Comment 1583 for bug 1

On Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 18:27, Mark Shuttleworth <email address hidden> wrote:
> Heavy users are a specific focus for Precise, we're testing on
> developers and all-day multitaskers specifically, which has thrown up
> some rough edges for smoothing. Hope you will like the result :)

I am really glad to read that. So far I did not have a chance to look
into the development version (due to job transition). A highly
efficient and reliable desktop (with an easy way for fast and reliable
backup and restore) is essential for me as I do depend on it in my
daily work.

I am with you that the home users and other groups are desired new
users but the current user base is even more important. AND: WE are
those going to install Ubuntu on the computers of our family members
and friends. In very rare cases "dummy users" will try Ubuntu without
a specialist in the neighbourhood who can help. If i am not convinced
of this system, how to convince others?

Once a month we have a local Ubuntu meeting here in Vienna (Austria)
and what I see is: Not even two people - even the more beginner types
- have a same looking desktop. This is an important sign that Ubuntu
lives from and needs this freedom and possibiliity to adjust to
people's needs. People and their (way to) work is so different that
the most efficient way is also different. Hence Unity also needs to be
flexible and I really hope to see more flexibility there. For example,
the old Gnome menu was so dare simple even for the mouse-only users
that I don't want to loose that option.

BTW: Happily I am in the situation that in my last two jobs my bosses
were willing to hire me together with my Ubuntu laptop. Once I was
asked if I would either use Windows also and my response was: I would
cost much more money then ;-)

On Sun, Jan 22, 2012 at 22:48, turbolad <email address hidden> wrote:
> I really wish to see EVERYONE with a computer using Ubuntu.  I'm scared
> Unity will see the demise of Ubuntu!

I wish that too but not because I am a fanboy. The problem is: In my
daily work I get annoyed by Windows - if it is just People nagging me
with .docx files that look like hell when opened in LibreOffice.
I hate it and want all to use LibreOffice. Same applies for Exchange
Servers and Outlook which is not able to correctly display a well
cited E-Mail sent in HTML format (no, even not the Outlook 2010). Etc
etc.

> Here's the secret to win-over new users: assume new users DON'T KNOW
> WHAT THEY ARE DOING.  It's like they have landed on another planet and
> need to make sense of things.
> [...]
> An interface which the user does not have to “learn” may be the reason why
> tablet devices like the iPad have become so successful?

The users you are talking about do also have problems using current
smartphones. Apart from using the phone (in some cases neither that)
those people have similiar problems using their smartphone as using
their PC/Laptop. And they have continously problems using their
(Windows-)PC also.

WHATEVER OS you will give them, they will struggle. The example you
gave (which I don't know what it is) probably is a UI for a simple
operation/workflow/action by itself already.

Even somebody can experience troubles using simple GUIs - e.g. buying
a ticket for the train - when you do not know something already about
the environment. E.g. in Italy public means of transport are charged
in a completely different way than in Vienna (by time you travel
rather than by direction for a single ticket).

Those people most probably will never try Ubuntu anyway. They are
scared by computers in general that you would need to force them to
use Ubuntu. I can do this with my family members where they simply
don't get support if they don't switch, but not with anybody else.

Getting back to Ubuntu:
a) People - and I am talking about the interested ones that want to
try Ubuntu - are not so inflexible as you might think. I have seen
people much older than 60 learning Ubuntu in 2 weeks and never looking
back.
b) I don't care of those people who struggle with technology in
general. And Canonical should at least not care too much about those.
Car vendors also do not focus on people using their car only once a
month. They focus on those who sit hours and hours in the car and
drive day and night. An OS is a core thing on a computer and should
fit for those who make intensive use of it.

> When you design a user interface, it must be *fast*.  A blazingly fast
> interface will instantly impress users who are familiar with the slower
> response times of Microsoft Windows.  It also allows programs to run
> faster, especially when Ubuntu is installed on older computers.

Of course, fast is important. But you can't get many features + fast.
Therefore there are variants like Xubuntu and Lubuntu or other
distributions meant for low-power machines.

Lubuntu for me is missing some features in the main GUI, that I
consider important for me. My machine is fast enough even with adding
a few "gimmicks". So the default desktop environment must be a right
combination of features and speed.

Best wishes,

Martin.