The Ubuntu Developer Summit, La Hulpe, Belgium, May 10, 2010 has been host to a couple of major happenings in the linux developer world - Unveiling of Canonical's Desktop Environment codenamed 'Unity' and also a range of Light versions of Ubuntu, both netbook and desktop, that are optimised for dual-boot scenarios(It can install vis-a-vis Windows and present as an option to boot). The new slew of product versions is clearly aimed at gaining upperhand in domain of netbooks and related 'touch-based' devices.It has been announced that 'Unity will be the desktop environment for Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition onwards, released in October 2010, and is available to developers building applications for the netbook environment.'
In parallel to this, Canonical announced 'Ubuntu Light'.This cut-down version of Ubuntu features IM, browser (esp for Social Networks) and media player applications and is aimed at PC manufacturers seeking an 'instant-web' experience that complements Windows on consumer PCs.This has the greatest feature that it connects to web within 10 seconds of booting, with a running browser and a Media Player interface that integrates with Windows Clearly for Ubuntu, it is a new market segment which will witness much impetus in the near future.
Canonical had made available the Netbook Edition and Remix editions here:
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download-netbook
https://launchpad.net/~canonical-dx-team/+archive/une
Screenshots :
http://www.canonical.com/products/unity
With this release, Canonical has achieved yet another feat : evoke competition in the Netbook segmant with mac by presenting a mac-like experience and to bridge a gap between a pure OS and a Netbook UI. Unity is clearly optimized for netbooks, featuring a dock on the left side of the screen (as evident from screenshots)from which you can launch applications and browse your computer's file system. In addition, the title bars of windows will be on the menu bar instead of on the window itself, Mac OS X-style. These types of tweaks are designed to maximize vertical space for browsing, in a world where widescreen monitors are the new norm (especially on netbooks).
To sum up, we can quote the words of Marc Shuttleworth of Canonical on the new experience:
"Unity is a new canvas for the collective Ubuntu imagination to paint on. It has proven a perfect base for Ubuntu Light, and the roadmap ahead promises to make Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition a landmark release."
