thread about Unity that is positive.
Same here, it makes me think I won't be wasting my time when I try it out. Maybe it will actually be good.:)

Although I think GNOME 3 is starting to sharpen up as well...

[el_koraco]

unity kicks a**. once the ubuntu design team comes up with its own set of icons (what was the forecast, 11.10 or 12.04?), no one will have an excuse to run os x anymore.

[marl30]

I'm impress so far. I've been thinking about putting it on my test partition, as I haven't been having much luck try to get it to run properly in Virtualbox 4. I really can't wait for the final release.

[Copper Bezel]

I am impressed. There's a lot of development and testing going into Unity, and if the change from 11.04 to 11.10 is anything like the change from 10.10 to 11.04, I might adopt it. I'm not won over yet, because I can still do a lot of things with AWN that I can't do with Unity. (I mean, I say with AWN because my Gnome and Compiz are obviously the same.)

[PuddingKnife]

I'm enjoying watching the progress of Unity. I think its really great to see innovation coming out of linux as opposed to hobby apps that play catch up to the big boys. The new scoll bar tweak really impressed me; its nice to see Canonicals design team do new and exciting things...that is if you find scroll bar tweaks exciting ;)

I really enjoy my current 10.10 set up; I've gotten rid of the panels, implemented a very small AWN dock in the top right for indicators and file access. Its always on top and can be accessed when windows are maximised. At the bottom I've got Docky on autohide to launch apps. My point is that I really enjoy the ways in which Ubuntu/linux can be modified, and I don't really see a lot of that in 11.04.

Natty appears to be getting some needed polish and functionality, but as far as Unity is concerned, customization is lacking. In the end, this just means I'll stick with my 10.10 set up in the meanwhile. Maybe 11.10 will surprise me, but what I have is not broken, so I'm definitely going to hold off on upgrading.

[NCLI]

unity kicks a**. once the ubuntu design team comes up with its own set of icons (what was the forecast, 11.10 or 12.04?), no one will have an excuse to run os x anymore.
It's scheduled to be completed for 11.04, but we should expect to see parts of it show up sooner.

I'm enjoying watching the progress of Unity. I think its really great to see innovation coming out of linux as opposed to hobby apps that play catch up to the big boys. The new scoll bar tweak really impressed me; its nice to see Canonicals design team do new and exciting things...that is if you find scroll bar tweaks exciting ;)

I really enjoy my current 10.10 set up; I've gotten rid of the panels, implemented a very small AWN dock in the top right for indicators and file access. Its always on top and can be accessed when windows are maximised. At the bottom I've got Docky on autohide to launch apps. My point is that I really enjoy the ways in which Ubuntu/linux can be modified, and I don't really see a lot of that in 11.04.

Natty appears to be getting some needed polish and functionality, but as far as Unity is concerned, customization is lacking. In the end, this just means I'll stick with my 10.10 set up in the meanwhile. Maybe 11.10 will surprise me, but what I have is not broken, so I'm definitely going to hold off on upgrading.

You can always just disable the Unity plugin in Compiz, which will leave you free to use whatever launcher you want.

Just remember that "It is not broken" does not mean "It cannot be improved". I'm not saying Unity will be an improvement for you, just that it might be :)

[rg4w]

In general I really like where it's going, but there are a few outstanding details that make me nervous about recommending it to new users.

Perhaps the top of that list is the hide-and-seek menus. I want to believe that such bold departure from common usability heuristics was thoroughly tested, but I've tried to find the usability study in which they tested prototypes employing both persistent and non-persistent menu bars and haven't been able to turn one up.

Second is the way the File menu, once it's shown, overlaps the app name, often obscuring the name too much to be read easily, missing an opportunity to use the app name to reinforce which set of menus is currently in play. And since we don't commonly see important labels overlapping one another it can easily look like a bug to a new user, even if it's intended.

