Ubuntu Software Centre Gets Brand New Look for Lucid; Paid software to feature soon?

By , Published March 11, 2010

The Ubuntu Software Centre in Ubuntu 10.04 got a new look store front today, trading its old colourful drapes for elegant whites and greys.

Note: Clicking on the pictures below will take you a full-sized version.

The ‘Featured’ button is now very prominently displayed – great news for the 19 applications selected within.

The application view has also been re-jigged and brightened up with the screenshots now featuring more prominently at the bottom of the application blurb rather than to the right hand side.

My unobservant eye also spots a new ‘Themes and Tweaks’ category for the first time.

Despite all of the current “stock” in the software store being free the installation label still takes heed to mention this specifically: -

Perhaps a hint at the future non-free software to be made available via it coming a little sooner thane expected? Or just a small reassurance to new users that this is still software-libre? Time will tell…

Conclusion
The new look store not only looks professional it screams it. Whilst there are still issues to be addressed with the current layout of the store (for example: is the side-pane really needed?) the applications handles much more intuitively than version before – thanks in part to the addition of two navigation buttons.

The decision to enlarge and reposition the application screenshots in application view is bang on; seeing as well as reading about an application can really help you decide whether or not it’s worth your bandwidth downloading.

Thanks to om26er
Article originally appeared on omgubuntu.co.uk

Related posts:

  1. Lucid Software Centre Adds ‘Featured’ Gallery, PPA View
  2. Ubuntu Software Centre Gets Star Ratings & Reviews
  3. 12 Days of Xmas: Day Seven – Ubuntu Software Centre
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  • http://seifsallam.co.cc/ Seif Sallam

    That looks like a professional application. THUMBS UP Canonical and Thx for the Design and Usability teams

  • Anonymous

    Oooooooooo Ahhhhhhhhhh fireworks!

  • Simon

    I can’t enlarge the first picture but it looks very nice on the second pic and on the small ones.

    • Simon

      it works now. Looking great!

  • Anonymous

    the rest of the app looks better, but the front page is powerfully ugly

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

      i don’t see how it ugly, its a lot better compared to the previous design, also there is Big button to direct people to the Featured applications, and a simple basket icon.

      • daas88

        a basket? i thought it was a lol face

        • Anonymous

          yeah me too. the featured applications button is enormous and the “basket” icon is just confusing. resize the featured applications button to a reasonable size and ditch the “basket” and I think it’d be really nice looking.

  • Dubfunked

    Interesting, possible hint of an ‘app store’?

    • http://mpt.net.nz/ mpt

      That we plan to sell software in version 3 has been public for about 18 months now.
      https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter#Roadmap

      • Dubfunked

        Haha, ok, nice. Never had a look at that roadmap.

      • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

        I wasn’t trying to claim that as an exclusive, hence the “…to feature soon?” part (i.e. coming sooner than expected.)

        I doubt it is, but it’d be nice to be surprised :)

      • http://mpt.net.nz/ mpt

        Sorry, typo. It’s been about 10 months (since UDS Karmic).

  • John

    Does that logo in the top right look like a weird kind of shit eating grin to anyone else?

    • daas88

      i first thought it was a face of someone laughing

      • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

        think of it as a happy, smiley shopping basket =D

        • daas88

          xD

  • http://www.geniuslife.wordpress.com/ Júlio

    OMG! OMG! OMG!!!
    THAT’S AMAZING!
    AMAZING!!!

  • Anonymous

    wow, but I thought UserInterfaceFreeze was over?!? Did they change the deadline?

  • http://pensieriacoriandoli.blogspot.com/ Giorg

    what about that “progress bar” you pointed out previously?

    • http://mpt.net.nz/ mpt

      The progress bar has been prettified, but the fix isn’t in this version.

      • Guest

        Could we have an update when that fix IS implemented?

      • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

        Mmmmhmm!! I’m officially excited. I love silly little touches like that and, weirdly, i just can’t imagine how it’s going to look…

        • http://mpt.net.nz/ mpt

          Ideally it would look exactly like a native progress bar. Unfortunately the HTML element isn’t implemented in WebKit yet, so my colleague Michael Forrest has themed it to look like this. http://imgur.com/J77VQ

          (Michael also did the rest of the changes to the software item screen.)

          • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

            Michael deserves a beverage of his choosing for all of this awesome work! In fact all of the designers do – the sheer oomph put into design this cycle especially has produced some phenomenal stuff. I think my head would explode if i tried to imagine what 10.10 will look…

  • DoR

    Good to see that the screenshots now “blend” in better, too bad the install buttons don’t quite blend in (look at the corners).

