Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Re: [LINUX_Newbies] 11.10

There are some new features for Unity users. Of course for GNOME 2.x users
it is completely new. New features include the ability to add,
remove launchers and re-order launchers. You can also add quick lists to
launchers so that when you mouse over you can do something from a menu. For
example when you go to the LibreOffice icon on the launcher you get a
transparent slide out menu that will say Open a LibreOffice Write file, or
something else that you can do. There are only a few built it but you can
add them simply with a few commands and a text edit. I've tweeted and dented
how to modify Oneiric Unity over the last few days. If you google it then
you will find many such resources.

The Dash works better. Its search features are improved and the Dash looks
better with improved transparency. There are more lenses at the bottom of
the Dash and you can add them. Lens is the name that replaces the old
Places. They've added a Bookmarks and Music to Applications, and Home.
Filtering is improved.

CCSM has better integration and more features. The Compiz Cube will spin
now. You also use the GNOME Tweak tool now that GNOME 3 is part of
Unity. Evolution and Synaptic users will notice a difference. They are not
included by default. Consequently in forums you will get complaints such as
what do I do a bout a calendar with Thunderbird? My answer is to install
Evolution if that is what you want (or use Lightning which can be made to
work with Google calendar).

The big difference is in performance. Unity feels better thought out now
that they have reworked some of the initial bugs and it shows its potential,
but has not reached it, IMO. But it is also faster now that it does not have
the GNOME 2 framework. I also like it that Alt+F2 works again. There is also
a backup tool, Deja Dup which comes installed by default. Gwibber is very
much improved. I am not a Software Centre user, but it too is much better
and has some new features.

There is also much going on that is less noticeable such as kernel 3.x and
DVD installation media (which includes the GIMP and PiTiVi which are not
installed by default). If you are an ARM user then there is much to cheer
about with more support for that architecture. There is
more compatibility with Unity 2D and the new LightDM login screen. There is
also a new rootfs that is minimal to allow for greater flexibility.

Anytime someone says there is not much difference it all depends on their
experience and practice. If I have not used Atl+F2 then I would not notice
that it was not working and now is back. If I did not know what lenses were
and how to use them then I wouldn't think it different. If I had never tried
to drag the workspaces icon from the bottom of the launcher to somewhere
more useful then I would think the launcher was unchanged. Some people will
notice big differences while others think it is no different.

To me there is no comparison. Unity in 11.04 was half baked and not very
useful. In 11.10 I get what they are doing and have no doubt that it will
succeed in the long run. Some users may bolt, but there are few places to go
if your idea is to keep GNOME 2.x as long as you can.

What is keeping me from using Unity full time? I am frustrated by the global
menu. When there are two windows open on one workspace, uou get one menu and
have to click to shift focus and worse, for this aging techie, is I have to
remember which window has the focus. This is an additional and unnecessary
click which means more work for the user. Also, if I am using the GIMP, the
menu is way at the top, far away from my work and, worse still, it
disappears until I mouse over which means it takes more time to find where I
want to click. I also want to be able to move a window to another workspace.
This is built into GNOME shell but Unity makes it hard. I have yet to
discover how to do it. Whitelisting apps that can run in the notification
area is possible, but it should be better than a commandline hack. So I
continue with KDE, but like unity and where it is headed. I hope that they
and GNOME listen to users and make it more flexible for desktop users.

Roy

Using Kubuntu 11.10, 64-bit
Location: Canada


On 15 October 2011 15:54, Ian <igbod76@btinternet.com> wrote:

> **
>
>
> I just upgraded to 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot
>
> Does not at first try seem a lot different?
>
> --
> Ian
>
> --
> Ian
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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