I've read the Ayatana archives and understand that the rationale behind these is to avoid screen clutter. But as the primary means for feature-rich apps to provide access to their commands, menus aren't clutter, they're very valuable information. While I support the goal of a cleaner overall look, it would seem outweighed in this case by the usefulness of providing ready access to an application's feature set.

These two details unfortunately provide a subtle feeling of instability in an otherwise beautiful implementation.

The only other detail that concerns me at the moment is the difficulty in expanding folded portions of the Launcher (we need to move the mouse out of the Launcher, down, and then back into the Launcher; learnable, but not graceful), but I understand the team is working on smoothing that out.

If the menus can be shown by default on displays large enough for them, and the File menu is rendered adjacent to but not obscuring the app name, I think this will be a winner.

If not, hopefully the usability testing needed to understand the impact of such a design will be done between 11.04 and 11.10, offering an opportunity for refinement if needed long before it becomes an LTS.

[tadcan]

Scrollbars do excite me! I have an old eeepc 701 and trying to use the GUI when it doesn't fit on the screen is very annoying. I know you can use alt to move the dialog box around, but it is fiddly and doesn't always work.

Before I felt that canonical saw the big picture, but the detail was lacking. Unity development shows that this may have been somewhat because they were tied to Gnome. The rate of innovation and ideas looks very promising. If they can make contractor work then it should provide a solution to open source fragmentation.

I would still like a way to view all my installed applications. Maybe provide the list after installation, so you can choose which ones to add to the sidebar.

[Johnsie]

I will be disabling Unity on all my installations. There was nothing wrong with gnome panel. In fact, gnome panel was one of the reasons I chose Ubuntu. I read from left to right. I dont want anything getting in the way of that.

[rg4w]

I would still like a way to view all my installed applications. Maybe provide the list after installation, so you can choose which ones to add to the sidebar.
I'm surprised that the default behavior isn't to show all installed apps, where typing would then filter the list to show only the ones matching your search, and perhaps an option to also show things that aren't currently installed but could be.

Is not showing all of one's installed apps by default a bug or a "feature"?

[wojox]

I like it and the direction Ubuntu is heading. Unity makes me want to go out and by a Touchpad just to unlock it's full potential. :P

[johntaylor1887]

Is not showing all of one's installed apps by default a bug or a "feature"?

When I tried it, I remember clicking something that showed all apps. So yeah, it's there.

[ubudog]

Lol, yeah, finally a positive thread. I'm downloading Alpha 3, and I can't wait to try it out, to see how it is.

[el_koraco]

It's scheduled to be completed for 11.04, but we should expect to see parts of it show up sooner.


i remember reading something like it's not gonna be ready for 11.04, but my memory might be playing tricks on me.

[PuddingKnife]

You can always just disable the Unity plugin in Compiz, which will leave you free to use whatever launcher you want.

Just remember that "It is not broken" does not mean "It cannot be improved". I'm not saying Unity will be an improvement for you, just that it might be :)

I'm aware that it can be disabled, but my point is that it hasn't enticed me to upgrade yet. However, I have enjoyed the development and innovation that I'm seeing. I just get the feeling I won't be lured into upgrading until 11.10. Im all for Unity and innovation in the Linux world. I doubt I'll ever use Gnome 3 but that looks nice too.

[Paqman]

I'm just happy they've put Alt-F2 back in.

[aG93IGRvIGkgdWJ1bnR1Pw==]

Wow, you mean they'll nearly finish restoring functionality that was present in gnome/compiz by the time they're supposed to be done with the release, thus leaving us with a beta-quality release, at best?

So I should be impressed it only crashes a few times a day?

I don't get it, why do everyone's collective standards lower significantly every time canonical decides to screw with their distro by making ridiculous changes and adopting software that clearly isn't anywhere near release-ready? Have you all come to accept that "non-LTS release" = "beta-quality"?

[Paqman]

Have you all come to accept that "non-LTS release" = "beta-quality"?

