Ubuntu's Heads-Up Display Desktop

horrible idea especially with macro's and shortcuts sorry i personally hate it more than i hate ms's ribbon. now instead of 2 clicks i have to type 20 letters scroll down through a maze of items that i do not want to hopefully find that one thing it thinks i should have. Give me a good functional file menu any day over these "pretty" displays/menus/garbage or whatever they want to call it. I'll take function over fashion every day of the week when it comes to a gui
 
Tried it a couple of days ago. VERY buggy. I would have to press the ALT key 2 or 3 times to get it to open, and then the result were bad. Obviously a controlled demo. I am sure it will get better, and might even be cool when it does. Given the lack of stability of the current Ubuntu 12.04 Alpha and this thing, I find it hard to believe it will be released in April.
 
I agree it seems backwards in GUI but in CLI it could be proper useful for searching through and navigating in config files. Focus on that Ubuntu!
 
Idk, not a big fan. I've used Ubuntu for . . . 4-5 years now (multi-booting of course). I just cannot get used to unity, which they have been pushing and apparently want to keep pushing. While you can switch back, it's just one more thing that makes Ubuntu seem a little too bloated and not power-user friendly enough.

This idea seems like it might be good for some people, but I'll pass. Personally, I'm switching back to Fedora Core for awhile. Going to wait and see what happens.
 
Because its Linux, hardly anyone will even know it exists. If this was in Mac OS, they would have a keynote about it and hundreds of thousands of people would wait in blizzards outside their Apple store to get the first line off the shelf.
 
Okay - Windows 7 search is pretty useful for finding things. And that is all that this is. Windows 7 search merged into a Command Line.

Trouble is - if you replace ALL the menus and icons with this, how is the average dumb user going to know what the name of the thing is he needs to type? Even that email example threw me - I wouldn't think of typing "compose" to write an email.

To me, this is a backward step to a command line. Great for those who like command lines, hopeless for the average user who clicks on pretty icons as he is used to recognising what that little Fox or Blue E does. That same home user rarely knows what a Web Browser is by name.

We have come a long way in GUI design... and this throws out all the advances in simplicity for dumb users and expects users to go on a course to learn what everything is called.

(And I won't even start on the problems with foreign languages... current GUI design is consistant across languages that means I can use a Japanese Windows PC by recognising the icons. This daft idea makes that impossible)
 
So how do you know what to type in? You just keep trying shit till you find something cool? Toolbars and menus make more sense because you can actually see a list of your options. These people have coding skills but they have no common sense.
 
Seems like going back to the future.

I don't mind it, at all. It would certainly be better than the freaking ribbon junk that MS pushed into Office 07 / 10.

I don't see a huge need to get away from the old words + drop downs that we had in Win2000 though.

These 'innovations' seem to me to be like the 'innovations' we've seen in zip-loc style bags in the last 20 years. Zip-locs just worked 20 years ago. Now we have all kinds of zip-loc style bags that sacrifice significant seal integrity because some moron can't always get tab A into slot B.
 
That HUD is nothing like I thought it might appear to be; what they did looks extremely intrusive of personal virtual real estate, and looks very obnoxious. It makes me feel very uncomfortable when it shows on screen.
 
I just recently re-installed Ubuntu after not using it for a while and uninstalled it just as fast.... I don't use Linux cuz I want to see all they're "Cool" little eye candy GUI's.
Unity = Fail
 
their media center at ces might compete with xbmc in the near future
 
I like it especially if I have no idea what the fuck I'm looking for. But I don't want it to be the main thing. Mouse > Keyboard still.
 
pgwalsh said:
Being a huge and avid user of Spotlight, I think it's great. It goes beyond spotlight into apps and I like that idea.
Click to expand...

I should caveat that I think it should be an alternative instead of a replacement. A replacement entirely isn't a good idea.
 
pgwalsh said:
You're joking right...
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Keyboard shortcuts > mouse clicks >> typing commands

All of that goes out the window if you're trying to do some complicated command line input but for everyday use that's the pecking order.

Maybe if this was voice activated or something it might be better.
 
FndTheRver said:
Keyboard shortcuts > mouse clicks >> typing commands

All of that goes out the window if you're trying to do some complicated command line input but for everyday use that's the pecking order.

Maybe if this was voice activated or something it might be better.
Click to expand...

Well I can tell you from experience that my keyboard shortcut and typing to open documents or applications is way faster than mouse clicking. Way faster.
 
It sucks but you don't have to use it, I'm sticking with v.10.10 but I know Unity will work much better a year from now.

Maybe we should all volunteer to pay 20 dollars/euros per copy to help give Windows some competition. The most talented developers don't work for free.
 
I've found that it's impossible to get users to type stuff into the Windows 7 search menu. They simply hate it; all their applications go on the desktop or, for the more advanced ones, the taskbar.
 
In theory I like the idea. BUT, only as a complementary feature for a mouse/menu based interface. Replacing clear and intuitive menus with a 'guess the command' box would be a step backwards in my opinion.

I welcome ideas like this to be presented as a non-default OPTION to users as a glimpse into the future, but not as an outright replacement for known good systems before they are ready for prime time.

Users tend to demand inclusion of cool features after the power-users perfect them.

I know Unity has soured my opinion of the direction Ubuntu is heading, and going forward from 10.04 I will be seeking alternatives. This "HUD" (poor name choice IMO) is only further chasing me away.
 
