Unity 1.5 years later

[monkeybrain2012]

I set up a xubuntu partition to play with, made it look like 10.04 with gnome2 just for old time's sake, I really can't get used to it now after using Unity for a while. The menu just seems so cumbersome and I always forget which category some software belongs (same with all DE that use menu, including KDE). The Unity dash is a killer feature IMO. I also can't get used to the top panel now, it seems cluttered and pointless. I also keep trying to start applications by moving my mouse to the left edge only to realize that it doesn't work (this can be remedied though as the xfce panel at the bottom can be moved to the side)

I feel restricted and inefficient working in the old, gnome2 style UI.

Just want to share this as an antidote to the Unity hate. :)

[rrnbtter]

Greetings,
+1
Wait til you see whats coming! It just gets better.

[TheFu]

Nice, but why move the mouse at all? Using the window manager settings, you can make some keyboard shortcut launch any apps that you like?

This has been available since the 1990s. The suck that is Unity was not necessary.

Further, setting up a left-side panel has been trivial under Gnome2, if that was your preference. I setup a Unity-like panel for my Mom 5+ yrs ago with the 5 apps that she uses right there. I think it was all point-n-click in a GUI too.

Unity doesn't work well on my systems - guess my GPUs don't have enough power. Also, I run many systems inside virtual machines where Unity performs extremely badly unless you are doing desktop-on-desktop virtualization, which I generally do not do.

Unity definitely has a place, but it also is not the only answer for many people and it is definitely driving people away from Ubuntu when a simple selection at install time could retain all those people leaving because they incorrectly believe that the GUI on Linux is more than just another program.

A guy at my local LUG is switching to Mint over this. I was unable to convince him that an apt-get install {other-gui} was sufficient to change. He's fairly new to Linux - only 18 months as a user - and constantly falls back on faulty logic from using MS-Windows.

[lz1dsb]

Nice... I'm not against Unity, I personally use it now for maybe an year. What frustrates me is that it's not stable and I've got some occasional freezes and crashes, some of which lead to a full system reboot :guitar:
Well I guess, most of the issues I have are related to the ****** ATI Radeon video I've got. But anyway, I'll never by ATI video for a machine intended for Linux ;) Broadcom is also in my blacklist now.
To wrap it up, I think that Unity could become something quite amazing as a DE, but it's still "work in progress"...

[montag dp]

In KDE and Cinnamon, the drop down menu is also searchable. There's no need to remember which category an app belongs to.

[Dragonbite]

I set up a xubuntu partition to play with, made it look like 10.04 with gnome2 just for old time's sake, I really can't get used to it now after using Unity for a while. The menu just seems so cumbersome and I always forget which category some software belongs (same with all DE that use menu, including KDE). The Unity dash is a killer feature IMO. I also can't get used to the top panel now, it seems cluttered and pointless. I also keep trying to start applications by moving my mouse to the left edge only to realize that it doesn't work (this can be remedied though as the xfce panel at the bottom can be moved to the side)

I feel restricted and inefficient working in the old, gnome2 style UI.

Just want to share this as an antidote to the Unity hate. :)

I've been using Unity on my laptop for a while, but just changed over to 12.04 from 10.04 on my desktop and it makes a difference.

One key benefit is that the desktop computer's keyboard includes the Super key for bringing up the Dash. My laptop, unfortunately, does not and that is a real pain.

In KDE (and Windows 7) I often am typing part of the name in the search box for the application. Easier than going through the menu trees Gnome 2 and even KDE uses.

The global menu is beneficial on my laptop due to its low resolution (1024x768 max) and small screen (14" 4:3), I just wish I could turn it off on the desktop since the 20" monitor can mean long strokes to hit the close button!

I would even go with Gnome-shell if the shortcut bar was visible without bringing up the entire dashboard (and if I am using a system with a Super key instead of having to use my mouse).

[monkeybrain2012]

The global menu is beneficial on my laptop due to its low resolution (1024x768 max) and small screen (14" 4:3), I just wish I could turn it off on the desktop since the 20" monitor can mean long strokes to hit the close button!
.

It is easy to remove it


sudo apt-get remove indicator-appmenu

The global menu is one feature that I don't use.

[monkeybrain2012]

In KDE and Cinnamon, the drop down menu is also searchable. There's no need to remember which category an app belongs to.

