I've got Natty (alpha release daily update 25th Jan) running, but I'm not quite
sure what I'm looking at so I'll be interested in the replies you get Timmy.

When I installed it I got messages saying that Unity was unable to run on my
hardware, then a load of messages saying clock had crashed, calendar had
crashed, and so on and so on. In fact I think these were generated by the LiveCD
rather than the install.

Still, I got a running OS installed at the end of all that (with a clock and a
calendar). It has some familiar icons but in unfamiliar places. Down the left
hand side is an autohiding dock (the autohiding works rather well) with a
Nautilus icon, a firefox icon, tomboy notes and one or two others. At the top
left the Ubuntu logo now opens a huge window with eight huge icons labelled
"find internet files", "find multimedia files", "find other files" etc. All of
them, at the moment (it's an alpha, remember), open the same Nautilus window
with file icons for all of the familiar apps from the Gnome top panel menus -
terminal, firefox, update manager, aislerot solitaire, Mplayer, Transmission, S
ynaptic, gedit, Libre Office (instead of open Office :-( ), screensaver,
appearance ... - everything. It hasn't taken me long to get the hang of it at
all.

When an app runs full screen, the control buttons (close, minimize, restore &co)
and the entire menu bar appear on the top panel, Mac-style. That's confusing at
first, and I'm not sure I like it, but it's nit-picking. I've embraced the
Mac-style left hand control buttons (unlike many here :-) so I daresay I'll get
used to it.

Now I don't know how far this is from the eventual product to be released. I
don't know how much it's affected by picking up my existing Maverick docs and
settings (it's a fresh install, not an upgrade, but I did select to migrate the
existing stuff during the install). Nor by the reported errors. I also don't
know whether it's Unity (Ubuntu 11.04's preferred replacement for Gnome) or
Gnome2, or what. Being Linux, it's infinitely configurable, and I know I can
choose to run Gnome classic, or KDE, or any other desktop manager I like, but so
far I've only explored what I've found when it starts up.

Oh, and the screen flickers once every few seconds, as if the screensaver's
about to kick off.

Don't suppose that helps much! It's early days yet, and that's what I've found -
promising, interesting, effective, attractive, but still buggy.

By the way, note for the unwary:Â Natty, as with any pre-release Ubuntu OS,
comes with strong warnings NOT to run it on production machines or to rely on it
in any way.

Ubuntu's next version will feature Unity with Compiz as the window manager
if you have compositing (3D graphics). If not, then it will install Unity
2D. The original plan was to install GNOME 2.x which is what it has now, but
they unveiled Unity 2D a weeek or two ago. It caught everybody off guard
because most people did not know they were working on it.

Unity 2D or full Unity will feature one universal taskbar at the top and a
panel on the left side with icons. The taskbar will change to reflect the
application that you are using. Both the panel and the universal taskbar are
copying Mac OS/X. They are moving away from the idea of virtual desktops
(the boxes that allow you to switch to a new desktop on the bottom panel in
GNOME) and into the idea of workspaces. This is the new thing in Unity and
GNOME Shell. It changes the way we work and many people will find it
frustrating in the initial stages.

You can still install GNOME 2.x for the time being, but eventually the
project will die as GNOME have moved on to other things. You can also
install GNOME Shell (what they have moved on to) which is due out in the
Spring. GNOME Shell is similar to Unity. It has a universal taskbar at the
top, workspaces and a side panel, however it works differently and looks
very different. Both GNOME Shell and Unity will take some adjustment on the
part of the user.

What you have to give up using in either is the Compix cube and a bottom
dock like AWN, Cairo or Docky. You can use them, but it does not intergrate
well into GNOME Shell or Unity and can confuse you even more. If you use a
bottom dock then it takes away from idea behind the side panel and if you
use Compiz cube it adds virtual desktops to workspaces effectively creating
a confusing situation. Also GTK apps should work well with the universal
task bar but KDE apps and others that are neither such as Chromium will not
support it, so you will have the old application panel that you get now plus
the useless Unity or GNOME Shell universal taskbar. All of this adds
confusion when ypu are trying to learn a new interface. Maybe once you
adjust you can find ways to integrate them.

I have used both and still prefer KDE. It has been through the change over
and I like the way it works. I have heard that Mint will stick with GNOME
2.x and wait on Unity. Smart of them. Users who do not want to try Unity can
stick with 10.04 until April, 2013 and 10.10 until April, 2012. I suspect
quite a few people will take a wait and see approach.