New Ubuntu look too destructive

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Apr 7, 2010

“Take a good hard look at your screen and ask yourself if it is
possible to accidentally close an application while reaching for
the File menu. In most cases the answer is a clear no, but for
users of Ubuntu, it has become a very real and dangerous use
case.

“All the fuss began in March when the decision was taken to
refresh Ubuntu’s look and branding, which included a set of new
default themes that moved the trio of minimise, maximise and close
buttons from the PC standard right-hand side to the left side of
the title bar. Suffice to say that despite the positives of the
updated Ubuntu look, users overwhelmingly detested the movement of
the window buttons — as shown by the over 630 comments, the
vast majority of which are intensely negative, on this bug
report.

“Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu’s founder and patron, responded to
the criticism by saying that moving the icons to the left opened up
the space on the right of the title bar for experimentation further
down the line, and thanking users for their feedback but reminding
them that Ubuntu was not a democracy and the design team had made
its decision.”


Complete Story

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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