The dash search also brings up documents and other files by typing a partial string which I find very useful especially because I always have many pdfs open and reboot often (I multiboot several linux OSes)

[montag dp]

The dash search also brings up documents and other files by typing a partial string which I find very useful especially because I always have many pdfs open and reboot often (I multiboot several linux OSes)KDE also does this, at least with recent documents. I'm not sure about Cinnamon. But anyway, I'm glad you like Unity. I'm a firm believer that you should use what suits you best. For me, there are a few things about Unity that I don't like, including the side bar thing and the lack of configurability, at least compared to KDE. I will say that Unity probably has the best (if you disable to Amazon stuff) and most complete desktop search.

Cheers!

[monkeybrain2012]

KDE also does this, at least with recent documents. I'm not sure about Cinnamon. But anyway, I'm glad you like Unity. I'm a firm believer that you should use what suits you best. For me, there are a few things about Unity that I don't like, including the side bar thing and the lack of configurability, at least compared to KDE. I will say that Unity probably has the best (if you disable to Amazon stuff) and most complete desktop search.

Cheers!

If I am not mistaken in KDE you can only search for documents in dolphin and they have to be recently used (so just typing in search string will not show anything if they have not been used, you will need something like the gnome-search-tool or the terminal I think ) But the Unity dash show all recent documents without even typing anything, and you can also search with a search string and it will find the files even if they have not been recently used.. In other words KDE's search function is more like nautilus than Unity, am I missing something?

I agree that KDE is very polished and configurable and that is nice while Unity is less so, but then I find for most purposes the default is good enough for me and for little things like putting certain tray icons on top, enabling the cube, changing nautilus to show file path, creating hotkey etc the tools are quite adequate. I actually like the launcher on the side and the buttons on the left so those "non configurable" things never bother me. In 12.04 I use a ppa to enable dodge windows, It is probably the only configuration option I miss but it is not a show stopper

KDE is my second choice after Unity (I prefer it over the Shell) I have a Kubuntu partition just to get to know it a bit better and probably will install the KDE version of Fedora. Never used Cinnamon, just can't stand the xp-ish look and I don't really miss gnome 2. :)

BTW, what do you use in KDE in place of totem for web browser plugin? (gecko-mediaplayer doesn't seem to work in Chrome, )

EDITED: Alt-tab switcher is also quite useful for me, you can enable something like that with Compiz, but not sure how you would do it in KDE.

[deadflowr]

KDE has alt+tab for windows switching, and it is awesome.
Look at the control settings for window behavior.

[monkeybrain2012]

KDE has alt+tab for windows switching, and it is awesome.
Look at the control settings for window behavior.
Thanks, cool. It is exactly like Compiz's shift switcher (which I also enabled in Unity but with different key binding to avoid conflict with Unity's switcher):p

[smellyman]

kde is launcher of every kind...Homerun, Takeoff, Lancelot, kicker etc.

and krunner will do itall

[Dragonbite]

It is easy to remove it


sudo apt-get remove indicator-appmenu

The global menu is one feature that I don't use.

Quick question; can that be shut off for some individuals and not for others?

One thing I have found as a detractor to Unity compared to Gnome-shell and even KDE is responsiveness.

The difference may not be noticed on modern hardware, but on older (up to dual-core, no i3/5/7 chips).

It seems Unity is the least responsive of the 3 and surprisingly KDE is the better after the first time you open the launcher. It is still fully usable and tolerable, don't get me wrong.

[monkeybrain2012]

Quick question; can that be shut off for some individuals and not for others?

One thing I have found as a detractor to Unity compared to Gnome-shell and even KDE is responsiveness.

The difference may not be noticed on modern hardware, but on older (up to dual-core, no i3/5/7 chips).

It seems Unity is the least responsive of the 3 and surprisingly KDE is the better after the first time you open the launcher. It is still fully usable and tolerable, don't get me wrong.

Hmm.. I don't know. I am the only user on my systems so I usually just remove the global menu.

I have several machines, on my main laptop I have gnome shell, unity and kde. I actually find that Unity is the most responsive, gnome shell is fast in Fedora 17 but very slugguish in Ubuntu 12.10. KDE is somewhere in the middle, fast but a bit slower than Unity. It also depends on which driver I use, strange as it sounds, overall the system is more fluid with nouveau than with Nvidia's driver.