Personally, as long as it doesn't take over the GUI then I have no problem with it. Though I'm having a hard time seeing how this feature will be useful as I sometimes don't even remember the name of the menu item I want. Though I can see this being useful for Photoshop users, given that Ubuntu ever gets Photoshop.

Also, I still see the Unity bar. So yea, I don't see any real improvements.
 
lloose said:
Because its Linux, hardly anyone will even know it exists. If this was in Mac OS, they would have a keynote about it and hundreds of thousands of people would wait in blizzards outside their Apple store to get the first line off the shelf.
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Linux pretty much fails all the way around, doesn't it?
 
Gut reaction?

It's gotta be better than Gnome.

I suspect if Ubuntu actually does go through with this though they'll push more users to KDE-Centric distributions such as Mepis Linux.
 
Ubuntu's user interface has gone from tolerable to unusable in the last couple of versions. I installed 11.10 in a virtual machine, but after spending 10 minutes trying to find the proper package manager (not the simplified program store with nothing useful in it) I gave up and removed the VM.
 
I appreciate the culture of UI innovation there, I just hope someone else picks up on the work and makes it a joy to use.
 
Aug, I didn't think they could possibly ruin the UI any worse than they already had...
 
thefreeaccount said:
I've found that it's impossible to get users to type stuff into the Windows 7 search menu. They simply hate it; all their applications go on the desktop or, for the more advanced ones, the taskbar.
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I use it all the time at work.

Windows key > r > remote desktop connection
Windows key > snip
Windows key > excel or word

I used to do Windows key + R and then excel or winword, but this is a bit quicker even now. Especially for snip/RDP. It has been so long since I've gone anything past the main Start menu, it'd take me far longer to click start, go to All Programs, and then look for this stuff.
 
FndTheRver said:
Keyboard shortcuts > mouse clicks >> typing commands

All of that goes out the window if you're trying to do some complicated command line input but for everyday use that's the pecking order.

Maybe if this was voice activated or something it might be better.
Click to expand...

Mouse use through a GUI addresses ease of use if you don't know what commands are available. The deeper or more complex the function from a hierarchical standpoint the slower the GUI becomes. Voice commands at this point are in the same boat as we still have to address accuracy and speed, but they make ease of operation better. Typing compared to either is still more accurate and faster.

We should look at lookup returns in OS operations as stepping stones which will improve voice command driven operation in the future. Most of what we are seeing now in Windows, and Gnome are just laying the foundation for future advances.
 
:rolleyes: no biggie, just another option, you can switch to whatever or uninstall/disable it if you dont like it. unity 5.0 looks a little better: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/01/how-to-install-unity-5-0-in-ubuntu-11-10/

thewooster said:
Idk, not a big fan. I've used Ubuntu for . . . 4-5 years now (multi-booting of course). I just cannot get used to unity, which they have been pushing and apparently want to keep pushing. While you can switch back, it's just one more thing that makes Ubuntu seem a little too bloated and not power-user friendly enough.

This idea seems like it might be good for some people, but I'll pass. Personally, I'm switching back to Fedora Core for awhile. Going to wait and see what happens.
Click to expand...

unity is customizable, try CompizConfig and LightDM for example, i use it flipped and fixed and is actually good, better than mint which actually feels exactly like mandrake with KDE/Gnome that i used in 2002 lol
 
seems counter productive, but if they are setting up commands for voice activation later on, I see where they are going with it.
 
Negative Decibel said:
seems counter productive, but if they are setting up commands for voice activation later on, I see where they are going with it.
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That's a good point.

Frankly, I think it's a fantastic idea so long as it doesn't replace the GUI, not that Unity is any good and shouldn't be replaced... I've been on Ubuntu 10.10 for ages now because I hate Unity.

Think of the HUD as a supplement to people who already know what/how to use it and what they're looking for. In that sense no different than the windows search bar. If you're willing to learn to use it you'll find it's far easier and faster to type in a short 3-4 letters than it is to dig through 3 or 4 tabs even if it were in KDE/Gnome/XFCE and not Unity. You can also keep your desktop completely clean (and I do mean completely) because you'd be able to customize the search filters. In essence, do everything thru HUD or the terminal, which for a seasoned linux vet is perfect. It'll offer even more customizing options to Linux which is known for being incredibly custom. I love it and am looking forward to KDE/Gnome-based interfaces with HUD :) It does look huge and they're clearly still trying to make Ubuntu more tablet friendly.

Don't see why so many of you guys are bitching. More options is a good thing no? Nobody's forcing you to use them and you can still get things done the old way...
 
lloose said:
Because its Linux, hardly anyone will even know it exists. If this was in Mac OS, they would have a keynote about it and hundreds of thousands of people would wait in blizzards outside their Apple store to get the first line off the shelf.
Click to expand...

Lol. Pretty much this....

I personally thought it was a cool concept. The program integration is cool. But do I use Linux? Nope...
 
Err, can't edit.

Think of HUD as a toolbar to get to where you need to go rather than a search bar where you need to find what you're looking for.

Also, wouldn't be surprised if Apple snatches this and goes off with it. Wouldn't be the first time they're "borrowing ideas" from Linux
 
Umm? I use i3 wm, and it is way faster than mousing around.
Unity needs to die like XP
 
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