Ubuntu 11.04, codenamed Natty Narwhal, has been out for a few months now. Immediately, there were mixed responses to the 'new' release. Some absolutely like it, some totally hate (if it's not too harsh a word) it, while others think they can still live with it.
In this release, a number of changes can be seen, compared to previous releases such as the Maverick Meerkat. For one, Natty was designed to be suitable for desktops, laptops or netbooks regardless, instead of being specific. The classic Gnome desktop was replaced with a different and new Unity. Instead of panels at the top and bottom, the Unity launcher sits, by default, at the left edge of the screen. It has the autohide feature and some key shortcuts to bring up the targeted applications. The dash, which opens up via the super key, spreads across the screen (almost 3/4 of the space), where you can type in a few key letters or words in a searchbar and the space below will change to show the related applications. A quicker way perhaps, to access your desired applications compared to the previous Gnome panel where the applications are grouped in categories in menus (which can be quite cluttered when the number of applications increase considerably). In addition, there were a few other shortcuts implemented, such as Alt +F2, to quickly enter a command.
The 3D look of the Unity launcher was designed thinking that a good enough graphics hardware is present. If not, it will fallback to 2D mode, which isn't that good looking, although still fully functional. If however, the user prefers the classic Gnome desktop, he/she can revert by choosing the classic mode at the panel at the bottom of the login screen, which appears when password is to be entered. Or the default mode can be selected in the system preferences at Login Screen. A quick search on the dash will bring it up. Of course, in classic Gnome, Unity is not enabled, but a few other good launchers can be used, such as Docky or AWN.
While the Unity launcher is rather sleek-looking, there seems to be some stability issues. Sometimes, it may crash while performing certain activities. Changing certain features/plugins in the CompizConfig Settings Manager may mess up with other plugins (causing some to be altered or deselected). It may cause Unity, or even Nautilus (the default file manager) to be dysfunctional. What's more, the awesome-looking Desktop Cube (a workspace switcher with cool effects), when enabled, can cause Unity to crash. Luckily though, there are workarounds to enable it. An alternative to the Unity launcher is the DockbarX, which has a lot of features. It can be set to use quicklists from Unity, and it can show window previews when the cursor is hovered over the icons on the panels (whereas Unity can't).
Natty straight out of the box isn't much yet. You have to update and install some extras first, including Ubuntu restricted extras, codecs, fonts, as well as applications, before you can fully utilize it. Else, even a basic mp3 player can't be played. And the installation size may be quite large, so a fast connection is probably necessary. As for the applications, some basic programs are already included in the package, so no worries. For example, the Banshee media player, the LibreOffice word processing group of applications, the Empathy messaging/chat client, Firefox web browser, etc. Anything else you want, click on the Ubuntu Software Center icon on the launcher, perform a search, and install. For games that work on the Windows platform however, you may have to use Wine or PlayOnLinux to get them working. There are certain things you have to configure and maybe some conflicts to be resolved in order to install and play the games. But once it's done, it's just sweet.
For somebody who is going to use Natty as it is ("all defaults"), it is quick, nice and good. But, for somebody who likes to customize and change things, there may be some problems which can be quite annoying. In fact, worst is that you had to do a reinstall to get everything back right, unless of course, you really know what you're doing.
Well, Natty is an interesting release, considering the many new changes and features, plus the fact that a lot of customizations can be done. However, one of the things which irritates me the most is the Unity issues. Without those issues, the experience may be more enjoyable. Nevertheless, there are pros and cons to it, so in the end, I guess it's up to personal preference.
In this release, a number of changes can be seen, compared to previous releases such as the Maverick Meerkat. For one, Natty was designed to be suitable for desktops, laptops or netbooks regardless, instead of being specific. The classic Gnome desktop was replaced with a different and new Unity. Instead of panels at the top and bottom, the Unity launcher sits, by default, at the left edge of the screen. It has the autohide feature and some key shortcuts to bring up the targeted applications. The dash, which opens up via the super key, spreads across the screen (almost 3/4 of the space), where you can type in a few key letters or words in a searchbar and the space below will change to show the related applications. A quicker way perhaps, to access your desired applications compared to the previous Gnome panel where the applications are grouped in categories in menus (which can be quite cluttered when the number of applications increase considerably). In addition, there were a few other shortcuts implemented, such as Alt +F2, to quickly enter a command.
The 3D look of the Unity launcher was designed thinking that a good enough graphics hardware is present. If not, it will fallback to 2D mode, which isn't that good looking, although still fully functional. If however, the user prefers the classic Gnome desktop, he/she can revert by choosing the classic mode at the panel at the bottom of the login screen, which appears when password is to be entered. Or the default mode can be selected in the system preferences at Login Screen. A quick search on the dash will bring it up. Of course, in classic Gnome, Unity is not enabled, but a few other good launchers can be used, such as Docky or AWN.
While the Unity launcher is rather sleek-looking, there seems to be some stability issues. Sometimes, it may crash while performing certain activities. Changing certain features/plugins in the CompizConfig Settings Manager may mess up with other plugins (causing some to be altered or deselected). It may cause Unity, or even Nautilus (the default file manager) to be dysfunctional. What's more, the awesome-looking Desktop Cube (a workspace switcher with cool effects), when enabled, can cause Unity to crash. Luckily though, there are workarounds to enable it. An alternative to the Unity launcher is the DockbarX, which has a lot of features. It can be set to use quicklists from Unity, and it can show window previews when the cursor is hovered over the icons on the panels (whereas Unity can't).
Natty straight out of the box isn't much yet. You have to update and install some extras first, including Ubuntu restricted extras, codecs, fonts, as well as applications, before you can fully utilize it. Else, even a basic mp3 player can't be played. And the installation size may be quite large, so a fast connection is probably necessary. As for the applications, some basic programs are already included in the package, so no worries. For example, the Banshee media player, the LibreOffice word processing group of applications, the Empathy messaging/chat client, Firefox web browser, etc. Anything else you want, click on the Ubuntu Software Center icon on the launcher, perform a search, and install. For games that work on the Windows platform however, you may have to use Wine or PlayOnLinux to get them working. There are certain things you have to configure and maybe some conflicts to be resolved in order to install and play the games. But once it's done, it's just sweet.
For somebody who is going to use Natty as it is ("all defaults"), it is quick, nice and good. But, for somebody who likes to customize and change things, there may be some problems which can be quite annoying. In fact, worst is that you had to do a reinstall to get everything back right, unless of course, you really know what you're doing.
Well, Natty is an interesting release, considering the many new changes and features, plus the fact that a lot of customizations can be done. However, one of the things which irritates me the most is the Unity issues. Without those issues, the experience may be more enjoyable. Nevertheless, there are pros and cons to it, so in the end, I guess it's up to personal preference.
A screenshot of my desktop. The widget on the right side is actually Conky. The icons on the launcher are from the AwOken Icon Theme. The default icons are more colorful.
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