On my other machine (a 6 year old netbook) I can run Unity if I wish, but instead I put lubuntu on it. I think Lubuntu can't be beaten on older and weaker machines.

[ACubed10]

In KDE and Cinnamon, the drop down menu is also searchable. There's no need to remember which category an app belongs to.

I use this feature in cinnamon everyday +1

[montag dp]

If I am not mistaken in KDE you can only search for documents in dolphin and they have to be recently used (so just typing in search string will not show anything if they have not been used, you will need something like the gnome-search-tool or the terminal I think ) But the Unity dash show all recent documents without even typing anything, and you can also search with a search string and it will find the files even if they have not been recently used.. In other words KDE's search function is more like nautilus than Unity, am I missing something?

I agree that KDE is very polished and configurable and that is nice while Unity is less so, but then I find for most purposes the default is good enough for me and for little things like putting certain tray icons on top, enabling the cube, changing nautilus to show file path, creating hotkey etc the tools are quite adequate. I actually like the launcher on the side and the buttons on the left so those "non configurable" things never bother me. In 12.04 I use a ppa to enable dodge windows, It is probably the only configuration option I miss but it is not a show stopper

KDE is my second choice after Unity (I prefer it over the Shell) I have a Kubuntu partition just to get to know it a bit better and probably will install the KDE version of Fedora. Never used Cinnamon, just can't stand the xp-ish look and I don't really miss gnome 2. :)

BTW, what do you use in KDE in place of totem for web browser plugin? (gecko-mediaplayer doesn't seem to work in Chrome, )

EDITED: Alt-tab switcher is also quite useful for me, you can enable something like that with Compiz, but not sure how you would do it in KDE.KDE has a full list of recently used documents which are searchable. But personally, I never really use that to search for files, only to find programs quickly. If I need to search for files I just use the find command, which is more powerful anyway. But that's just my preference, of course.

As for the video plugin for the web browser, I'm not really sure which is the default. I just checked and I have gecko-mediaplayer and gnome-mplayer installed. I haven't had any problems with not being able to play embedded videos so far.

[mamamia88]

Install Synapse for quick searching applications and remove all menu entries for stuff you never use. You can even edit what category an app falls under so there is no reason to try and guess. I find this saves a bunch of screen real-estate.

[monkeybrain2012]

Install Synapse for quick searching applications and remove all menu entries for stuff you never use. You can even edit what category an app falls under so there is no reason to try and guess. I find this saves a bunch of screen real-estate.

Yeah I know about synapse, which was what I used to use with gnome2. Never understood the big deal about "classical" menu, don't miss it at all. :)

[monkeybrain2012]

As for the video plugin for the web browser, I'm not really sure which is the default. I just checked and I have gecko-mediaplayer and gnome-mplayer installed. I haven't had any problems with not being able to play embedded videos so far.

It seems that since version 1.4 (1.6?) geckomediaplayer never works in Chrome. I am always hit with a "google chrome cannot load plugin" error, so I use gecko in Firefox but totem in Chrome (though the window media player plugin in Totem never seems to work) Installed gecko mediaplayer developmental version 1.07b from ppa on Ubuntu 12.10 and it finally works (both Unity and gshell) but not in Kubuntu. It is the same machine.

[TheFu]

I use this feature in cinnamon everyday +1

I love how new-ish users think they've discovered something new. Searching to find programs has been part of the shell since before I started with UNIX or Linux.

Your $PATH allows that from any terminal. Tab completion completely rocks folks. Type 2 characters{tab} and the program you want gets filled in.

If you use bash, after you've selected the program, if you hit {tab} again, it will fill in any data files that are tied to that program automatically.

Place me with all those greybeards that believe a GUI is great because I can have more terminals open. Until you've mastered the terminal/shell/bash, you don't know the true power of Linux or UNIX. {said in my best Darth Vadar voice} ;)

Start with the man pages for bash. man bash is the command. Read and be amazed at what you've been missing using the extremely limiting GUIs.

