Contributor doughy

After all, it takes up a lot of space, creates clutter and it's absolutely of no use for people that got just one user on the computer.

Would it be nice if we can run applications only available on other OS platforms (such as Windows, Mac OS etc.) NATIVELY inside ubuntu?

No need to configure a dual-boot or even tri-boot, no need to restart again & again to switch from one to another, no need to distinguish which os version one application support, for end users, just Click & Run, ubuntu does the rest AUTOMATICALLY, it's that easy, and elegant.

As far as I can reach, it may seem to be a Mission Impossible to combine all kinds of OS as a bundle and call it ubuntu. But maybe it's feasible to use Virtual Technology (such as VMWare, BootCamp etc.) to achieve the goal.

If that can be realized, ubuntu will not only be just an Linux OS based-on Debian, but also an EXTENCIBLE Shell to any kind of other OSes along with all their applications. And the Kernel is the Ghost of the Computer.

Isn't that cool, guys? What do you Think Different?

I would like to see an edition of Ubuntu that was specifically designed with a non-technical user in mind by:
- Providing a web-centric interface similar to gOS;
- Providing a tabbed desktop that groups similar applications like the eee PC. Photo on this link: http://eeepc.asus.com/global/product.htm
- Providing a mechanism to switch between a simple to use interface and a more technical interface similar to the Linpus Lite OS ( Although I never got it going I like the concept )

Many people just want to use their PC to communicate( e-mail, chat, skype), socialize( facebook ), write documents, upload and manage their documents, photos and videos, search the web, play games, watch movies, listen to music, e-shopping, e-banking, etc... They don't need a lot more than that.

Many people just want their computer to liberate them immediately without having to call the "Geek" squad, or their relatives in order for them to do what should be naturally intuitive.

Therefore I would really like to see the ubuntu team develop a new web-centric, tabbed, swappable interface that is EZ to use,intuitive,and intelligent.

How hard could it be ;-)

Ubuntu should take full advantage of all available mouse buttons.
Integrate this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/146160

At the moment, if someone wants to backup his documents or prepare a migration from a computer to another there isn't much more than file-roller to create a backup.
Ideally, the user should be able to run a graphic software which would ask what the user wants to backup and where (tape/usb key/remote).
Then the same tool would be able to restore the backup.

It would be useful for both backups and migration from a computer to another.

Update : See duplicates ideas which contain even more great ideas about that idea.

It is important that Ubuntu is polished up to the little details.

LOOK AT THIS: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LittleDetails

Provide this warning with possibility to solve the problem.

cdroms are slow, don't allow to modify their content easily, they are weak and not as easy to carry as USB keys.

It would be great to provide Ubuntu as a liveUSB just as Mandriva does. We should be able to carry our distribution on any computer, manage our preferred settings (do I want binary drivers enabled ? what is my preferred resolution ?), etc.

The thing is not to make something transportable, but really a nomad system that could be used just the best way as it could on any computer.

Every time I install Ubuntu, the first thing I have to modify is the font rendering. I use the "sudo dpkg-reconfigure fontconfig-config" command for that.

The Ubuntu system would be more enhanced if it had more sofisticated fonts with a nice contrast.

Every operational system has an unique "look and feel" thing... Ubuntu must acquire its.

Right now, the most likely successful migrations to Ubuntu happen for *nix experts and total novices who have someone install Ubuntu for them, but the most likely people to try Ubuntu are Windows power users--those who like a lot of configuration options but who are also used to using the GUI for tweaking options and not manually editing a text configuration file.

The most popular requests for editing the /boot/grub/menu.lst file involve changing the default boot option (to Windows instead of Ubuntu) and changing the timeout before a boot option is selected. The other less popular ones would be just bonus features, I guess.

If you're not a graphic artist, you probably don't know what this means. To be short: the practical effect is that you fonts look smoother, like the Mac OS X fonts.

Also, most fonts look very bad with hinting enabled, virtually only Vera/DejaVu has acceptable results, while most other fonts are not usable.

This is very easy to implement: it is just a true/false value in /etc/fonts/fonts.conf
You can also set it per user in your ~/.fonts.conf by pasting this snippet:


false


(Affects only newly started applications)

Artists and eye candy people, make your voice heard!

If the Ubuntu installer detects Windows, it should copy Arial, Verdana and other standard Windows fonts into Ubuntu, because the user has the license to use them.