As Microsoft shows Windows 8 off in its first dog and pony show, it seems to me to be a good time to note that Microsoft isn’t the only company bringing out a new look for the PC desktop. Canonical, Ubuntu Linux’s parent company is also transforming its Unity desktop.
Unity, for those of you who don’t know it, is based on the GNOME desktop, but it takes an entirely different approach with the desktop shell. Since I dislike the latest GNOME 3 desktop, that’s fine by me. Unity, with its tablet-style interface isn’t designed for hard-core Linux users, although we can use it too. It’s really designed more for casual users who are new to Linux or casual Windows users who want to try something better.
According to Canonical founder, Mark Shuttleworth the next version of Unity, which is due out in October, “Our goal with Unity is unprecedented ease of use, visual style and performance on the Linux desktop.”