New look for Ubuntu with the release of Lucid Lynx!

[disassembler]

I stumbled across this the other day while on the Crunchbang site.

While the poster seems to be quite pessimistic about the whole situation, I like the look of things.

I do agree with his gripe about the logo next to the wordmark though.

I think the site redesign is the best part of this whole package. It looks sexy!

[fohfoh]

They're been discussing a rework since like 9.04 and 8.10. This isn't that big of a surprise. However, on the other hand, it looks wonky. I bet I would get used to it quite quickly though...

I probably should do a back up soon, get the stupid recovery partition off my HDD, and then get a proper dual boot running again of 7//ubuntu. Vista is starting to get on my nerves. (Though the battery life is a hell of a lot better in Vista than in 8.10/9.04)

[Meomix]

Ubuntu working so hard to look pretty. Too little in terms of making the system surpass windows in terms of functionality and cinema.

[iindigo]

A better screenshot can be found here: http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/03/ubuntu-dumps-the-brown-introduces-new-theme.ars

I don't like it at all. The colors are weird (but Ubuntu seems to have a penchant for those), the widget arrangement is different from everything else for no particular reason, and the whole mess has an air of "amateur-made XP theme" around it. I don't find the new icons particularly impressive, either... the old tango ones were much nicer.

Why don't we see more Linux themes sitting in the realm of modern and cutting edge?

[nstgc]

A better screenshot can be found here:

I don't see it.

I'm looking forward to Lucid mostly because its an LTS release. They tend to be more usable. One downside to upgrading, however, is that you can't tell people you are using a Karmic Koala for work.

[fohfoh]

A better screenshot can be found here:

I don't like it at all. The colors are weird (but Ubuntu seems to have a penchant for those), the widget arrangement is different from everything else for no particular reason, and the whole mess has an air of "amateur-made XP theme" around it. I don't find the new icons particularly impressive, either... the old tango ones were much nicer.

Why don't we see more Linux themes sitting in the realm of modern and cutting edge?

Why should it? It's linux. It doesn't have the billions of Sir Apple Jobs, or Baron Microsoft the rich to help.

Why should the widget be the same? And have apple users go "kekekekek it copied us!" ?

Linux wasn't meant to be Apple, nor was it meant to be windows. It's an alternative.

[iindigo]

A better screenshot can be found here:

I don't like it at all. The colors are weird (but Ubuntu seems to have a penchant for those), the widget arrangement is different from everything else for no particular reason, and the whole mess has an air of "amateur-made XP theme" around it. I don't find the new icons particularly impressive, either... the old tango ones were much nicer.

Why don't we see more Linux themes sitting in the realm of modern and cutting edge?

Why should it? It's linux. It doesn't have the billions of Sir Apple Jobs, or Baron Microsoft the rich to help.

Why should the widget be the same? And have apple users go "kekekekek it copied us!" ?

Linux wasn't meant to be Apple, nor was it meant to be windows. It's an alternative.

Indeed it is true that Linux is supposed to be alternative. However, it's fairly well known that a large part of Ubuntu's aim is to attract "normal" users. "Normal" users aren't going to be so keen on switching to something that doesn't at least resemble what they previously used. Most non-technites that I've met also tend to be attracted to shinies - that is, by installing a new OS, whether it be Linux, Windows, or OS X, they want it to feel like a real upgrade every moment they're on it. This doesn't feel like an upgrade - it looks like something strait out of the XP era.

And no, I'm not saying to make the titlebar widgets exactly the same. I'm simply saying that from a usability perspective, it's probably better to use an arrangement that is already out there.

Also, after thinking about it some more, I believe I figured out what it is that Linux themes lack. It's polish. It's almost as if they get a theme's design into its later stages but never tweak all the little details and actually finish it into an outstanding, well-crafted UI.


EDIT: Fixed the link in my previous post, was an idiot and forgot to paste it. Here's it again for those who missed it: http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/03/ubuntu-dumps-the-brown-introduces-new-theme.ars

[fohfoh]

It's linux. There's so many ways of customizing this and that, people can go out and figure that out for themselves. Toss in a highly polished UI, people complain about resource usage. In all honesty, I really only see Mac users having a huge beef with the UI. "ZOMG IT'S NOT AS PRETTY." Seriously, wut? Those who put such huge emphasis on such pointless things are the same people who go, "OMFG A MAC RUNS JUST LIKE HOW A COMPUTER SHOULD RUN!" These being the same people who barely know how to go on the net, make a few word documents, add a picture here and there, play with a webcam (and think they're highly tech savvy for doing so) etc.

