Comment 16 for bug 648180

Mark, I'm glad you're taking an interest in this thread. I'll try to offer my rational thoughts here. My first encounter with Unity was after installing Maverick on my netbook, and I found it horribly lacking. I very quickly restored the UNR-style desktop (which I think is a *great* UI for a small screen, by the way) and have been very happy with it.

Here are my complaints (opinions) regarding Unity:

1) I think Unity is an interesting platform and I am interested in seeing how it develops.

2) Pushing what seems at best a beta-quality release as the desktop default I think was a mistake. It surely turned off many first-time users, which is who I think you (we) should be appealing to most. It also has surely annoyed many experienced users and Ubuntu supporters. The high quality we have come to expect from an Ubuntu release in the last several years appeared to simply be tossed out of the window with this single choice. If you wanted beta testers, surely there would have been a better way to go about getting them.

3) The launcher takes up way too much space on a netbook- (or smaller-) sized device. It is always on top with no way to shrink, move, or hide it. On a 10" (or smaller) screen, this is .75"-1" of horizontal space that you can never get back. There is simply not enough space to spare on a small screen to allow this. I'm hoping future enhancements will allow users to adjust this size in the future, which may alleviate this concern.

4) My very first reaction (after "holy cow this is huge and annoying") was "this would be awesome on a touchscreen." I look forward to seeing how this could be used in such an environment with future improvements.

5) Linux desktop managers have been trying to copy Windows for years now. I have always hated the "Start button" UI paradigm. Now it seems that we are trying to copy OSX. I've never been a fan of that UI either, and really have not liked the do-everything taskbar/launcher paradigm. If that's what you're going for here, it's not my cuppa tea. My favorite UI is still the old and venerable fvwm, with a wharf style launcher. Maybe that's just me.

For me, the greatest advantage of Linux and desktop distributions is that they offer me many choices. I am experienced enough of a Linux user now that I am capable of making choices with relative ease. If I see an application that improves my desktop experience in any way, I am happy to give it a try. If I like it enough, I'm happy to switch permanently. Right now, I feel that Unity is not quite ready for prime time, and currently does not have features that would induce me to use it as my primary desktop shell.

Seth