CrunchBang Linux Forums » Off Topic / General Chat » Mac Unity
I was having a look at Natty today and some of the features in the new alpha. It's amazing how OS X like it's becoming
With the global menu it adds to the overall similarities. It's an interesting direction they are taking.
It sure is interesting, am following it through the OMG! Ubuntu! and webupd8 blogs. I'd certainly give it a test roll once it is released, but I doubt if it is that good that I'll actually use it.
Are you also following the Elementary desktop and GNOME3/Gnome Shell?
Are you also following the Elementary desktop and GNOME3/Gnome Shell?
Not really, I was just looking at Natty screens briefly and noticed the similarities.
Ah I see. The Elementary desktop is similar to the Mac interface as well. They've actually just showed Slingshot, which is like Launchpad on the Mac.
I think it's an unfortunate manifestation of Ubuntu's infamous "bug #1" ("Microsoft has a majority market share.") Apple has had years to surpass Microsoft, but they haven't, so I'm not sure how making Ubuntu more Mac-like will hurt MS's majority share. If anything it seems to me Canonical is making a run at passing Apple for the #2 spot.
Now some might argue that there is an absolute, objective "user friendly" (teddy bears and gently-pulsing pastel widgets) and that the closer Mac and Ubuntu move toward that ideal, the more similar they will become. Of course as big #! geeks we know there is no such thing as "one perfect interface for all users." 
I think it's an unfortunate manifestation of Ubuntu's infamous "bug #1" ("Microsoft has a majority market share.") Apple has had years to surpass Microsoft, but they haven't, so I'm not sure how making Ubuntu more Mac-like will hurt MS's majority share. If anything it seems to me Canonical is making a run at passing Apple for the #2 spot.
I think that you also should take the $$ into consideration. For the majority of users, Apple's products are too expensive, which makes Windows the only way to go. If Ubuntu is becoming Mac-like, in terms of appearance and performance, I think more users will want to take the Linux path instead of Microsoft's.
Of course as big #! geeks we know there is no such thing as "one perfect interface for all users."
True, I'm sticking with my CFS 
Last edited by Unia (2011-02-24 19:33:47)
Now if only Ubuntu was less orange then it'd be perfect
Now if only Ubuntu was less orange then it'd be perfect
I take it you prefer Arch blue? 
Fedora blue would be fine too just no more orange (or brown) please!
Good point, Unia... I forget that some people actually pay for their operating systems.
The difference between OSX and that Ubuntu thingy is that OSX looks good and such features integrate well into the desktop, while Ubuntu has the tendency to introduce a new feature and integrate the desktop into it.
Little known facts:
- The impairment Ubuntu users will have to endure in the coming years can be measured in (liters of tears cried)/(seconds sitting in front of the desktop)[l/s].
- The abuse of helpless little desktop environments is commonly called "Interfacial" and prohibited in more than 60 countries (the civilized ones).
Good point, Unia... I forget that some people actually pay for their operating systems.
I once installed gentoo. It asked me for a sacrifice and would not install itself unless I gave him my neighbor's first born and my best bottle of Whiskey.
^ So funny!
And that's actually a lot of the flak Ubuntu (and especially elementary) are getting right now---look on any comment thread on OMG!Ubuntu! or wherever and you'll see the "Mac Clone" comments. I tend to agree with @snowpine that it's just that Mac is so user-friendly and 'makes sense' from a graphical standpoint. If Ubuntu goes that way, cool. But as to the menus, I prefer the elementary approach of just getting rid of them
I once installed gentoo. It asked me for a sacrifice and would not install itself unless I gave him my neighbor's first born and my best bottle of Whiskey.
sig'd
ahaha
- The abuse of helpless little desktop environments is commonly called "Interfacial" and prohibited in more than 60 countries (the civilized ones).
I recently switched to mac to get to iphone development.
I have to disagree about how good the mac is.
It can't be (reliably) skinned, so you're stuck with IMHO totally out of date, and out-sized UI elements.
While it does "just work", that's only because you can't do much. In almost every area the configuration options have been reduced to the bare minimum, idiot proof ones.
Navigation is broken. In mac it is based on the application rather than the window. Who cares about the application, I navigate visually between open windows. Eg, the combined "launcher" and "currently open windows" style of launchbar that windows7 has adopted from the mac just makes no sense whatsoever.
I hear Mac OS X Lion will have some interesting new ideas though. This is the direction linux should be going - blazing new trails, not just cloning other peoples UI.
that's why I don't use ubuntu. 
I hate macs.
Ah I see. The Elementary desktop is similar to the Mac interface as well. They've actually just showed Slingshot, which is like Launchpad on the Mac.
Wonder why they do so much work, when there's already the ultimate Mac-Clone:
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/macbuntu.html
Unia wrote:Ah I see. The Elementary desktop is similar to the Mac interface as well. They've actually just showed Slingshot, which is like Launchpad on the Mac.
Wonder why they do so much work, when there's already the ultimate Mac-Clone:
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/macbuntu.html
They're not just doing it for the looks, there's also new features being brought in.
Wonder why they do so much work, when there's already the ultimate Mac-Clone:
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/macbuntu.html
Totally agree. May be canonical thinks macbuntu is just a clone while Unity is an original creation by canonical and not a clone... sorry i couldn't hold the laugh on that.
Sorry, I have to partly disagree. I am a regular Mac user, and I also have been using Ubuntu Unity since it came out with the Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition. I agree that there are some Mac-like appearance elements in UNE/Unity, but Unity operates very differently from MacOSX. I think it's arguable that the copying went the other way, as the new OSX version currently in development, Lion, will operate much like UNE/Unity. It could be argued that both are derived from IOS. I like the way IOS works on small electronic devices like the iPod and iPad, and Unity is not bad on a netbook when used as an internet appliance (that's pretty much what I use it for), but I fear that it will be very inefficient on a full-sized desktop or laptop.
Last edited by fox (2011-02-25 18:20:55)
Ive been testing Ubuntu Unity for about a month on my Acer Nettop.
Other than a few bugs when it was in its alpha state,It has run fairly well with minimal hickups.
The Unity Interface does take some getting used to,Like having to highlight a window to get to its settings,Which normally would be on each window thats open,With Unity its on the taskbar.
I dont see this as simpler than having it on the open window,It doesnt really save all that much space.
At first this annoyed me,But now im used to it.
In the Alpha version you do have the choice to use the older gnome style desktop,When logging in you can choose between Ubuntu Classic and Ubuntu Classic no effects. Or something like that.
Ill admit to liking the Unity interface now.
Im hoping for a fix for Dropbox,It can be installed,But theres no taskbar icon,And any of the online tricks havent worked for me,It still works,And im sure in time it will work itself out.
I dont have many miles on Mac systems,But id have to agree with the many similarities.
Im not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing,I thought the whole reason for this type of interface was for touch screens.Im thinking an Ubuntu Tablet would be hot,And theres already a few youtube videos out there showing how well it works on certain tablets.
I like to think its a step in the rite direction,But only time will tell.
Posts [ 21 ]
CrunchBang Linux Forums » Off Topic / General Chat » Mac Unity
Forums powered by PunBB. Hosted by Linode.
Copyright © CrunchBang Linux.
Proudly powered by Debian GNU/Linux.
Debian is a registered trademark of Software in the Public Interest, Inc.