Seriously if people want flashy, they're the people spending big bucks on either a Mac, or a spiffy piece of hardware (namely Sony, Voodoo etc.)

[iindigo]

It's linux. There's so many ways of customizing this and that, people can go out and figure that out for themselves. Toss in a highly polished UI, people complain about resource usage. In all honesty, I really only see Mac users having a huge beef with the UI. "ZOMG IT'S NOT AS PRETTY." Seriously, wut? Those who put such huge emphasis on such pointless things are the same people who go, "OMFG A MAC RUNS JUST LIKE HOW A COMPUTER SHOULD RUN!" These being the same people who barely know how to go on the net, make a few word documents, add a picture here and there, play with a webcam (and think they're highly tech savvy for doing so) etc.

Seriously if people want flashy, they're the people spending big bucks on either a Mac, or a spiffy piece of hardware (namely Sony, Voodoo etc.)

Polished ≠ resource consuming. Polished also ≠ flashy. Something being polished means its creator took that last stretch of effort in ensuring each detail is perfect.

A good example are most Blizzard games. Are they the most technically capable or flashy? No, not by a long shot. It's all old, low-requirement stuff. It is very polished, though, and it shows (and sells).

In fact, most of these themes could be polished without changing resource usage at all. It mostly lays within the graphics themselves (layout, color, etc) and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that swapping out these graphics will cause no performance change in any way.

[nstgc]

You definately don't need to have a shit ton of resources to run a shiny UI. As I've mentioned before, using Compiz Fusion, which is far shinier then MS's Aero, with everything I use regularly running I'm currently using less than 480MB of RAM and my swap partition (equivalent to a paging file) is completely unused (I don't have one set). If you use Xfce, which is about as shiny as Aero you find that you are using about 350MB and still no swap. I have windows 7 and I believe it uses over 1GB of RAM and has a huge (>2GB) paging file. Windows doesn't do half of what Ubuntu can do yet it still eats more resources.

As for the new look and feel of Ubuntu 10.04, I don't care. As has been mentioned, a user can change that if they want, and I sure as hell will. I've posted this picture of my desktop before, but this gives you an idea as to how much you can diverge from the typical Gnome themes.



Its very clean, very shiny, and very functional.

[fohfoh]

I didn't think compiz was part of the default install....

[mgz]

You definately don't need to have a shit ton of resources to run a shiny UI. As I've mentioned before, using Compiz Fusion, which is far shinier then MS's Aero, with everything I use regularly running I'm currently using less than 480MB of RAM and my swap partition (equivalent to a paging file) is completely unused (I don't have one set). If you use Xfce, which is about as shiny as Aero you find that you are using about 350MB and still no swap. I have windows 7 and I believe it uses over 1GB of RAM and has a huge (>2GB) paging file. Windows doesn't do half of what Ubuntu can do yet it still eats more resources.

As for the new look and feel of Ubuntu 10.04, I don't care. As has been mentioned, a user can change that if they want, and I sure as hell will. I've posted this picture of my desktop before, but this gives you an idea as to how much you can diverge from the typical Gnome themes.



Its very clean, very shiny, and very functional.

your right windows doesnt do half of what linux does it does much much more
just saying more things use windows
not that either is better

[AceHigh]

He he he... you linux and mac kids can argue about "flashy" and "shiny" and all other gay stuff out there, but the rest of us who actually use OS to run 'something else other than itself will use windows.

Hell, 95% of the time I use a pc, I don't see the desktop and all the shit there. Why do people even care about that?

[nstgc]

In addition to being shiny, there are also productivity parts to Copmpiz  Fusion. Having multiple desktops is great when you are trying to do more than one thing that requires that you have several windows opened. Being able to use a mouse command to spread your open windows across your desktop and then you can choose to bring that to the front or close it is useful.

The way windows are managed in Gnome by Compiz is superior to Aero in Windows.

