On 3 December 2011 20:27, Steve Pearce <m...@stevepdp.org> wrote: > Evening Ubuntu-UK, > > Just thought I would post my thoughts about the current release, to > counteract the flood of negative criticism that's been hitting our mailboxes > throughout the day. > > I should admit that I reacted negatively when first using Unity in Ubuntu > 11.04. I hopped to the other Ubuntu flavours like several others have > mentioned and I would often complain about Unity with my techie friends. > > After reading some Ubuntu Planet posts about bickering in the community, I > realised that I should give Unity a good couple of weeks on my workstation > to see if it was just me instinctively fearing change, or Unity and it's > design decisions that was the problem. > > Since Ubuntu 11.10, I've been using Unity with great ease and stability. > I've learned that if you give Unity (and the Zeitgeist backend if that's > correct?) some time to learn what programs and files you use often, then > access to these is often quicker and easier than most other platforms. > > Here's a run down of some of the features I feel makes Unity (and the whole > Ayatana effort) great, > > 1. I love that Thunderbird and Gwibber each tell me how many unread messages > I have waiting for me. > > 2. Whenever someone pings me on IRC, the xchat icon wiggles to let me know > that I'm needed – that's awesome! > > 3. I love that I can launch applications in a few keystrokes. I can launch > medit for example just by typing SUPER M RETURN. That's far less effort than > most other desktop environments. > > 4. I love that I can reach my files quickly in the same manner. I could open > my CV with LibreOffice by keying SUPER CV RETURN. > > 5. I can pin the applications I use most often, which totals to only about > ten icons. So when I hit my desktop after boot, I can click all of them in > just a couple of seconds to background them ready for use. > > 6. System indicators and configuration – they're all in one place! A single > click to browse them all, and a single click to action something. It's > consistent and beautiful. > > 7. Notify-OSD provides subtle and smooth notifications unlike anything we've > seen on other platforms. Programs like Gwibber which show recent tweets or > Brasero which tells me when an operation has finished are great! > > 8. Screen real-estate has been greatly improved. I love that the window > controls for each program collapses into the top bar when an application is > full screened. It means that you can gain extra readable lines in a document > or program and it gives you a sense of total immersion in whatever it is > you're working on. > > 9. The Ubuntu font family – lush! > > I'm pleased I gave Unity a real chance on my desktop and I later learned to > stop being reactive whenever anything new hits town. > > Unity has made my desktop an exciting place to be. It's a pleasure to use > and all other desktop environments including the old Gnome 2.* series now > feel dated and clumsy. Anybody who isn't using Ubuntu 11.10 and Unity is > missing out in my opinion. > > And so we arrive at the initial question, “Ubuntu – Wrong Direction?”. > Absolutely not! The desktop paradigm needed to change and given the > developments we've seen in the mobile and tablet space, it's about time we > took those usability lessons and applied them to the desktop. I'm looking > forward to Ubuntu's future and I look forward to experiencing an Ubuntu TV > and Phone.
*Applause* -- Liam Proven • Info & profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/lproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk • GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lpro...@gmail.com Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 • Cell: +44 7939-087884 • Fax: + 44 870-9151419 AIM/Yahoo/Skype: liamproven • MSN: lpro...@hotmail.com • ICQ: 73187508 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
