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Canonical has released Ubuntu 11.04 or Natty Narwhale as this release is known. This release is not your ordinary Ubuntu update with a handful of new features and the same basic Ubuntu you know and love. No, Natty Narwhale is an entirely new beast, with the Unity shell replacing everything familiar about the Ubuntu desktop.
After a bumpy ride with the initial beta -- which I dubbed the single worst beta release of Ubuntu I've ever tested -- I did not have high hopes for the final release, which is good, because while things have certainly improved, they are a long way from the level of polish that we've come to expect from Ubuntu.
That's not to say there isn't much to love in Ubuntu 11.04. On the surface Unity looks good. In fact, Unity will most likely one day trump GNOME 3 in many ways -- for example it's been noticeably snappier than GNOME 3 in my testing. Eventually, come Ubuntu 13.04 or so, Unity will seem like a brilliant move, but right now it's a bit rough around the edges for everyday use.
There are no doubt some that love using the latest version of any software, but Unity -- regardless of what you think of it -- isn't what most user's would call "ready for prime time." The problem isn't that everything you know and love about GNOME 2.x is suddenly gone, the real problem is that Unity can't do much of what GNOME 2.x (or even GNOME 3) can do.
If that sounds familiar it might be because the same thing happened to KDE users in the move from KDE 3.x to 4.0. Sadly, rather than learn from the ensuing backlash that came with KDE 4, Canonical has decided to soldier on into the Unity future, whether it's fully formed or not.
##Unity The Good
Unity's new universal or global menu -- which pulls the main menu out of the application window and puts it in the global menu bar -- works surprisingly well and is the first of many features that reflect the influence of Apple's user interface designs. It's different, but the global menu is probably the easiest change to adjust to -- same menus, new location.
Unity's new launcher/dock is another element that closely mirrors what you'll find in Mac OS X, though without much of the polish built-in to Apple's offering. On the plus side, like the GNOME 3 Shell, Unity's shell interface is a keyboard-shortcut lover's dream. You can call up the launcher, search for apps and documents and launch them all without ever needing to reach for a mouse. There are also a few nice touches in the various indicator apps -- for example, you can simply hover your mouse over the volume indicator and use the scrollwheel to adjust the volume without ever actually clicking anything.
The very nice attention to detail in many aspects of Unity are also what make many of its ill-conceived shortcomings so obvious, though Ubuntu has been hard at work fixing many of the issues that plagued the first beta release. In fact, several of the items I called out in the beta review have been addressed.
The final version of Ubuntu 11.04 allows you to move and (with some workarounds) resize the launcher/dock, positioning it where you'd like on your screen. The interface has also been tweaked to allow you to drag and drop app icons from the Unity Dash to the Launcher. Another interesting change is that when you open the Dash, the Unity launcher will desaturate to a monotone gray, while the Dash remains in color, helping you see where you're currently focused in the Shell.
##Unity The Bad
All three of those improvements are steps forward for usability in Unity, but there are some steps backward as well -- like the new disappearing scrollbars. Frankly I was already on the Ubuntu bug report site when it finally sank in that hiding the scrollbar was not in fact a bug, but a feature. It makes for a cleaner interface apparently. And Apple is doing it in some of its new applications, so it must be a good idea.
In Unity the disappearing scrollbar appears when you mouse over where a scrollbar ought to be, but oddly, it appears hanging, outside the window in question (unless you have the app maximized, in which case, for further confusion, it's inside the window). The hanging scrollbar might be the single ugliest, most anti-intuitive part of Unity. Just keep telling yourself, it's not a bug, it's a feature, and perhaps eventually you'll believe it. In the mean time you'll have to live with it.
The disappearing scrollbars, grayed out launchers and other fancy interface elements in Unity make for some much more intensive system requirements than the average Ubuntu update. While moving Unity to OpenGL, which powers most of the new effects is a good thing in the long term, it will leave some machines behind since OpenGL requires newer hardware. If your PC isn't up to snuff there is Unity 2D, a kind of backport of Unity's features without the graphics overhead. In the beta release you needed to install Unity 2D separately, but thankfully Ubuntu has bundled Unity 2D as one of several desktop options in Ubuntu 11.04.
##Beyond Unity
Ubuntu has done a good job of solving many of the application bugs that plagued the beta release. Firefox is now at version 4, though as with GNOME 3, Firefox is not as tightly integrated into the new interface as other apps. For example, the hanging scrollbars don't work in Firefox.
Banshee has also been updated for this release and no longer crashes every time you try to add a song. The final release of Ubuntu 11.04 also sees version bumps for Shotwell, LibreOffice, Gwibber, Transmission and the rest of the standard GNOME app stack.
The Ubuntu Software Center has seen a makeover for Ubuntu 11.04, adding the ability to leave starred reviews. Even better, the Software Center now allows you to try out apps without having to commit to even a temporary installation. Instead the app is streamed from Ubuntu's servers in a pop-up window. The streaming previews don't seem to work with every app yet, but when they do it will make choosing among the variety of apps available a little bit easier.
Ubuntu One has also been improved and now allows selective syncing and the new launcher icon offers a progress meter so you can tell at a glance whether your files are synced or not. Canonical also claims that syncing is faster with this release thanks to improvments in how Ubuntu One scans your drive.
##Conclusion
Canonical made an interesting last minute change to the development cycle of Ubuntu 11.04. Instead of releasing RC1 after the beta, as typically happens, a second beta was released. Curiously though, there was no RC release after the second beta, which just adds to the feeling that Ubuntu 11.04 is unfinished.
Unity has potential, but it's tough to escape the feeling that it just isn't ready yet. Ubuntu's drive to bring something radically new to the Linux desktop just might work in the long run, but unless you want to come along for all the bumps along the way we suggest skipping Ubuntu 11.04 and waiting for something more fully baked to emerge.
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