Ubuntu (Linux) trying to get rid off menus in a very cool way

[xedi]

Everybody probably knows the problem when using software that you know what you want the program to do, but you simply forgot where the option to do so was and so you search through all the menus and still cannot find it. In these cases you probably just want to shout at the computer and say: "Computer! Apply Filter XY!" or so. Well, with the upcoming Ubuntu 12.04 you will be able to do so more or less.

The Feature is called HUD and what it does is: you can push ALT in any program and then type in what you need. It will then search through the menus for you and apply your wish. To see it in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=w_WW-DHqR3c

I think this is a really useful feature, which will help especially in complex programs with functions you rarely use but know are there. The major complaint I have seen until now is that you need to know what you are looking for and I agree that this is a limitation. Therefore traditional menu structures will still be there and HUD will only be an additional way of accessing them. However, who knows, since language processing gets more and more sophisticated, maybe it will be someday be enough to have a vague idea of what you want to do and there will be no need to know exactly what the program is capable of.

I think that even today this will be an awesome way to use software in addition to traditional menus. What do you think?

 

[JesterRaiin]

I have used Ubuntu as my main OS for 2 1/2 years and do not miss Windows at all.

So, tell me my fellow Escapist, how fast is your Photoshop and how did you managed to install Photo Perfect Suite 6 plugin ?

 

[Erana]

...You mean, what people have been doing on Macs for three versions of OSX, more or less?
Don't get me wrong, its a neat and useful feature, and I feel like all OSes should have it, but not revolutionary or worth switching OSes over. No need to go plug in all this Ubuntu advertisement, either.

 

[xedi]

Hmm, ok gonna remove the "advertisement" then, there are just so many unaware of Ubuntu, that I wanted to give them at least some information and references and where to have a look what I'm talking about. But you're right, this thread should be only about HUD.

As far as photoshop, I use GIMP and yes I am completely aware that not everything runs under Linux but I said that I do not miss it. Besides, if more people would use it, then photoshop would also support linux.

@Erana: I did not know about that. I know that some help functions work like that, but I have not seen on a scale that would affect the whole operating system.

 

[Erana]

@Erana: I did not know about that. I know that some help functions work like that, but I have not seen on a scale that would affect the whole operating system.

In any program made for OSX, (not so much blender or Inkscape it seems, because of the way it works for macs, granted) I can just go to the help menu and type in whatever I want to find, and it has a section for "menu items," along with "help topics" which are just instructions on how to do something. If I select something on the menu item, it kindly shows me where it is in the menu and does the action.

In other words, its the same thing I'm seeing in that video you've linked.

Spoiler: I've found a video of it in action

 

[xedi]

OT:
Meh, I abandoned Ubuntu for Linux Mint. I prefer the old GNOME UI, which Mint still uses, thankfully (I hate the new Ubuntu UI).

And, yes, before you ask, I've tried KDE and Xfce, and I didn't like them (Kubuntu and Xubuntu, respectively).

I never liked KDE and Xfce that much either and also liked the "old" Gnome 2 shell. However, I never had big issues when they changed to unity but did not see the advantages right at the beginning. However, especially now with HUD I understand why they went that way. The HUD demonstrates this whole "intention" driven approach quite well and Unity as a whole is focused on that with the way you open applications and files already righ now (searching vs looking for them through menus). I also love the shortcuts like super + w which make unity easier to use. However, this is ironic, because you get the most user friendliness out of unity knowing shortcuts, but having to know shortcuts is not really user friendly.

I know that you can install Gnome Shell on top of the current Ubuntu, though, so it is not like you absolutely have to use unity when using Ubuntu.

I feel kind of embarrassed know because of my advertising tone in the original version of the thread. I was kinda in an enthusiastic mode today It was not my intention to shove ubuntu down your throats, so sorry about that.

 

[JesterRaiin]

As far as photoshop, I use GIMP and yes I am completely aware that not everything runs under Linux but I said that I do not miss it.

Unfortunately, for some people some applications are irreplaceable - and that's what Linux user (especially neophytes) often forget. You should be more careful with advertising it just like that to pretty much everyone out there.

