Comment 61 for bug 882274

@Jon Brase

I'm not sure how useful it will be for Canonical to ignore group #1.

Many of us have offered up Ubuntu to friends and family as a replacement for Windows. This includes our computer illiterate friends and family.

Most of these people see the interface as the operating system. "Windows" to them is the explorer interface. Linux and Ubuntu to them is "Gnome 2".

If you look at the desktop of someone who's had Linux as their operating system for a few months, it probably looks pretty different than stock. Different colors, applets on the top bar, etc. Multiple windows open...

Now, how do you expect users to react to a massive UI change? Why do you think Windows 95 through 7 looks pretty much the same? People don't like huge change in their chosen DE. This will shake their confidence that Ubuntu will remain a stable environment for them.

I understand that this change has been rather forced on Ubuntu. But almost any interface would have been a better choice for the x86 Desktop version. This interface is obviously meant for touchscreens like tablets.

There is a reason people don't use Android on their desktop and laptop computers.

Ubuntu has always been a Desktop/Laptop distro, and I am saddened to see it moving away from that.

Mark Shuttleworth: "I think in the near future all laptops will have sophisticated multi-touch hardware. All the hardware vendors that are working on touch are talking to Ubuntu."