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Webopedia Term of the Day: What is Unity?

“A shell interface designed for the GNOME desktop environment
running on the Ubuntu operating system. As a shell interface, Unity
provides the underlying Ubuntu OS with a distinct, consistent look
and feel while providing functionality for working with
applications within the operating system.

“Unity first debuted in June 2010 in the netbook edition of
Ubuntu 10.10, and it became the default desktop in place of the
GNOME Shell with the release of Ubuntu 11.04 (codenamed Natty
Narwhal). The next major release of Unity, version 4.x, will be
included in Ubuntu 11.10 (codenamed Oneiric Ocelot), which is
scheduled to go live in October 2011.

“Unity may also refer to a development tool for creating 3D
video games that can run on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iPad,
iPhone, Android, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii
platforms. Some of the more popular games developed using Unity
include Battlestar Galactica, M.U.S.E., ShadowGun and Zombieville
USA.”

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