unity-design team mailing list archive

[Adrian Maier <syraxes@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello people,

Today I've been curious to see what is the current status of Unity
compared to the version shipped last year with 11.04.
So i've installed the Ubuntu daily beta 12.04  in a virtual machine .


The main thing I would like to comment about is :    navigation around
the available applications .

I have chosen a simple task  :   " let's see what games are installed
" .   Steps :
- CLICK   on "ubuntu button"
- looking for the word "categories" on screen. Couldn't find it.
Finally figured out that "Filter results" might help with my task
- CLICK  on Filter Results
- CLICK  on Games
- it displays :  Aislerot Solitaire , Freecell Solitaire , Mahjongg , Mines
- hmm.  Are there just 4 games installed ?    apparently not  - there
is a link "See 1 more result"
- CLICK on "see 1 more result".

The next task "now let's see what development software is installed" . Steps :
-  the screen is still showing the previous screen with the games .
-  CLICK on Developer   in "filter results"
-  nothing changes in the search results  !
-  CLICK  on Games  , to deselect
-  the Developer software finally

Result :  after 6 clicks I have been able to see what games and what
development tools are installed by default in 12.04  beta .
Too big icons ,  on a normal display  there will always be necessary
to click on "see more N results".


Now let's see the steps needed to do the same tasks in Ubuntu 10.04 ,  gnome 2 :
-  CLICK  on "ubuntu button"
-  move the mouse over "Games" .    Read the list of applications.
-  move the mouse over "Programming"  .  Read the list of applications.

Sorry for ranting , but killing productivity for visual cuteness is
not progress ...
It should be possible to have a classical menu with applications
categories  (maybe on right-click on the desktop).


My personal conclusion :   the current Unity is just as disappointing
as last year.
Starting an application multiple times seems to be handled ok now
(useful particularly for terminals).
But there is still zero configurability   (in settings -> appearance
the user can only change the  wallpaper  and  autohide the launcher .
  Quite hilarious in a sad way  )  .
No possibility to disable the global menu .
My main showstopper  :  no classic applications menu.



Cheers,
Adrian