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Comment by ilcavero | Hacker News Reader

the question is, is unity usable already? will it ever?

For some of us, it already is. We just don't rant about it every time someone mentions Ubuntu or Unity.

I use it and like it. I like the way that it gets out of your way when using applications. I'm still getting used to some of the configuration aspects, but I don't spend that much time tinkering with setup, so all told it's a solid win for me.

Last month I was forced to use a netbook for a week and decided to install Ubuntu with Unity on it. I was really impressed with the user experience. I was probably just as efficient (if not more) than on my macbook!

I use this setup when I travel. It works well in an airplane seat and is more usable than an ipad for development.

There are two Ubuntu using people in my office who've completely moved to unity and who are happy with it. But there's also third person who thinks it's crap and switched to Mint. Personally, I'm happy running Xubuntu and haven't looked too closely at the whole issue

I decided to try Gnome 3 (still on Ubuntu) and I am more satisfied with that right now. ( also think it's more aesthetically pleasing) I had some issues with the side dock but gnome's version is a little less intrusive.

Used it for half a year then did "sudo apt-get remove unity-desktop && apt-get install xfce-desktop". I dislike the concept of huge sidebars that move around and overlays etc. So I will probably not try it again. Xfce is nice and fast.

I personally enjoy Unity and while it took me a couple of weeks to get used to it, I find it's made me at least 5-10% more productive in the long run.

I would compare it to learning to drive manual transmission. Difficult to get used to at first, but once you've mastered it, automatic will feel awkward and unsafe.

I'm using Unity, and while it stays out of my way for the most part (I use a launcher for everything), I haven't noticed any features that would make me more productive. I'm curious about that now, can you elaborate?

When I say Unity I speak of mainly the Unity Dash (or whatever it's called), and it doesn't just save me time but also demands less mental strain to navigate.

The act of typing a single word, as opposed to browsing through menus of categories and programs, saves me at least 10-15 seconds each time I have to access a program. The only icons I keep in the launcher are Chrome, Terminal, Home, Inkscape and Gimp.

Same for documents. Starting Nautilus, clicking through to a bunch of folders, maybe going back a few times if I took the wrong path is significantly slower for me than just typing a keyword and getting maybe 5 or 6 results one of which is the document I was looking for.

I find this is similar to the functionality of the Spotlight search on the Mac which I also enjoyed.

Of course, if you just want to launch programs by typing a word, you don't need Unity. You can just type their names into a terminal.

You must know the exact name of the program's launch command before you type it in the terminal (in Unity I can simply type Music.. or whatever) and of course you must remember to follow the command with an ampersand if you want the app to run in the background and retain the usability of that particular terminal window. But other than that, I agree it's similar.

For me it's easier pressing the "Windows" key and just typing what I need. Not to mention that that key has regained its usefulness which, until Unity came around, hasn't been pressed since I stopped using Windows.

I agree with this but with an important qualification: speed of response. On a netbook (Atom processor), there can be a delay when invoking the Dash with a tap on the Windows key, as there can be on older hardware such as Centrino laptops. The delay reduces after the first invocation in a session. There appears to be 'type ahead' so even in the delay you don't lose the first (and most important) character of a program name. Sort of like Spotlight on older Mac laptops.

On a decent PC, you don't notice the delay anything like as much.

PS: before Unity, I just bound the Windows key so that it invoked dmenu (see 'suckless tools', dwm/dmenu for the minimalist approach to GUIs).

Oh I agree. If the Dash is lagging then I can understand how that can be annoying. My laptop is actually running a couple of generations old Centrino processor (SU9400) but I haven't noticed any slowdowns. I also run Oneiric on my home-built HTPC with an AMD A6-3500 Llano processor and it's also just as responsive.

If there are problems on Atom or other processors then there definitely need to be some optimization done there.

Something like a third of a second, maybe a half. Enough to notice. Slower on Unity2d for some strange reason.

> must remember to follow the command with an ampersand if you want the app to run in the background and retain the usability of that particular terminal window

If you forget to to this from now on, just hit ^Z (to suspend the process) then run `bg' (to put it in the background).

Great tip. Thank you

Someone made some extensions to modify Unity that seem okay..things like turn off the thumbscroll thingy, etc..

I still had to modify gkrc(GKT2.0) for my Eclipse SWT tooltips

And of course most of the time I am using CairoDock anyway

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