Netbook upgrade results in nearly unusable system on EEE
| Affects | Status | Importance | Assigned to | Milestone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| netbook-meta (Ubuntu) |
New
|
Undecided
|
Unassigned | ||
Bug Description
Binary package hint: ubuntu-netbook
10.04 netbook edition runs extremely well on the EEE-701, and is well-optimised for the resolution and processor.
10.10 live boot refuses to run the new unity interface because of underspeced system, using the full desktop interface instead, which is inappropriate for the resolution but otherwise runs ok.
Upgrading the 10.04 install to 10.10 results in the unity interface being installed regardless, which is both wasteful of screen real estate, and runs extremely slowly on this hardware.
In addition to permanently occupying valuable screen estate, the shortcut bar contains a seemingly unnavigable mess of icons that jumps all over the place with no clear way to get to any preferences panel to disable or customise unity.
I expected there to be a clear way of disabling the unity interface, at the very least to switch back to a full desktop style interface. Given the underspeced machine, it would be desirable for the old interface to be maintained across an upgrade. Overall, this has been an extremely poor user experience.
In the meantime, I have restored the netbook to a pre-upgrade backup... I will need to try again after the new interface is made more usable or an appropriate upgrade path is created that maintains the old interface.