[mamamia88]

Yeah I know about synapse, which was what I used to use with gnome2. Never understood the big deal about "classical" menu, don't miss it at all. :)

Well I don't use very many different apps. I've never liked docks because they are a waste of screen real estate and even when auto hidden they still can pop up when you don't want. Having my apps nicely categorized in a drop menu wastes no space and is efficient. When you think of it unity is doing the same thing as a menu and synapse just in a prettier fashion.

[MadmanRB]

Well I don't use very many different apps. I've never liked docks because they are a waste of screen real estate and even when auto hidden they still can pop up when you don't want. Having my apps nicely categorized in a drop menu wastes no space and is efficient. When you think of it unity is doing the same thing as a menu and synapse just in a prettier fashion.

For me I like docs as no need for half million desktop icons for quick access.

[mamamia88]

For me I like docs as no need for half million desktop icons for quick access.

Don't have a single icon on my desktop either. Personally I like to keep the gui as straight forward and out of the way as possible. So I use xfce menu with the combination of synapse and maybe a few launchers thrown on the top panel for 1 click launching. Also I don't have any apps installed that I don't use so I don't have to sort through a bunch of garbage when going through the menu. It may not be as pretty as unity but it does the job.

[Sam Mills]

It's all good. All DE's/OS's bring something to the table. I've gotten used to Unity, but I have no problems using most other OS's. They all work good once you know them.

[ACubed10]

It's all good. All DE's/OS's bring something to the table. I've gotten used to Unity, but I have no problems using most other OS's. They all work good once you know them.

Truth to this. I wish I could use unity because I feel like its the way it should be. Getting errors all the time isn't very productive closing windows all day though

[mr john]

I have a modern HP Touchsmart 520 desktop computer with a touch screen. But the touch screen capability does not seem to work under Ubuntu. Driver issue? That makes the "touch friendly" interface of Unity absolutely pointless. So they released a "touch friendly" interface that doesn't work with touch screen devices?

I like the look Unity, but I found Gnome2 more producitive and efficient.

[Erik1984]

I have a modern HP Touchsmart 520 desktop computer with a touch screen. But the touch screen capability does not seem to work under Ubuntu. Driver issue? That makes the "touch friendly" interface of Unity absolutely pointless. So they released a "touch friendly" interface that doesn't work with touch screen devices?

I like the look Unity, but I found Gnome2 more producitive and efficient.

That sounds more a general Linux problem than a Unity problem. If the touch screen would be recognized by the kernel I guess it'd work with Unity? On the other hand I don't think Unity IS a touch UI. The launcher bar and the dash work fine with mouse and keyboard. Besides the window controls still seem too small for touch.

[cariboo]

I have a modern HP Touchsmart 520 desktop computer with a touch screen. But the touch screen capability does not seem to work under Ubuntu. Driver issue? That makes the "touch friendly" interface of Unity absolutely pointless. So they released a "touch friendly" interface that doesn't work with touch screen devices?

I like the look Unity, but I found Gnome2 more producitive and efficient.

Have you created a bug report? Complaining on the forum, won't get the problem solved.

[screaminj3sus]

I would even go with Gnome-shell if the shortcut bar was visible without bringing up the entire dashboard (and if I am using a system with a Super key instead of having to use my mouse).

https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/307/dash-to-dock/

[ACubed10]

I love how new-ish users think they've discovered something new. Searching to find programs has been part of the shell since before I started with UNIX or Linux.

Your $PATH allows that from any terminal. Tab completion completely rocks folks. Type 2 characters{tab} and the program you want gets filled in.

If you use bash, after you've selected the program, if you hit {tab} again, it will fill in any data files that are tied to that program automatically.

Place me with all those greybeards that believe a GUI is great because I can have more terminals open. Until you've mastered the terminal/shell/bash, you don't know the true power of Linux or UNIX. {said in my best Darth Vadar voice} ;)

Start with the man pages for bash. man bash is the command. Read and be amazed at what you've been missing using the extremely limiting GUIs.
Im sorry, not new. I was just stating that I use that option every day. I've actually been here since 2006, this is my second account. I closed my 1st

[Gster4]

I have used Unity for about 7 months, its a decent DE, It has its quirks and odd stuff and gems like all DEs. I like its launcher/search/whatever thing and how the top menu bar merges with the status bar thing. But now i mainly use fluxbox, not all the features, but fast 3 sec login time and 1-2% overhead.