    • Martin

      Wouldn’t suprise me if we will se some non-free applications show up soon. But maybe Canonical is aiming to get in linux-versions of already large software such as SPSS and Nero in the software center. Then I don’t mind. But if Canonical is heading in the same direction as Red Hat or Novell’s Suse then I’ll head in another direction.

      • DoR

        There will be non-free applications, see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter#Roadmap
        I wouldn’t worry about having to buy Ubuntu itself, it is part of the Ubuntu Promise that it will always be free of charge.

        • Anonymous

          and its not like they could actually charge for anything. they’re totally reliant on open/free source.

          • DoR

            So does Red Hat. The GPL allows selling software, you just have to allow the people who buy it to have access to the source code.

  • Gus

    The presence of the PPA’s on the right is also worth mentioning….great adition for those of us fond of PPAing. Looks great.

    • Gus

      I mean on the left…

      • DoR

        xD

        But I completely agree, this is cool stuff, and next release we will be able to add PPA’s right from the software center. :D

  • insanelyapple

    strange; latest livecd build is from yesterday… where did you get this? Oo by update?

  • Anonymous

    The tab “Statistics” in Software Sources was here since I start to use Ubuntu (7.04).

  • Ubuntu4life

    Application Popularity tracker is NOT new, =D.

  • Anonymous

    I’m not seeing this in update manager (Lucid Alpha 3). Did you install from a PPA?

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      It’ll be in update manager later this evening.

  • http://twitter.com/kmetamorphosis Bertel King

    This is very well done. If Ubuntu continues to spit out designs like this, I may begin to think of them as being on par with the OpenSUSE art team. Their Sonar theme is gorgeous.

    • http://twitter.com/kmetamorphosis Bertel King

      Granted, comparing application designs to themes is like comparing apples to oranges.

  • hachel

    does it show you the size of the app and the dependencies that get installed along the way?

    • http://orkutcidio.deliriocoletivo.org Peterson Espaçoporto

      That would be a hell of a good feature =D

      • daas88

        +1

  • Arkadi

    Looking good.

  • ll

    muhh… I dont want paid apps to be there!!!

    • Tarou

      I do. If we make it easier for paid apps on linux, we may get a native Steam client for linux like Mac is getting. That would make me be very happy, and allow me to finally get rid of my Windows partition.

      • Anonymous

        We ARE getting a native steam client for Linux if I’m not mistaking.. ;)

        I quote from an article:
        “noting that a Valve employee says on his LinkedIn profile: “REALLY looking for senior Linux + Mac engineers.” Admittedly, that is scant evidence.”

  • Mohan

    Oh nice!

  • http://google.com/profiles/koroskawy Tarek Saber

    this is smashing , now I can rest from the annoying of downloading themes from gnome-look.org

    BTW,i like the new look , but have they completed all the missing screenshots from the previous version>

  • Anonymous

    Looks nice, it’s still not here but I’m waiting :)
    Offtopic: Which theme is default in Ubuntu, the dark or the light one? (Ambiance or Radiance)?

  • nomono

    Well, paid software already is in the repositories – even in the Karmic ones. Search for UltraEdit in the Software Center, or for ‘uex’ in Synaptic. Then look at their website – the version they are offering for Linux as a free download is just a 30-day-demo version. Then you have to pay, if want to continue using it.
    Synaptic says, that ‘Canonical provides critical updates for uex until September 2011.’.
    I haven’t tried installing it, but I was pretty surprised when I found out.
    Either Canonical has some kind of agreement with the company (is it free for Ubuntu users, or does Canonical have money from it?), or they should at least mention in the Software Center, that it is a trialware…

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      I never knew about that, actually.

      In terms of ‘paid’ software in the store, i was more referring to software you buy directly though the store via UbuntuOne rather than having to hop off to a 3rd party site.

      • nomono

        I know, I just thought it’d be interesting to mention that. I look forward to see the ‘store’ you’re talking about. Good article btw.

        • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

          Thanks :)

    • http://getopenid.com/snostorm Dieki

      For me at least the software center says “Application UltraEdit has a (sic) unkown maintenance status.”

  • Anonymous

    Looks great! Especially like the Themes and Tweaks addition

    • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

      Sadly it’s a bit of a misnomer as it has precious little “theme” wise inside it.

      • http://mpt.net.nz/ mpt

        It contains Art Manager, Advanced Desktop Effects Settings, Desktop Drapes, Gnome Color Manager, and other tools for changing your theme.

