There is few things the interface designers at Canonical seem to ignore totally: our brain is divided in two…the LEFT brain….and the RIGHT brain….There is a bridge between these two sides of the brain called the “callous” body.

As everybody knows (well almost everybody concerned by GUI design)…the LEFT brain, specialized in language processing, is dominant….because we, humans, are a speaking species. And the RIGHT brain is specialized in the treatment of shapes, forms, space etc…. (I recommend the opus of Betty Edwards..on this subject)

It is also established that the right brain is much more quick and multitasking than the left brain….otherwise we would not be able to drive anything (bike, car, plane….) and avoid dangerous situations. Thanksfully…the right brain is in command in many critical situations.

The mouse, icons, pre-established menus are sollicitating THE RIGHT BRAIN….The “HUD” is adapted to the LEFT BRAIN….so very slow…without any doubt…There is an exception with the “command line” who is like a second language for professionals who masters its vocabulary and grammar perfectly, being in that case faster than amateurs using mouses, icons and menus.

The “mouse”, “icons”, “menus” was strongly linked to instinct and natural ways of organizing things in space…This is why it was such a huge success…in the 6 mont following the introduction of Mac OS.

It is not difficult from these arguments to see why HUD might be a failure…Once again…I do not pretend to hold the truth…(because of the exceptionnal efficiency of the command line…but only for professionals)

But I suggest to Mark…If he has some brain left (bad joke)….to think deeply to these questions….

Best regards anyway

EVERYBODY SAYS “HURRAH” FOR CINNAMON DESKTOP OF CLEM & MINT

ALL BAD GUYS MEET THERE

AND MARK SHOULD MAKE IT AN OPTION FOR THE NEXT LTS….OTHERWISE HE WILL STAY WITH A VERY LITTLE CROWD…

BEST WISHES FOR HUD AND UNITY ANYWAY

CONTRARY TO MARK….I AM NEVER SURE OF DETAINING THE “TRUTH”

HURRAH FOR CINNAMON….AS OUR LIFESAVER….US POOR RETROGRADES

1. I hope you will start the practice of introducing a “guided tour” of new features with each release. This is important for new and existing users, or those coming from other desktop paradigms.

2. Mark, as a South African, I wish to see you using your leverage to get more involved in the South African government’s adoption of open source. Goodness knows our tax money has gone into enough proprietary software; it’s time to step up and offer not just a free desktop that the public sector can use, but business software too!

Don’t forget to get lots of testing done with important Java-based apps like Netbeans! This looks fantastic and is exactly the kind of thing I’m looking for to save me from having to dig for the file menus all the time!

Great work and Unity has finally found it’s way into my heart. I’m glad I gave it all the chances it needed.