Ubuntu 10.10 scores close to a ten

I've just installed the Netbook Remix, and I hae to say I really don't like the panel on the left hand side, you can't move it or make it hide, it just sits there and takes up space. The top panel also cannot be hidden, so it also sits there and takes up valuable desktop space.

I've not had much of a play with it yet, but it does seem somewhat inflexible, more like a Mobile Phone desktop, which may be the deciding factor for me to replace it with the standard desktop.

On the other hand, this may actually be the desktop that brings people back to Linux on the netbooks.

Agreed. I really don't like a bunch of ugly buttons stuck to the edge of the screen. It's extra disappointing since I really liked the interface provided in ubuntu 10.04 and was looking forward to this release. I think I'll be downgrading back to 10.04.

Quoting:On the other hand, this may actually be the desktop that brings people back to Linux on the netbooks.

I'm not at all sure they ever left. As of numbers from last year collated by ABI Research 32% of netbooks sold had Linux preloaded. Dell claimed nearly one third as well. What did happen was that netbooks with Linux disappeared from most mainstream retailers in the developed world. In the developing world they are still available to reduce cost as much as possible. Also in Asia and other parts of the developing world super low end netbooks with 300MHz ARM SOCs sold for under US$100 are popular. Those run either Linux or WIndows CE.

More people in the developed world won't "come back to Linux on netbooks" unless retailers, especially brick and mortar stores, carry them again. That won't happen because it is simply more profitable to sell Windows machines, Windows software, and service for when Windows invariably goes wrong due to malware, disk fragmentation, etc... Microsoft also exerts heavy pressure on OEMs not to sell with anything else.

Considering that in the West people have to go out of their way to buy a netbook with Linux I think it is amazing that Linux has held onto as much market share as it has.