Ubuntu 11.04 May Default To Classic GNOME Desktop

When Mark Shuttleworth and co announced last year that Ubuntu 11.04 would deploy a Canonical-developed Unity desktop environment instead of the GNOME 3.0 Shell or the classic GNOME2 desktop, many users were concerned by this move with Unity on Ubuntu Netbook not even being in great shape, etc. Concerns over Unity by default in Ubuntu 11.04 have only grown with the Unity interface in Ubuntu 11.04 Beta still being sluggish and broken in areas. Now it looks like Canonical may default Ubuntu 11.04 to using the classic desktop.

Today's Technical Board meeting notes are interesting this time around. "* Classic Gnome Desktop by default (dmandell) * Action: rickspencer3 will bring up the state of unity on the -desktop list for public review and discussion"

It looks like the state of Unity will now be brought up for public mailing list discussion to review and discuss the possibilities, as in providing a classic GNOME desktop by default in the next release. Ubuntu 11.04 is due for release just later this month so it would really be a last-minute major change that provides a completely different user experience.