Unity is a new desktop environment designed for netbooks and touch-screen devices. It includes a new panel as well as a new vertical launcher. Unity is build using technologies from GNOME 3, including the Clutter library and the Mutter window manager.
Ubuntu Light is a version of Ubuntu designed to dual-boot with another operating system, and focused on getting on the web fast. It’s a stripped down Ubuntu (no file management) and uses the simpler Unity desktop. Canonical is offering Ubuntu Light to computer manufacturers only, because it’s intended to be customized for specific computers in order to boot fast.
Here’s a few other bits of information about the next version of Ubuntu:
Ubuntu Netbook Edition will drop Network Manager for Intel’s Connection Manager because Network Manager does not support indicators. This change will probably be included in the Ubuntu 11.04 desktop.GNOME Shell is for desktops (it will be available in Ubuntu 10.10, but not as the default environment), and Unity is for netbooks.Client-side window decorations and RGBA (alpha channel) will be added to Ubuntu 10.10 early in development.More category indicators (like the messaging indicator) will reduce the number of indicators. A sound indicator will hold indicators for media applications and allow interactions like manipulating playlists.Canonical has a professional font foundry working on a new interface font. When it’s ready, there will be a beta program.A new icon theme is being worked on, but it will take a while to complete and may not be finished in time for the next Ubuntu.Ubuntu 10.10 will be released on October 10, 2010 (that’s 10.10.10).You can get all the details by watching Mark Shuttleworth’s UDS keynote (thanks toAlan Pope for posting the video).
There’s an official PPA software source from Canonical with a test version of Unity. Here’s how to install it: