Fail. Would much rather have (pre-Unity) navigable menus from pointy-device than having to bounce between mouse and keyboard even more. Great for (some) developers. Not great for the masses. This feels like a step backwards. Unity, bad. HUD, worse.

I don't see this working for the same reason vista's voice recognition was a flop and Ford's 'sync' system was hated by so many. it's still syntax based. Siri has one-uped this because it isn't syntax based on the users end. We need to get passed that, and although yes HUD has search built in, it still leaves it to the user to know the name of the command out of sheer thousands of possibilities. What is necessary is a task rather then command based system where a user doesn't need to know the difference between a 'bookmark' or a 'favorite' when all they want to do is save the page for later.

Desktop computers are DESKTOP computers no pads or phones! I'll never move around with my pc and I have no need to speak for a command. I dislike Unity and this new one seems horrible. What's wrong with old point and click Gnome interface?

This concept is based on many mistakes:

1) Experienced users know the fastest way how to do things.
HUD is an obstacle or complication only.
2) Lexical (text baswed) UI tool is pushed to replace Graphical (position and icon) based system.
Ubuntu developers go in an opposite way to windows with their ribbons
that prove to be effective replacement of traditional drop down menus.

This system will not work for me on desktops / notebooks and I will ratther switch to KDE.

It's a gimmick, but it's not being forced on anyone. If you don't like 'buntu's silly UI stuff, then don't use 'buntu - it's as simple as that. There are hundreds of other GNU/Linux distros out there - all of which are as good as if not better than 'buntu.

Canonical Ltd are interested in breaking into the smartphone/tablet market - in a nutshell they want a "touchscreen ready" GUI. This has upset some "traditional" desktop users who have had these UI "improvements" installed along with regular updates. That's the direction 'buntu is going in - it's a commerical Linux distro, like it or not.

The HUD is basically an "autocomplete" system (a bit like bash completion for anyone who knows what that is) which allows the user to filter down to wanted applications rather than clicking through menus. The spiel from canonical is tries to cover the fact that this is all about touchscreens where as anyone that uses a touchscreen will no, menus are not the easiest way around.

What this touchscreen centric approach will achieve is a GUI which is a jack of all trades but master of none. In trying to be one size fits all, Unity will end up as a cumbersome piece of bloat - gnome 3 will also go the same way. What is actually needed are touchscreen/tablet/smarthphone desktop environments or shells which are built for purpose and leave the originals alone for desktop users - sadly this is not the trend being followed at the moment.

So basically we're taking a UI geared towards casual use, but replacing traditional UI features with a glorified "run" program of which only power users will see a benefit and which-- despite what they say-- seems to provide no way for a new user to even discover what is available.

It's slow without a GPU, but the goal is to have it run on small devices.

It is supposed to be a simple, "unifying" interface, yet it forces you to use the mouse for some simple tasks and the keyboard for others.

Has anyone ever heard of that play "The Producers"?

Welcome to the New World Order!

"apropos" command my friend

Definably switching to Linux Mint when I can't (as in wont get the job done) use lucid (Ubuntu 10.04) anymore

That release is still supported - until April next year.

Nobody is SELLING nothing here. We are talking about ubuntu if you remember.

So somebody must be selling something here...?

I actually find this very useful. All of the negative comments just seem like old ways of thinking. All Ubuntu has to do is post a few videos with examples and that will nip almost of the learning curve in the behind. I think this is a great evolution in the way of navigating applications. Good job Ubuntu

It's not replacing the drop down menu. The menu is still there if you use your mouse on the top left. People needs to chill and the author needs to actually try it out before commenting on it. The HUD basically allows you to search within the menu system. Just make a boot disk and give it a try before freaking out.

And you need to read the article before commenting.

Sounds to me like a disaster, worse than the Unity move, but hey, someone said "give them a chance", which I will. I'll give them a chance to get it right, I hope they don't mind that I'll move/stay with Mint in the mean time

God no, now will take my 5 steps to simply open a program

It's really faster to do things using this kind of interface, except in case the user is very slow at typing. This user will prefer the old GNOME2 GUI, but as someone said: if you don't like, simply don't use it, damnit! Some people got the habit of criticising any innovation of Ubuntu because it's now a cool attitude within Linux computing. Sad...

I admire them for their courage to do something different and there are things in this I really like but as a future primary vision of access to a desktop, no way.

The idea of having a couple of things on screen to begin with invites you to play and learn and keep you curious. A desktop with just a typing box means 90% of the OS wont be discovered and as much as it's pinned as something to suit the user, I think the user will more so have to suit it.

To take an example from the video, if I wanted to send a mail to someone in Evolution (which I have no interest in using generally, like most people), my first thought would be "Create.." or "Send..", not "Compose..". I'm not Tchaikovsky. It's a single example, but probably something applicable throughout the rest of the OS.

This system will be fine for seriously experienced and patient users, but hopeless to newcomers. Hence I hope a full desktop will be available along with this new feature.

I would love to be a fly on the wall at these summits. Who exactly thought this was the best direction for Ubuntu. I am dissapointed with 12.04, not only does the HUD look atrocious, but I dont think its practical for new or older user. IMHO, it was a giant waste of time and effort that could been better spent on stablity, which I thought was the main theme of LTS.