The non-LTS releases have always been technology demonstrations.

[NCLI]

I would still like a way to view all my installed applications. Maybe provide the list after installation, so you can choose which ones to add to the sidebar.
You can. (http://ubuntuone.com/p/gLl/)

I will be disabling Unity on all my installations. There was nothing wrong with gnome panel. In fact, gnome panel was one of the reasons I chose Ubuntu. I read from left to right. I dont want anything getting in the way of that.
Thank god for autohide then. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yODKjrdw-88)

Also, this "people read from left to right, so UI elements shouldn't get in the way" stuff has been disproved many times. It's just as silly as claiming that the bezel on your monitor gets in the way.

I'm aware that it can be disabled, but my point is that it hasn't enticed me to upgrade yet. However, I have enjoyed the development and innovation that I'm seeing. I just get the feeling I won't be lured into upgrading until 11.10. Im all for Unity and innovation in the Linux world. I doubt I'll ever use Gnome 3 but that looks nice too.
Fair enough :D

Wow, you mean they'll nearly finish restoring functionality that was present in gnome/compiz by the time they're supposed to be done with the release, thus leaving us with a beta-quality release, at best?
No, we mean that they're pretty much done restoring functionality, and that everything from here on out will be polish and bug fixing, leaving us in pretty good shape for release.

So I should be impressed it only crashes a few times a day?
It is still alpha, so obviously crashes will occur. I haven't experienced any since last week though, after upgrading to Unity 3.6.4.

I don't get it, why do everyone's collective standards lower significantly every time canonical decides to screw with their distro by making ridiculous changes and adopting software that clearly isn't anywhere near release-ready?
If Unity isn't where the developers want it to be when 11.04 ships, which is WAY better than it was in 10.10, it will be postponed to 11.10, just like any other incomplete/unstable feature would.

Have you all come to accept that "non-LTS release" = "beta-quality"?
Not beta quality, though I do agree that the LTS's are generally more stable. I don't see the problem with experimenting in-between LTS releases though, it makes it possible to test wide-ranging changes on a big audience without damaging your relations with paying customers.

[NightwishFan]

So I should be impressed it only crashes a few times a day?
That is just being rude, you know full well it is not intended for release quite yet.

[Naiki Muliaina]

Some stuff

Dear Ubuntu Forums

Please train your trolls better as this is the 2nd or 3rd troll I have seen in the first few pages of the cafe today and honestly... These posts are meant to incite anger and annoyance... Bah... I have encountered hair in my plug hole that has incited more anger from me than your piffy trolls.

Please up your game UF. Recruit or train better trolls.

Thankyou

Naiki

[Paul820]

I have installed 11.04 A3 to test and report bugs. To tell you the truth, i am totally lost with this new unity thing, it's the first time i have used it and it's so weird compared to the normal desktop. Where the hell is everything? I wanted to install the wireless driver for my card but i couldn't find the 'install drivers' application. Luckily, it popped up on the notification area and i installed it that way.

I'm not knocking it, i suppose it will take time to move around and find out where everything is, but, don't you think new users are going to find it a bit complicated to use when there are no options to be seen anywhere?

Well, i'm going to have a play with it now and get used to it. 11.04 A3 is actually pretty stable for me so hats off to the devs, good job guys. :guitar:

EDIT: LOL, i should have waited before posting, i have now found the setting and things that are usually on display. It's pretty cool really, it'll take a bit of getting used to but so do all new changes.

[jerenept]

unity kicks a**. once the ubuntu design team comes up with its own set of icons (what was the forecast, 11.10 or 12.04?), no one will have an excuse to run os x anymore.

Faenza ftw.

[uRock]

Have you all come to accept that "non-LTS release" = "beta-quality"?

No. I do not feel like I am doing beta testing when I install a final release. If any, the LTS was the only one coming close to being beta quality as they were battling Plymouth, but I feel they still did a great job with it.