Experience Unity 8

While Ubuntu 16.04 ships with an updated Unity 7 desktop environment, everyone’s keeping their eyes peeled for Unity 8. This upcoming desktop environment is key to Canonical’s convergence experience, and is based on Qt5/QML, unlike the previous versions, which were written in Ubuntu’s own custom OpenGL-based toolkit, Nux.

The developers attribute this change to the positive experience with Qt5/QML while working on the Ubuntu Touch project. The other major change is the use of a totally new display server, as well. To achieve the user experience they want, the developers will implement Unity 8 on top of the Mir display server, instead of the traditional X window server system.

On the visual side of things, the Unity 8 user experience won’t be all that different from the current Unity 7, but you can be sure of noticeable visual differences. In the overall scheme of things, Unity will still be a shell, with all its hallmark components, including a launcher, the indicators, and the Dash. But these will be enhanced and styled with improvements garnered from the Ubuntu Touch project.

Work on Unity 8 is nearing completion, but the desktop is still currently under active development, and isn’t quite yet ready for the mainstream. However, here’s a simple and safe way to experience the upcoming desktop on top of Ubuntu 16.04, brought to you by the miracles of Linux containers. Fire up a terminal window and type “sudo apt install unity8-lxc.” When it’s downloaded and installed, configure the container with “sudo unity8-lxf-setup.” This command will take some time to complete as it configures the containers and downloads, and installs the Unity 8 meta-package, apps, and relevant dependencies. When it’s done, reboot your computer, and then select the Unity 8 sessions from the login screen to experience Ubuntu’s new desktop.