Besides, if more people would use it, then photoshop would also support linux.

I wonder. Does it mean that if more people would jump out of the window, the Humanity would finally learn how to fly one day ?

 

[xedi]

@JesterRaiin: The thing though is, you do not have to choose mac/win over linux, you can use linux perfectly well in parallel. In fact, I think most do that. I happen to not need programs which are windows/linux exclusive and that's why I wrote that I do not need windows. I just wanted to avoid the whole thing, yeah, linux is just for computer programmers with hacking skills because nothing runs on it discussion which I feared would arise but I guess I provoked it -.-

About the window comment: Oh well, I did not know using Linux equates to suicide ;-) What I was trying to say is that it is not an inherent Linux problem that Photoshop does not wish to support that platform. If you depend on photoshop and do not like GIMP that's fine and it would be stupid to abandon Win/Mac and in fact is not necessary as mentioned earlier. A larger Linux base as a whole will eventually lead to more support from those companies who do not do so today even if all of them would still have windows licenses or mac computers.

 

[xedi]

In other words, its the same thing I'm seeing in that video you've linked.

Indeed, it looks quite similar. I wonder why it is not more popular or well known (or am I the only one who has not heard about it ). I am not aware of any other OS using it, except Ubuntu planning to obviously.

 

[Erana]

I feel kind of embarrassed know because of my advertising tone in the original version of the thread. I was kinda in an enthusiastic mode today It was not my intention to shove ubuntu down your throats, so sorry about that.

Enh, don't worry about it. New interfaces that actually do work are something to get excited over!
And the Escapist can always stand to gain some enthusiasm.
It seems you registered a while ago, but with that post count, I still feel I should welcome you to the Escapist!

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

All I really care about is stability for my netbook when it comes to linux. And seeing as my menu bar vanished while the computer was idling for no reason...

Well, I'm sticking to linux on my netbook but it is trying pretty hard to convince me to never try the OS on my main computers. That feature doesn't particularly interest me any.

 

[xedi]

So, we have gone from

"What path did I have to follow to find this option again?"

to

"What did I have to search for to find this option again?"

PROGRESS!!! AN ABSOLUTE REVOLUTION!!!

Haha, at least you can then choose the way you want software to piss you off

Seriously: As far as I can tell, you do not need to remember an exact phrase but it will begin searching as soon as you type in your words. I do not know if synonyms are supported, I guess not, so I understand your concerns. In those cases you can still use the traditional way, so as I see it your chances to find what you want are increased because we will have more ways to find it.

As far as I understand the bigger picture is also to implement speech control, but I am actually less excited about it than using text because I imagine text to be faster. (And yes, in that case I am aware of Apple's current attempts ;-)

@Redlin5: That bug never happened to me, did it get restored after logging out/in? In case next times that happens you could try hitting ctrl+alt+t, which opens the terminal and then typing "unity --restart" which should restart the shell (in case you are running unity). Of course it is stupid that one would have to do that but almost no software is bug free. In terms of stability I did not have any problems neither with windows which I used before Linux nor with ubuntu.

 

[Esotera]

If you've spent more than a day using Unity then you'll run screaming for the hills, where the sweet refuge of xfce or various other graphical shells await you. Or at least that's my experience so far. Ubuntu is still a really solid distro, its UI is just very buggy...

 

[evilneko]

Unity was bad enough. This is even worse.

Back to Debian for my linux box.

 

[xedi]

I would say that Unity is more Apple than Windows but I do not agree that it is less productive. I think the dash works quite well, typing in the application/file you want is faster than clicking yourself through. Clicking through in the Gnome Shell was not slow at all but I do not think that Unity is slower is what I am trying to say.

The biggest issue I had at first with Unity was having multiple windows open and not being able to switch fast with the mouse or with alt-tab as I was used to in Gnome Shell and Windows. But then I discovered Super (Windows Key) + W which is really cool and effective so I do not have issues with it either anymore.

And what cannot be pointed out often enough: You do not have to use Unity with Ubuntu. This is the beauty of Linux, you can just install whatever shell you want.

I understand why people hate Unity but I still it makes sense for Ubuntu to go that way IMO.