        Unfortunately we couldn’t list packaged themes themselves, because there’s no easy way for USC to tell which packages are themes and which aren’t. Hopefully we’ll be able to use debtags for this in a future version. http://launchpad.net/bugs/57418

      • http://mpt.net.nz/ mpt

        It contains Art Manager, Advanced Desktop Effects Settings, Desktop Drapes, Gnome Color Manager, and other tools for changing your theme.

        Unfortunately we couldn’t list packaged themes themselves, because there’s no easy way for USC to tell which packages are themes and which aren’t. Hopefully we’ll be able to use debtags for this in a future version. http://launchpad.net/bugs/57418

  • Phoenix

    It would be nice if they replace the sidebar by two tabs under the menu bar

  • Anonymous

    Nice, at last!!!I still like danrabbit’s work better.

  • Anonymous

    I still can’t get over the window buttons… They’re so amateur!

  • Anonymous

    Yay!

  • http://twitter.com/Jresa Jacob Resa

    That’s why Ubuntu is so great. We talk, they listen.

    • http://orkutcidio.deliriocoletivo.org Peterson Espaçoporto

      I’m not so sure. Let’s see what they’ll do about window controls after all…

  • Anonymous

    Multiple installation of software possible yet? I will miss synaptic when it is goen, but admitedly, the synaptic wasn’t the most exiting visual app :)

    • http://mpt.net.nz/ mpt

      It has been possible to queue up multiple installations or removals since version 1.

  • Anonymous

    Eh, I actually liked the old logo. It had a nice “recycling” feel to it. And I’m not so sure about the featured application button being so huge and requiring you to scroll down to see all the categories. I like in the current version how everything you need is viewable without scrolling (which, incidentally, makes the software center, with its nice big icons, a breeze to use on touchscreens). But I wonder, we have that whole big left had sidebar there that only ever has two-three menus in it. So why not add a “featured applications” menu to the sidebar? Put a nice star next to it to grab peoples’ attention. Voila.

  • Anonymous

    I am on Alpha 3 and on the main-server, but still it haven’t arrived. You included a ppa for getting the develop-sources or what? I am wondering …

    • Anonymous

      I searched for it … it does not exsist. No idea from where are this pictures … !?

      • http://omgubuntu.co.uk/ d0od

        Patience ;)

  • http://twitter.com/NtynRuben Ruben Verhack

    Much much better! I really didn’t understand why they chose blue as a background to start with. It was the only default app in ubuntu that used such background. Thumbs up!

  • http://ms1.gotdns.com/ jonny rocket

    orgasm. looks very professional and clean. bill gates is afraid.

  • http://courira.ca/en/blog/normand Normand C.

    One thing that would be welcome in Lucid: if I resize the Software Centre’s window, I expect it to keep its setting the next time I use it again, like any other app have been doing for eons. In Karmic, it always opens at a size of 850×500. It’s annoying as hell on a 1920×1200 desktop.

    Come on, the Software Centre’s window size is damn small on any resolution higher than a netbook. The first screenshot you have shows you have to scroll down to look at all categories. Not good.

  • http://blastfromthepast.se/ Tommy Brunn

    Looks great! Job well done, and my hat is off to whomever designed it. Personally I’ve never used the software center very much, since it’s so slow to navigate, and you can only install one application at a time. I don’t know if this revamp works in the same way, but it looks great nevertheless.

  • Pablo Marchant

    This is not good as a definitive solution!

    A very important flaw that has affected the software store since the beggining are hard-coded colors, which are severely unfriendly to color blind people, and not liked by those of us who like to have a consistent look everywhere its possible. It certainly looks nice, but it should be done in such a way that it used the current theme colors.

    Wonder if they can fix this before the release of lucid…

  • Anonymous

    I would also like to see the ability for Software Center to update itself. Also, an option on the face page to see the latest updates too.

    Otherwise it looks nice.

  • Anonymous

    I would also like to see the ability for Software Center to update itself. Also, an option on the face page to see the latest updates too.

    Otherwise it looks nice.

  • gnubie

    No paid apps please. If I wanted to pay for software i’d get something from Jobs or Gates.

  • gnubie

    No paid apps please. If I wanted to pay for software i’d get something from Jobs or Gates.

  • gnubie

    No paid apps please. If I wanted to pay for software i’d get something from Jobs or Gates.

  • louis taylor

    The day that ubuntu supports paid software will be a sad day. It will also be the day I start using Debian.

  • Anonymous

    Each app only has one button to install, update, and remove. This is a problem, since it means only up-to-date apps can be removed.

    Can’t wait for commercial games to start showing up!

  • http://www.ubukuntu.nl.ae/ Heimpjuh

    Looks incredible!

    I think the side pane needs to be ditched. Instead, next to the Featured Applications-button, a button can be added with the label Installed Applications or Installed Software.