Unity 8 Available In The Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander Repositories

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Unity 8, the Ubuntu Phone Qml Shell, has <a href="https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity8/+publishinghistory">landed</a> in the Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander repositories.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For now, Unity 8 is in its early alpha stages and not ready for use, and in fact, there's a message on the wallpaper used by it that says just that:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3fK6JYO_gGXag_Wt6XpH37XiT1jYTFNI0A9zBapmMe9Zje03JkHbXOZFiQ4GyuizTGBUjOB31JvOl4O4hRW14HEgLsy0QDxKIjKiBXLBoBu380tnLRuu6nfEwcmxfLS8Qj0tlTnTvPQ/s1600/unity8.png" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Unity 8 shell" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY3fK6JYO_gGXag_Wt6XpH37XiT1jYTFNI0A9zBapmMe9Zje03JkHbXOZFiQ4GyuizTGBUjOB31JvOl4O4hRW14HEgLsy0QDxKIjKiBXLBoBu380tnLRuu6nfEwcmxfLS8Qj0tlTnTvPQ/s320/unity8.png" title="Unity 8 shell" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">And indeed, while I was able to run it on my Saucy computer, most stuff didn't work: I wasn't able to access the launcher on the left using the mouse, the indicators didn't work and so on. Also, the phone applications that show up in Unity 8 are dummy apps so they don't actually work (and furthermore, clicking any of them freezes Unity 8 for now).<br /><br />Unity 8 currently runs as an app and you can switch from the phone to the tablet mode by resizing its window:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUNTsWUXUv0f6Bp6hv_y3v_KNPa_iq0abKI6QDQoHasM2YPTW29aV9Gk-5LqpGz2AdXCeWoKTm4wrG3r5jk_ibLdgCwV7eTrUSKbua2dV0Sa53hsrTgzsZmNYMCc5cnr7xOTZf7DZMPY/s1600/unity8_2.png" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Unity 8 shell" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUNTsWUXUv0f6Bp6hv_y3v_KNPa_iq0abKI6QDQoHasM2YPTW29aV9Gk-5LqpGz2AdXCeWoKTm4wrG3r5jk_ibLdgCwV7eTrUSKbua2dV0Sa53hsrTgzsZmNYMCc5cnr7xOTZf7DZMPY/s320/unity8_2.png" title="Unity 8 shell" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaawAwqR99RGCvw_1jPH09Y05IW7njK6ASg9smVYuK7VLn7C1EZ1O2lVvZVTfX-vOC53WAr7msZDwRMopeGXCx09QS86vTTHDuC6UDgH3T_V4N7y6_qxkr-lino7b3FLquGavC5D0JzeA/s1600/unity8_3.png" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Unity 8 shell" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaawAwqR99RGCvw_1jPH09Y05IW7njK6ASg9smVYuK7VLn7C1EZ1O2lVvZVTfX-vOC53WAr7msZDwRMopeGXCx09QS86vTTHDuC6UDgH3T_V4N7y6_qxkr-lino7b3FLquGavC5D0JzeA/s320/unity8_3.png" title="Unity 8 shell" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>According to the <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Unity8Desktop">Unity8Desktop</a> Ubuntu wiki entry, the following Unity 8 features should work for the final Ubuntu 13.10 release:</b></div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>Keyboard input, including hotkeys similar to those in Unity7;</li><li>Mouse, touchscreen, scroll wheels, touchpads, and other existing input devices;</li><li>The HUD should be available;</li><li>Indicators should be available. Should include at a minimum the Networking indicator;</li><li>The Unity 8 Shell and its components adjusts to local screen size.</li><li>Content discovery should be working. At a minimum, the local content scopes should be available;</li><li>Minimal Window management, such as focus control and maybe window move and resize; </li><li>The following core applications should be installable and runnable from the Unity 8 Shell on the desktop: Browser App, Gallery App, Music Player App and the Video Player App.</li><li>Multi-monitor will not be supported.</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The plan is to have a preview Unity 8 on Mir session (so users can select to log in to Unity 8 from the LightDM login screen) available for Ubuntu 13.10 for evaluation and testing - at least that's what the <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Unity8Desktop">Unity8Desktop</a> wiki entry mentions. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, Olli Ries, Head of Engineering for Canonical's Product Strategy team, says in a <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Unity8Desktop">blog post</a> that "<i>[...] the integration of Unity 8 into Ubuntu Desktop is not scheduled to happen for 13.10 but will only be fully integrated for 14.10. The QML based Unity 8 is currently fully integrated on the Ubuntu Touch images only</i>".</div><br /><br /><h2>Install Unity 8 in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">If you want to test Unity 8 in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander, use the following command:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install unity8</code></pre>Then, type "<b>unity8</b>" in a terminal to launch it.

Unity 8 Available In The Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander Repositories

Unity 8, the Ubuntu Phone Qml Shell, has landed in the Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander repositories. For now, Unity 8 is in its early alpha s...

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