Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail alpha

I downloaded an alpha snapshot (Jan. 9, 2013) ISO file, from here:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/

It's Kubuntu. I wanted to play with latest Unity and Dash. I know nothing about them, and I am running this Kubuntu right now, and still don't know anything.

I am running from the live-CD, as the installer didn't work -- just remained forever busy at the "Disk Setup" stage.

I expected to get a "Unity desktop", but I don't know what I have got. A desktop, yes, with a mysterious rectangle in it -- which I think is the Dashboard? -- don't know, intuitive it isn't.

That's one thing I wanted to try, how intuitive it is right off, without any prior reading.

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Comments

K = KDE
Username: 01micko
Barry, Kubuntu is the KDE variant, so likely it's running kde-4.10. That stupid square is your home directory, slackware-13.37 shipped with that too but got rid of it for 14.0 (thankfully). So.. no Unity i'm afraid! Personally, I don't mind unity, it does need a couple of weeks of use to get to know it. I think Jesse[?] reviewed it on distrowatch and said similar. I am originally a KDE guy (Mandrake-9.0).

Re Unity
Username: BarryK
"Ah, OK, thanks for the info. They don't have a normal Ubuntu Raring Ringtail alpha snapshot yet. I had better back off from the bleeding edge anyway. So, I am downloading 12.10, which I intend to install.

Now running 12.10
Username: BarryK
"Now I am running 12.10, and yes, this is definitely the Unity interface! Hmmm, I can see why initial impression puts people off.

Oh dear
Username: BarryK
"I am still not liking it. The lack of a structured menu seems really bad. I am using the Dashboard to discover what applications are installed, but this is a very poor way to examine what apps are available. The info bars along top and bottom don't have mouse-over popup, so you have to click on icons to find out what they do. Hmmm, the Dashboard is just different I suppose. I just typed in "word processor", got appropriate apps icons. But, what I don't get is the structured, at-a-glance overview of a conventional menu. Which would seem far more practical and efficient compared with typing stuff into the Dashboard. I need to play more with this.

Cloud client $90
Username: don570
" There is a new device that reminds me a lot of the mele 1000. http://liliputing.com/2013/01/cloud-client-90-allwinner-a10-mini-pc-doesnt-skimp-on-ports.html [IMG]http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x323/don570/cloud-client_05_zps7312c192.jpg[/IMG]

Unity is really nice. But, its new
Username: GCMartin
"Ah, us humans. Yes I am one of those unkindly beasts. But, have been in the industryy for so long, I understand. Yet, I am still bothered until I catch myself. Unity, is a different way of approaching desktop. It is very structured. But, it is different. Its difference affects you and I the same way Vista+Win7 does coming from WinXP. and, its extremely noticable to those goning from WinXP to Win8! UNITY...same thing. and oh, the resistance. Its the base for their future desktops as its designed to morph. But, they started after viewing Apple and so did Microsoft. I believe its the base for all touch technology they plan.

Unity....
Username: shadower_sc
"Unity is annoying. Windows 8 is evil. The interfaces look a lot cleaner, but the real kicker for me is that you can't tell what all is installed at a glance. Typically I can sit down at a new computer and do a quick eyeball of the programs menu and know what junk needs to be uninstalled. That comes in handy, if you help your relatives with their computers. ;-)

Re new UI
Username: BarryK
"It is also how they are dumbing down applications. I have installed Ubuntu 12.10 and have been playing with it. One example, I started gedit -- all of the menus have gone, there isn't even a configuration window. It has been dumbed down to the absolute lowest level -- dunce-level. This is done so there is a nice simple touchscreen UI. It is not just Gnome, Microsoft Windows apps have gone the same way. MS Office has removed the menus, replaced with a crappy UI -- I saw this when a friend of mine complained about it. MS have probably made it even crappier in latest Office to get it more touch-friendly.

Re structured menu alternative
Username: disciple
">Oh dear >I am still not liking it. The lack of a structured menu seems really bad. I am using the Dashboard to discover what applications are installed, but this is a very poor way to examine what apps are available. > >The info bars along top and bottom don't have mouse-over popup, so you have to click on icons to find out what they do. > >Hmmm, the Dashboard is just different I suppose. I just typed in "word processor", got appropriate apps icons. >But, what I don't get is the structured, at-a-glance overview of a conventional menu. Which would seem far more practical and efficient compared with typing stuff into the Dashboard. Yes, I can't stand any of the modern alternatives to a start menu. But I would quite like to find something which instead of a cascading menu, presents a window with a column for each category, with buttons for the apps in the category. So you can see all the apps at once, not just the ones in that category - I think this would be particularly good with the big screens that most people have on their computers these days. There are actually a number of programs designed for traditional tablet PCs which almost do this, but they tend to be unmaintained and have multiple problems like not being able to use the freedesktop system for generating the menu, not building with current GTK, and only being able to use the root window. LXlauncher looks promising, but when I looked I couldn't figure out how to configure it...

Tags: general