14 DAY TRIAL // Unity 8 is the next iteration of the desktop environment that powers the Ubuntu Linux distribution. It's still under development, but the Ubuntu developers have presented a short demo during one of the Ubuntu Online Summit sessions.
Things are a little bit complicated in Ubuntu land because Canonical already has Unity 8 running on the phone, along with the Mir display server. Developers want to use the same code and make it work on the desktop flavor as well. Eventually, Canonical hopes to make a single operating system that can be installed on any platform, PC, mobile, or tablet. This is the convergence plan that everyone is talking about.
Some members of the Linux community expressed their doubts regarding Unity 8 running on the desktop, saying that they don't want a desktop that feels like it's been ported from mobile devices. That is not happening, and Unity 8 will look pretty much like Unity 7, at least in terms of general design. It's a new technology, but it wears a new coat.
The Unity 8 demo is work in progress
Ubuntu devs have demoed the progress made so far with Unity 8, and you can already see that it's shaping up to look like a proper desktop. On the other hand, this is very early work, and you might be tempted to say that it behaves very poorly. That's why it's important to say that Unity 8 is still pretty much work in progress. When it is ready, it will be just as quick as Unity 7.
From the looks of it, the developers have already managed to make Unity 8 behave correctly on the desktop and some basic functions have been implemented. It doesn't seem like much, but it's a lot more than what we had six months ago.
You can check the entire Unity 8 Demo from Canonical below.
