Hi, If you are an old school KDE user http://www.trinitydesktop.org/ Trinity is worth a look.
Dave On Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 6:11 AM, Chris Robinson <[email protected]>wrote: > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* David Bowskill <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Monday, 9 January 2012 8:34 PM > *Subject:* Window Managers for Kubuntu and Ubuntu > > Dear All > > I hope that this does not sound like a big whing but I do not like how the > presentation of the later versions of Ubuntu and Kubuntu are going > > I have been using Ubuntu 10.04 with Gnome interface and I find it very > good. Then upgraded to 11.10 and I really don't like Unity at all. > I then switched to Kubuntu 11.10 and the interface while better than > Unity, is still not as good as Ubuntu 10.04 > _____________________________________________- > > Some do like KDE and are as passionate about it as others are about Gnome > 2 (classic). I don't think KDE and Kubuntu have changed that much - it is > what it is. > > _____________________________________________ > > What are my complaints ?? > > The philosophy that the computer *should be a functional working tool* - > easy to use, fast in operation and requiring minimal resources. These > ideals seem to be being abandoned and the *'graphic arty types' *are > taking over. Flashy interfaces ( which of course must be *'original'* ) > seem to be the go, causing bloat, slows down operations and demands more > RAM and CPU power. > _____________________________________________ > > Strangely enough, that is the philosophy of the design team too, but it's > also obvious that people want a graphically stimulating interface as well. > The main problem with Unity is that it's different, not that the > functionality is missing. I agree with the issue of bloat but if you look > at the development of all code, especially in the Linux world, you see the > same pattern - code starts out bloated and with seemingly built-in > inefficiency. If the idea is good however, it gets continued development > and constantly gets more efficient. > > An example of this is Software Center: In 11.10 it runs so slowly on my > Celeron that it can take 1.5 minutes just to open the first time - that is > longer than the boot time. I've noticed however that the Software Center > in the Alpha of 12.04 is much quicker even though all the debug symbols are > still part of the code. I'm very much looking forward the release date to > see how well they've really done with the new LTS. > _____________________________________________ > > > For my part, I am not at all impressed by fancy interfaces - I want a > machine which is minimal in presentation, quick in operation, easy to use, > in other words *totally utilitarian* *in design and presentation. > * > _____________________________________________ > > Actually, Unity is even more "utilitarian" in as much as the interface has > been reduced to only two main elements - a top bar that is used for > informational purposes and is being evolved as the Universal Application > Menu Bar (an Apple idea I believe), and a launcher that takes the place of > menus, task bar, switcher, access for removable media (among other things), > and of course a launch bar that was never part of the classic Gnome > philosophy. > _____________________________________________ > > > The ideal interface in my opinion is that used by Apple; lots of drop down > menus; icons which can be placed on the Desktop if required AND *the tool > bar with the sliding magnifier *- truly brilliant !! > _____________________________________________ > > That's funny, because one of the main complaints from some that complain > loudest is that Unity borrows too much from the Apple interface, and that's > why they hate it. But lets take a look at your objections: > > Drop down menus: This has been replaced by the Dash, but you can still > browse the contents and look at installed programs etc as much as you want. > The browsing is done by classification, very much as you would do with a > menu system. People tend to miss this because it appears to be "hidden" by > the main feature of the dash which is Search. The philosophy behind this > is simple: why would the hierarchical structure of menus or classifications > be the prime method when you can just type "terminal" into the dash and it > will show not just the terminal program you would normally find on the > menu, but any other terminal type programs that are installed as well. > > You can actually still place icons (I think you mean application launcher > icons) on the desktop, it just that the design team has questioned why you > would want to do so, (since that's what the launcher is for) and so they've > made no right-click option for it. Feel free to make a launcher however - > they are just a basic bash script on the desktop and you can have as many > as you like. There's probably a utility you can install that will help you > write them, or you can copy them from your 10.04 desktop. > > As for your other specific objections... Oh, you didn't list any... > > Sorry, I shouldn't be smug: I'm sure you have legitimate issues with Unity > but the fact is that Unity is still evolving and many features that were > missing in 11.04 have been quietly fixed for 11.10. For example the issue > of task switching with multiple instances of one application and using only > the mouse has been addressed. With 11.04 many things could be best done > through the keyboard, I suspect because this was the easiest and quickest > to implement. As Unity evolves however the GUI features that we expect > should be there are being incorporated. > > I wouldn't say that Unity taken as a whole on first look is a vast > improvement over what has gone before, it's often the little things taken > altogether that can make a big difference. For example on Classic Gnome, > if I wanted to unmount a USB drive but already had an application(s) > maximised I had three obvious choices: 1) to minimise all applications and > right click on the icon for the drive, 2) Open a terminal window and do it > manually, or 3) to switch desktops and right click on the icon there. A > less obvious choice was to open another application like file manager and > do it from there, but really... With Unity I can unmount a device from the > launcher by right-clicking on it's icon in the launcher - slide and click. > A little thing, but one you miss when you go back to the Classic interface. > ________________________________________ > > > Does any know of a simple window manager like that of Apple's which can be > used to replace Unity - especially the sliding magnifier tool bar > _______________________________________ > > Unity is without a doubt the most Apple-like interface we have. As it is > made more configurable I'm sure it will be possible to get it to look more > like Apple, if that's what you really want. > ______________________________________ > > > I would be quite happy to stay with 10.04 window manger but that will be > phased out in the future. > Does anyone else out there feel this ? > Hope that this does not put too many noses out of joint. > ______________________________________ > > I think that the online community in general and the Linux community in > particular is much more mature that it was in years past. No one is going > to get upset if you don't like Unity, or prefer to use something else. I > will say though, that Unity is different enough that it does take a while > to get used to it and to understand it. Personally I'm still using 10.04 > LTS on my main machine as well, but both Unity and myself have progressed > to the point where 12.04 LTS is not looking like the problem it might have > seemed to be a year ago when I was looking at the alpha versions of 11.04. > > Chris > > -- > ubuntu-au mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-au > >
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