Ubuntu drops GNOME in favor of homegrown Unity UI
The "Unity" user interface that debuted in Ubuntu 10.10's Netbook Edition will be standard on the next version of the Ubuntu Desktop Edition, as well. Ubuntu Desktop 11.04 will replace the Linux distribution's default GNOME environment in favor of the multitouch-enabled Unity user interface, says Canonical.
Making the announcement at a keynote Oct. 25 at Ubuntu Developer Summit in Orlando, Fla., Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical’s founder, said Ubuntu Desktop 11.04 will swap out the GNOME user interface in favor of the Unity interface that is now available on UNE. "We conceived some work a time ago focused on netbooks that we want to bring to desktops," Shuttleworth said.
Canonical introduced Unity, the multitouch interface, this month with Ubuntu 10.10 ("Maverick Meerkat") for netbooks. Unity gives users 3D graphics support and better touchscreen enablement. The desktop/laptop version of Ubuntu 10.10 still has the long-standing GNOME 2.2 interface by default.
