But what proved to be more controversia according to Mark, was the realisation that the desktop would have to change for this to work. ‘The old desktop’, he says, ‘would force your tablet or your phone into all kinds of crazy of funny postures.’

“So we said: Screw it. We’re going to move the desktop to where it needs to be for the future.”

This, he acknowledges, ’turned out to be a deeply unpopular process.’

‘Our Desktop Sucked’

Mark, like many at Canonical, both in the design team and out of it, were aware of the vocal “backlash” caused by switching to Unity from GNOME.

But one mistake Unity’s critics routinely made was in assuming that the desktop was cobbled together on a whim; Unity was, made cried, something that wasn’t built with users in mind.

The truth was the polar opposite.

“Every week we would get in a bunch of people …to benchmark how we’re doing. When we started this process we realised very quickly that the desktop we had four years ago sucked.” Shuttleworth shared.

“It was great for us; we all loved it. But [if] you put it down in front of anyone off the street …it was just terrible.”

By continually testing, refining, and iterating Unity has matured considerably in its few short years of existence. So much so that it is, in testing, shown to be the second easiest desktop to use after Windows, and ahead of the oft-lauded ‘simplicity’ of Mac OS.

‘Ubuntu is in an interesting position’

“So here we are in this interesting position,” he continues, “We have this [user experience] that’s really proving itself in the laboratory. People respond to it, they want to take the CDs home, etc.

Companies like ASUS, Dell, and Lenovo are shipping it in volume. Next year 5% of the worlds PCs will ship with Ubuntu pre-installed. Which is kind of amazing.”

Amazing indeed. But what of that ol’ rumour that Linux laptop/netbook returns are higher than for Windows?

“ASUS ran an experiment where they shipped half a million of them to Germany. not an easy market. And the return rates on Ubuntu were exactly the same as the return rates on Windows. Which is the key indicator for OEMs who are looking to do this.”

“Don’t want to end up like Windows 8″

So the UX is going down well with professionals and users alike – but was every aspect really necessary? Shuttleworth thinks so:

[size=16pt]“We [had to move] our desktop because if we didn’t we’d end up where Windows 8 is.

[In Windows 8] you have this shiny tablet interface, and you sit and you use then you press the wrong button then it slaps you in the face and Windows 7 is back. And then you think OK, this is familiar, so you’re kind of getting into it and whack [Windows 8 is back].”[/size]

‘But [Ubuntu] is in this great position to spread out across all of the form factors. “

With Ubuntu for Android, Ubuntu Phone and Ubuntu TV attracting industry attention, and the Ubuntu OS set to ship on even more devices by years end, ‘great position’ is starting to seem like an understatement.

blackweaver: i take it you have a tv card then, i don't see why not. talking of possibilities, you thinking stuff like recording programs tor instance?

henryskywalker2003: Hi all. Thanks for the help you guys have given me in the past. Really grateful. Got anoda question though. A friend of mine recently installed ubuntu 12.04 on my insistence that he try it. He has a swift usb wireless router that he's been using on windows. The router doesn't seem to play very with linux. Have anyone sucessfully gotten it to work and if so, how?

hidon: Hello House,

I am an expert in Linux, Unix and Solaris and can configure a windows and ubuntu linux system to a Mac OS Lion. My contact is 08023608328 and emailid : doimazona@yahoo.com

K_bimz: hello world, pls i forgot d password 2 ma ubunt linux os, ao can it b recovered and besides ao can i format it...pls i need a quick response

busybee001: House!
Pls I have these requests:
1.) is there anyone here that lives in abuja and have the ubuntu 12.04 iso to share.
2.) nid to also know how to dual boot windows 7 and ubuntu.
Thanks.

hello world, pls i forgot d password 2 ma ubunt linux os, ao can it b recovered and besides ao can i format it...pls i need a quick response

4llerbuntu: if you want to install programs in WINE now i suggest you use playonlinux.
whisper it quietly too, but for some reason the apps i tried didnt need the activation key yadayada, eg MSWORD 2010. it just worked, no cracking, no activation, no key etc.
hope MS don't discover this or someborry gonna sue someborry

Automate Ubuntu With Cuttlefish


Cuttlefish allows you to create events that only happen under certain circumstances.

For example, I like to keep my audio muted as I don’t like system sound to be played out to me. However, I have Cuttlefish setup to automatically un-mute my sound when I open Rhythmbox or Totem Movie Player. Then when I exit either application, the sound is muted again.

Cuttlefish is very powerful in what it can do, you can do things like opening your browser when Ubuntu connects to your wireless LAN, or automatically lock your screen when a USB stick is unplugged (this is a great idea for computers in public places like in work).

ciphoenix: Good Evening Sires,
was experiencing this problem with my ubuntu 11.10(oneiric ocelot). I initially installed it using wubi, then after some time wanted to do a live install alongside windows 7. The install was smooth, but the problem came after restart. I get a screen with the message "grub rescue" and thats all. I seem to not be able to get past it. I would appreciate any help offered. Thanks

ciphoenix: Good Evening Sires,
was experiencing this problem with my ubuntu 11.10(oneiric ocelot). I initially installed it using wubi, then after some time wanted to do a live install alongside windows 7. The install was smooth, but the problem came after restart. I get a screen with the message "grub rescue" and thats all. I seem to not be able to get past it. I would appreciate any help offered. Thanks