[iindigo]

In addition to being shiny, there are also productivity parts to Copmpiz  Fusion. Having multiple desktops is great when you are trying to do more than one thing that requires that you have several windows opened. Being able to use a mouse command to spread your open windows across your desktop and then you can choose to bring that to the front or close it is useful.

The way windows are managed in Gnome by Compiz is superior to Aero in Windows.

Yep, same can be said for OS X. Whenever I'm tied down to a single desktop and just a taskbar/alt-tab for task switching, I go nuts. If I ever change primary operating systems it's definitely going to be to a highly customized Linux... I don't care how many more programs Windows runs. The OS is frustrating.

[AceHigh]

Whenever I'm tied down to a single desktop and just a taskbar/alt-tab for task switching, I go nuts.

Yeah, switching between desktops, or switching the windows with alt-tab: big difference.... not. Besides, alt-tab is the fastest way to switch ever because there are no fancy animations in between, you can do it instantly. Not something that can be said about most Linux desktops I have tried.

Hell, if I was tied down to something as gay as mouse gestures, I would go nuts. The best thing about Windows is that you technically never need a mouse. When I work with many windows opened, I hate using the mouse, it's slow and therefore for noobs only. When I am at work and program 4 Atmega64 microcontrollers on 4 different cards simultaneously, it goes so much faster flashing them with: (write) flash > ctrl-a > ctrl-c > enter > alt-tab > ctrl-v > enter > ctrl-v (repeat 3 times) rather than using mouse like a grandma and using 3 times as much time for the same things.

So whatever, go nuts over efficient and proven methods, I dare you to write "I am a Mac user and I go nuts when using Windows" in your CV, let's see how many people would give you a real job 

[iindigo]

Whenever I'm tied down to a single desktop and just a taskbar/alt-tab for task switching, I go nuts.

Yeah, switching between desktops, or switching the windows with alt-tab: big difference.... not. Besides, alt-tab is the fastest way to switch ever because there are no fancy animations in between, you can do it instantly. Not something that can be said about most Linux desktops I have tried.

Hell, if I was tied down to something as gay as mouse gestures, I would go nuts. The best thing about Windows is that you technically never need a mouse. When I work with many windows opened, I hate using the mouse, it's slow and therefore for noobs only. When I am at work and program 4 Atmega64 microcontrollers on 4 different cards simultaneously, it goes so much faster flashing them with: (write) flash > ctrl-a > ctrl-c > enter > alt-tab > ctrl-v > enter > ctrl-v (repeat 3 times) rather than using mouse like a grandma and using 3 times as much time for the same things.

So whatever, go nuts over efficient and proven methods, I dare you to write "I am a Mac user and I go nuts when using Windows" in your CV, let's see how many people would give you a real job 

I should have clarified. If it's just two or three programs at a time, the Windows taskbar is fine. It gets cumbersome when I have as much stuff going as I typically do. It's not uncommon for me to have 10+ file browser windows, 3-7 windows open in Photoshop, two browser windows with 10+ tabs, iTunes, a terminal window or two, Mail, an RSS reader, a multi-service IM client, a bittorrent client, several programming text editor windows (and if what I happen to be working on is web-related, a couple other browsers for testing in addition to a VM running), along with a number of other random processes. Spamming alt-tab to get to the desired window seems slow in such a situation. The main advantage given by multiple desktops is that of organization (and the speed gain that comes from it); something which I will admit is not terribly handy in an environment where all windows are expected to be maximized (which is a total waste of screen real estate, but that's another argument).

[AceHigh]

What? Spamming with alt tab? How noob are you. Just hold alt and then rapidly click tab until you get to the correct window. Damn, you should have seen my colleague who is an oldschool hacker, alt tabbing which includes him getting things done on each window in a speed that makes me look like a slow ass.

[iindigo]

What? Spamming with alt tab? How noob are you. Just hold alt and then rapidly click tab until you get to the correct window. Damn, you should have seen my colleague who is an oldschool hacker, alt tabbing which includes him getting things done on each window in a speed that makes me look like a slow ass.

Yeah, that's what I meant by "spamming".

Anyway, I'm exiting this argument with a final note - what it boils down to is that UIs need to be a pleasure to use regardless of who is using them.

[AceHigh]

Anyway, I'm exiting this argument with a final note - what it boils down to is that UIs need to be a pleasure to use regardless of who is using them.

Wrong: it's impossible to please everyone no matter what you do.