Ubuntu System Panel: Simple? Is it heck… [Opinion]

By , Published November 30, 2009

Ubuntu System Panel is a panel applet designed to simplify launching, managing and just generally using your Ubuntu system.

The idea behind it is based on that of the popular OpenSUSE SLED applet (see screenshot below) but USP is exclusively for use with Ubuntu.

imageSled in OpenSUSE 10; Picture Credit softwareinreview.com

Now, this is where the facts end and the grumbles start.

Out Of Date But Pleasantly Surprised

I accidently installed the wrong version of USP to start with – version 0.32. Yet I pretty much fell in love!

It looked spacious and impressive, you could toggle panes on-and-off to get the menu you wanted and even lock the menu to the desktop so it was always accessible! Icons were large, categories were roomy and the entire thing felt cohesive.

screenshot_081  

screenshot_084screenshot_082 screenshot_080

Doh!

I soon realised, however, that i had installed a 3-year old version when I peeked at the 'About' dialog to gain some more insight. Excited, I zipped off to find the latest incarnation which turned out to be version 2.00.07. 3 years of development had past since the version I’d tried! €œOh boy€ i thought €œHow much better can it have gotten?!€

First Impressions

After quickly installing the .deb I added it to my panel. Things didn't look too good as it took an AGE to appear; well over a minute had past before i had the applet showing on my panel. Once it had I smacked that 'System' button in a fury of expectation! I cannot help but be disappointed with what I found. Somewhere in those 3 years since the version I had tried, USP had lost its way. This is what i was greeted with: –

screenshot_087

After a few initial glances it didn't look that bad €“ just some crowded menus, panes not big enough, etc. All things you can fix from the new preferences menu.

Yet I must have day-dreamed the part where the word 'simple' was used in relation to this applet because the preferences menus are way too complex, cluttered and crowded: -

screenshot_090

To Be Fair€¦

USP has a great concept but a poor execution. That's not to take away from the effort, hard-work and skill that has gone in to this but part of my disappointment is because there was a seed of potential in the very first version. In fact some of the ideas in that initial €œsidebar€ approach have echoes with Gnome-Shell's sidebar!

USP works and, as long as you can overcome the UI disasters or have a spare weekend to tweak all of the thousands of options to get it looking okay, it's an application worth considering.

 

Download/Install

USP PPA @ https://launchpad.net/~malacusp/+archive/ppa

Article originally appeared on omgubuntu.co.uk

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  • Anonymous

    you should try “mintMenu” it’s based on USP but better in terms of usability & look
    and it’s easier to configure

    http://linux.softpedia.com/progDownload/mintMenu-Download-42099.html

    • manny

      agree

      now the mint tools are unbranded so you can use it on any ubuntu install

      http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_helena_whatsnew.php

      oh and @d0od a comparison between the new mint and latest ubuntu would be cool , which one implements em features better and which is more stable, etc.

      • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

        You’re right that would be interesting… ;)

  • http://biringa.com/ WindPower

    The KDE control panel sure looks a lot better than that.

  • Mohan

    Yeah I am fan of it but it hasn’t kept up so I haven’t use it in a very long time.

  • Commenter

    You’re right. The old one is beautiful and the new one is atrocious.

  • http://skeleton-eel.blogspot.com/ Skeleton_Eel

    very complex !!
    i love gnome because it’s sample , i don’t prefer complex menus : )

  • http://seifsallam.co.cc/ Seif Sallam

    tied it before and the same conclusion.

  • Anonymous

    Well that older one certainly seems nicer. Maybe it’s worth installing the older one! I still prefer using a combination of Docky and Gnome-Do to get stuff done :)

    http://www.interesting.co.nz

  • JFB

    Hi! Long time reader first time caller. Thanks for the amazing blog. silly question: what theme is that in your screenshots?

    Thanks!

  • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

    Hello =D

    It’s called ‘impression’ and if you’re using Karmic you can get it by typing: -

    sudo apt-get install community-themes

    • JFB

      Thanks!