Tom's Hardware Dissects Ubuntu 11.4's Interface and Performance 272
An anonymous reader links to an exhaustive look at the latest Ubuntu, running at Tom's Hardware. "The new Unity interface is broken down into its individual elements and explained ad nauseam. Overall the article is objectively balanced, the author does a good job of pointing out specific design flaws and shortcomings instead of complaining about how Unity doesn't work for him specifically. The walkthrough of the uTouch gesture language is exciting (wish I had multi-touch), though a full listing of keyboard and mouse shortcuts come in handy, too. Towards the end of the article there are benchmarks between Lucid, Natty with Unity, and Natty with the Classic interface. The performance of the Unity interface isn't bad at all, but that kernel power issue does rear its ugly head."
Re:Polish (Score:5, Interesting)
When you have a pre-defined 6-month release cycle, exact deadlines and dozens of bugs pending, any new release is "released too soon".
With every new release new bugs are introduced, the old ones are given less priority and the user experience remains about the same. I hate to tell this, but the situation is the same with every piece of software and hardware (laptops and mobile phone models, anyone?) and reminds me of the saying "technology is something that does not work yet".
Re:Polish (Score:5, Interesting)
Can you give one real reason as to why you feel that it is the most usable, as compared to the gnome interface in 10.10? Old time users are not really immune to the "Ooh shiny!" effect.
You asked for one. There's four off the top of my head. I like the "Ooh shiny!" effect as much as the next geek, but I'm finding Unity to be very usable, and to help me be more productive.
Satisfied?
For me it's the last of the Ubuntus. (Score:4, Interesting)
I recently decided to put Ubuntu 11.04 on a spare machine, just to see what all the fuss was about. I hated it, for the same reasons that others have given above. It seemed to be different for the sake of being different. The clincher was when I tried to open a second text terminal. It wouldn't let me, presumably because I already had that application open, and why on earth would I need two of them?
So then, just for kicks, I decided to install the latest Debian. When the desktop came up it felt like coming home. In fact, I was a little shocked to see how much it looked like the Ubuntu I was used to. There was a Debian logo in the upper left corner instead of an Ubuntu one, but that seemed to be the only difference. The same applications, the same themes, the same everything. I never realised how little Ubuntu added to its Debian base.
So I've made up my mind. The next big reinstall is going to be Debian instead of Ubuntu. Best of luck to Ubuntu with its Unity, its Wayland, its Ubuntu Software Center and its Ubuntu One, but as far as I'm concerned it's time for something else.
battery life! (Score:5, Interesting)
wtf is this, ubuntu?
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ubuntu-11.04-natty-narwhal,2943-13.html [tomshardware.com]
2 hours lost?!!?
how can anyone write code that causes such a huge battery life reduction?