For many years now, I have used Ubuntu exclusively on my machine, so much so that I decided to buy the Dell laptop that came pre-installed with Ubuntu (9.04 at the time) instead of my standard practice of getting a Windows machine and wiping the harddrive to install Linux.
A few days ago, I upgraded to the latest Ubuntu release (11.04 - Natty Narwhal) only to find that they had chosen to go with their own desktop manager (Unity) over the tried and tested Gnome. I was curious, so I played with Unity for about .. oh, 30 seconds, after which I installed GNOME 3 and began playing with it.
GNOME is where the heart is, unfortunately, so I couldn't resist. Gnome was the culmination of a long, arduous journey for me that began with trying to configure X windows, discovering FvWM, Enlightenment and the other cool window managers around then, to finally finding one that suited my computer usage. So I wanted to see if GNOME 3 lived up to my expectations, and here are my first impressions.
I like the new interface. It is still a little clunky, but I like the dynamic workspaces, and the fact that the entire window management process seems more in the Jeff Han mould than the old Win95 mould (where you have a "Start" button, and a swiss-army-knife panel sitting at the bottom). I also find myself relearning the keyboard shortcuts to many things again, which appeals to my inner geek.
What I dislike is the lack of easy configurability. In an attempt to make the desktop more noob-friendly, the developers have taken away some accessibility features that I think are quite essential. The first and foremost is the ability to quickly and easily change themes, skins, icons, and the desktop background. This might not seem like much, but being a creature of habit, visual cues are essential to the way I use the computer, and not being able to make the desktop look the way I want it to look easily is something I hope they address soon.
I did figure out how to change themes, though, which was a fun, and (in hindsight) a rather educational experience. I still haven't figured out how to change the icon of an app in the panel. This annoys me.
Having also upgraded to Firefox 4 (and its new tab organization tool called Panorama), it appears that there seems to be a trend towards more modular computing (where apps are merely set aside for the time being, rather than closed/minimized and reopened). It is a bit overwhelming at the moment, and I am not sure this is altogether a good thing, but it must be said that it is visually striking, and that might be good enough to win a few hearts.
In other news, a certain Mr. Bin Laden is dead. Most people I speak to here at Purdue have had mixed feelings about it. Is it a good thing? Should we be celebrating the fact the Americans have finally ended a decade of killing innocent civilians in the name of justice? Or should we mourn the fact that they continue their "war on terror" rhetoric?
I am too old to be happy, and too young to be sad, I suppose.
A few days ago, I upgraded to the latest Ubuntu release (11.04 - Natty Narwhal) only to find that they had chosen to go with their own desktop manager (Unity) over the tried and tested Gnome. I was curious, so I played with Unity for about .. oh, 30 seconds, after which I installed GNOME 3 and began playing with it.
GNOME is where the heart is, unfortunately, so I couldn't resist. Gnome was the culmination of a long, arduous journey for me that began with trying to configure X windows, discovering FvWM, Enlightenment and the other cool window managers around then, to finally finding one that suited my computer usage. So I wanted to see if GNOME 3 lived up to my expectations, and here are my first impressions.
I like the new interface. It is still a little clunky, but I like the dynamic workspaces, and the fact that the entire window management process seems more in the Jeff Han mould than the old Win95 mould (where you have a "Start" button, and a swiss-army-knife panel sitting at the bottom). I also find myself relearning the keyboard shortcuts to many things again, which appeals to my inner geek.
What I dislike is the lack of easy configurability. In an attempt to make the desktop more noob-friendly, the developers have taken away some accessibility features that I think are quite essential. The first and foremost is the ability to quickly and easily change themes, skins, icons, and the desktop background. This might not seem like much, but being a creature of habit, visual cues are essential to the way I use the computer, and not being able to make the desktop look the way I want it to look easily is something I hope they address soon.
I did figure out how to change themes, though, which was a fun, and (in hindsight) a rather educational experience. I still haven't figured out how to change the icon of an app in the panel. This annoys me.
Having also upgraded to Firefox 4 (and its new tab organization tool called Panorama), it appears that there seems to be a trend towards more modular computing (where apps are merely set aside for the time being, rather than closed/minimized and reopened). It is a bit overwhelming at the moment, and I am not sure this is altogether a good thing, but it must be said that it is visually striking, and that might be good enough to win a few hearts.
In other news, a certain Mr. Bin Laden is dead. Most people I speak to here at Purdue have had mixed feelings about it. Is it a good thing? Should we be celebrating the fact the Americans have finally ended a decade of killing innocent civilians in the name of justice? Or should we mourn the fact that they continue their "war on terror" rhetoric?
I am too old to be happy, and too young to be sad, I suppose.