Elementary OS ‘Isis’ Demoed With Blistering Speed

With Ubuntu placing all of its eggs in a ‘convergence’ shaped basket in a long-term play aiming to bridge multi-device form factors with a consistent codebase and user experience (insert breath here) it’s left to smaller Linux distributions to push forward the more traditional desktop paradigm that most users are comfortable with.

Elementary OS is one of several distributions to be built on the Canonical-backed core of Ubuntu but spin off in a totally different direction. While not immune to the changing tide of computing habits (all OSes will have to face up to a reset in expectations from tablet devices) it’s not (yet, at least) trying to force pointer-led interaction through a finger-shaped hole.

Whether you feel their visual style owes a nod to the designers behind OS X or not, the engineering and development vision driving the project certainly follows in the vein of Apple. That’s not an insult; tying together disparate third-party projects into a unified and cohesive whole is hard to do. It’s something Ubuntu, oft-touted as the pinnacle of Linux usability, has never quite managed to pull off.
Elementary OS Ain’t Slacking


Some ingenious code allows the top panel to adapt based on the colour of the background wallpaper. “Unity does that”, you might say. But not like this. The smart matching is able to detect when you need a solid bar, when a transparent one would work best or when the text should be a lighter colour so that it’s legible.

The visual finesse extends to the ‘Switchboard’ settings app, which gains new transitions and toggle switches. Following GNOME’s lead, elementary developers are also pressing ahead with the ‘header bar’ approach, which combines both title bar and toolbars in a stylish and space efficient way.

Opinions aside one thing is clear: elementary is not slacking. If they can hone what’s demoed in the video above, and not shrug off the ‘sore thumb’ issue from LibreOffice, et al., expect to see a new name appear in the popular meme of ‘That’s it, I’m switching to…’.