At first, when Unity (Gnome’s replacement in Ubuntu 11x) came to fruition, I could not stand it. I had been used to Gnome being standard in all of the latest Ubuntu releases up until that time (even though in some releases, you could toggle between the two). Now, as I am sure along with most Ubuntu users, I am pretty comfortable with the Unity desktop and its functionality. This is a good feeling to have, especially since the new Ubuntu 12.04 will be released with Unity as well.

To get a feel of what Ubuntu 12.04 will be like (released in late April), users can download a beta version of the upcoming version of the Linux operating system. A downloadable image of Ubuntu 12.04 beta can be acquired from Ubuntu’s Wiki website. Users that are currently running Ubuntu 11.10 can execute the command below in their Terminal window to execute the Update Manager in a mode that will prompt the user to automatically update to this new beta.

update-manager -d

Some interesting features and modifications that you will find in Ubuntu 12.04 are:

• The default music player has been switched to Rhythmbox, which includes the UbuntuOne Music Store.
• The System Settings’ “Appearance” panel now allows users to easily configure some properties of Unity.
• All new Control Panel provides an installer, ability to add/remove folders to sync. Those upgrading from an earlier version of Ubuntu will likely need to manually install the package ubuntuone-control-panel-qt.
• When installing new software through software-center, corresponding language support packages (translations, spell check modules particulat to that software, help files, etc.) are now installed along automatically. This removes the need to open “Language Support” after installing new software.

(Source: Ubuntu Wiki)

To see a list of screen shots of what Ubuntu 12.04’s Unity will look like, ZDNet has uploaded some that can be viewed here.

The Twitter community has been active in discussing this upcoming beta, and I have provided some of their mixed reactions below.

Have you tried the Ubuntu 12.04 beta? If so, let us know your feedback and reaction(s) below in this post’s comments section.