> As a point of reference, Windows 8's Metro user interface is going to > provide a "Windows Classic" workspace for backwards compatibility. This is > an area that Microsoft has consistently gotten right over the years...
Why do we always point to Microsoft and Apple as if they're somehow a reference implementation of great UI design that we just need to copy? There is *no* point in trying to replicate what Microsoft and Apple have done: Almost nobody who is happy with Windows or OS X is going to switch to Ubuntu unless Ubuntu is substantially better in some way. Ubuntu's default UI needs to design for its strengths, rather than trying to compete on MS and Apple's home turf. Those strengths are: 1. (GNU/)Linux 2. The community So, the default Unity launcher could have icons for: 1. Terminal 2. Connect via IRC to #ubuntu Instead, Unity (along with every other desktop Linux project) takes the best CLI in the world...and hides it. Instead of designing a dead-end UI exclusively for novice users---something that Microsoft and Apple already do reasonably well---why not focus on: 1. Designing for power users 2. Making it easy for novices to become power users 3. Avoiding wasting users' time Nobody does that well today, but Ubuntu could probably pull it off, and it would be *huge* step for education, for computer literacy in general, for software freedom, and toward getting rid of things like software patents, ACTA, and the DMCA, since those issues affect power users most directly. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/882274 Title: Community engagement is broken To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/882274/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
