I am a big fan of complete congruence so that everything fits together into a bigger picture and to be truthful that has been the key to the success that Apple has been riding; linux Desktop environments had not always been on the same train given the availability of different toolkits, design approach and many other variables which gives us users many different choices and also in-congruence.
But the solution maybe elementary, as shown by the latest release (which has been quite some time ago as we wait for Isis) of elementaryOS Luna.
Desktop
Since Luna is based of ubuntu 12.04, there is no point in talking about the underlying specifications; rather, the focus should the elementary's very own Pantheon desktop environment. Pantheon is written entirely in Vala with focus on minimalism and usability and I must say that their design lives upto its their moto. The design of pantheon includes wingpanel, a simple and elegant panel on the top; on the left hand corner we have the simple slingshot app launcher, on the middle we have the date and time and finally on the right hand corner he have all the indicators and system menus. And on the bottom we have plank, which is their dock and launchers. All though everything has very minimal user settings available, it is possible to make radical changes by using elementary-tweaks and super-wingpanel. The desktop it self is very smooth, even when I had over 10 different applications running. The only awkward thing about the pantheon desktop initially was its lack of desktop icon; having been a convert from Ubuntu/Gnome/Arch, struggled a little in the beginning but now I even keep my OS X desktop empty.
So overall, I have nothing but praise for pantheon DE, except in its multi-monitor and virtual desktop handling. I use another monitor in extension to my Macbook pro and its often becomes a tug of war between the different desktops as if I have two Firefox windows in the same desktop, there is no easy way to move one of them to a different desktop and that can be quite an annoyance which is proliferated in a multi-monitor setup as multiple windows as the desktops are not independent in both monitors which often leads to the windows from same apps being stuck in the same desktop.
These are some minor hiccups as it is always possible to create windows of Firefox or similar apps in other desktops and I am definite that with Isis we are going to see much more improvement is all aspects of the desktop. So, I score the desktop 9/10 as it is almost flawless.
Apps
One of the most unique aspects of elementaryOS is its collection of native apps which are very well integrated with Pantheon. The pinnacle of the quality of the included apps are demonstrated by Geary Mail, which is an email client, Beatbox, a music player, and Scratch text editor, which is a nice test editor for development. Now, even Ubuntu includes similar apps, but the unique aspect of elementary's default apps are their inherit design patterns which have been outlined by elementary's human interface guidelines. So unlike other distro's apps, the default apps in elementaryOS feel right at home as they have been written in vala with the Gtk library in the back-end. See for yourself....
So, as you can see all these apps fit together likes pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and provide a much more uniform experience which is rare in the Linux ecosystem and is much appreciated from me. So, 10/10 on the apps.
Overall experience
So, on an ending note, my overall experience have been stellar and I am not planning to move to any other linux distros or OS any time soon as ElementaryOS luna gives me the balance of usability and comfort from the users point of view but at the same time it has options for customization for any expert user. But like any piece of software it has its pitfalls, although small they can hamper experience. And thus due to its speed, dependable Ubuntu core and fantastic UX design, I give 9/10 for my overall experience.
Thus ElementaryOS luna scores 28/30, which is q near perfect score and well deserved!
So, have you tried Elementary OS Luna yet? Share you experience in the comments below.....
If not, download it here and let us know about your exploration down in the comments!
But the solution maybe elementary, as shown by the latest release (which has been quite some time ago as we wait for Isis) of elementaryOS Luna.
Desktop
Since Luna is based of ubuntu 12.04, there is no point in talking about the underlying specifications; rather, the focus should the elementary's very own Pantheon desktop environment. Pantheon is written entirely in Vala with focus on minimalism and usability and I must say that their design lives upto its their moto. The design of pantheon includes wingpanel, a simple and elegant panel on the top; on the left hand corner we have the simple slingshot app launcher, on the middle we have the date and time and finally on the right hand corner he have all the indicators and system menus. And on the bottom we have plank, which is their dock and launchers. All though everything has very minimal user settings available, it is possible to make radical changes by using elementary-tweaks and super-wingpanel. The desktop it self is very smooth, even when I had over 10 different applications running. The only awkward thing about the pantheon desktop initially was its lack of desktop icon; having been a convert from Ubuntu/Gnome/Arch, struggled a little in the beginning but now I even keep my OS X desktop empty.
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| My Desktop |
So overall, I have nothing but praise for pantheon DE, except in its multi-monitor and virtual desktop handling. I use another monitor in extension to my Macbook pro and its often becomes a tug of war between the different desktops as if I have two Firefox windows in the same desktop, there is no easy way to move one of them to a different desktop and that can be quite an annoyance which is proliferated in a multi-monitor setup as multiple windows as the desktops are not independent in both monitors which often leads to the windows from same apps being stuck in the same desktop.
These are some minor hiccups as it is always possible to create windows of Firefox or similar apps in other desktops and I am definite that with Isis we are going to see much more improvement is all aspects of the desktop. So, I score the desktop 9/10 as it is almost flawless.
Apps
One of the most unique aspects of elementaryOS is its collection of native apps which are very well integrated with Pantheon. The pinnacle of the quality of the included apps are demonstrated by Geary Mail, which is an email client, Beatbox, a music player, and Scratch text editor, which is a nice test editor for development. Now, even Ubuntu includes similar apps, but the unique aspect of elementary's default apps are their inherit design patterns which have been outlined by elementary's human interface guidelines. So unlike other distro's apps, the default apps in elementaryOS feel right at home as they have been written in vala with the Gtk library in the back-end. See for yourself....
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| Pantheon Files for reference |
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| Geary mail |
 |
| Music |
 |
| Scratch text editor |
So, as you can see all these apps fit together likes pieces of the jigsaw puzzle and provide a much more uniform experience which is rare in the Linux ecosystem and is much appreciated from me. So, 10/10 on the apps.
Overall experience
So, on an ending note, my overall experience have been stellar and I am not planning to move to any other linux distros or OS any time soon as ElementaryOS luna gives me the balance of usability and comfort from the users point of view but at the same time it has options for customization for any expert user. But like any piece of software it has its pitfalls, although small they can hamper experience. And thus due to its speed, dependable Ubuntu core and fantastic UX design, I give 9/10 for my overall experience.
Thus ElementaryOS luna scores 28/30, which is q near perfect score and well deserved!
So, have you tried Elementary OS Luna yet? Share you experience in the comments below.....
If not, download it here and let us know about your exploration down in the comments!