Ubuntu Goes “Light”
A new diet soda? Not quite. Canonical has developed Ubuntu Light featuring a new user interface called Unity, which will be used in the upcoming Ubuntu 10.10. Ubuntu’s new “Light” versions will allow “instant-on” dual booting. Which, for the user, translates into the ability to access the Web in less than 10 seconds; 7 seconds to be precise.
Ubuntu is already known for being a fast-booting Linux-based operating system, but its developers have taken it to a whole new level. According to founder Mark Shuttleworth’s most recent blog post, the new “desktop experience codebase” called Unity will give all future versions of Ubuntu greater speed and a fresh new look in terms of desktop configuration. The goal is to give users access to the apps they like to run more often. In Monday’s blog post, Shuttleworth says, “the web is the key, and there may be a few complementary capabilities like media playback, messaging, games, and the ability to connect to local devices like printers and cameras and pluggable media.”
The new Unity interface will feature a panel at the top of the screen and an application dock on the side. These new features will give users quick access to their favorite apps and to easily switch between them. The app panel and dock also take up less space.
Shuttleworth expects this launch will help spread open source software in markets where Microsoft Windows currently prevails. It is expected that the dual boot will encourage users to try Ubuntu, because they’ll have the option to maintain the Windows operating system.
The downside? Ubuntu Light does not allow you to add and remove programs, one of the reasons it can boot so fast. It also lacks file management support.
Ubunto Light is available now to OEMs, and the next step is to implement the Unity interface in the Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.10, whose launch is expected for October this year. The Light versions of Ubuntu will be available for both netbooks and desktops.
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