Is there a tablet-centric desktop available for Ubuntu?

Solution 1:

There really isn't any out there currently - but what you may want to install is the new UNE (Ubuntu Netbox Edition) which provides the new launcher application on the destkop itself. Should make using a tablet a lot more effective.

To get this to work you'll need to add this [ppa]: ppa:netbook-remix-team/ppa to your system and install the relavant packages. It took me quite some time to hunt down this repository for some reason. I believe you'll then want to execute sudo apt-get install unity ubuntu-netbook-unity-default-settings and any other packages listed.

Solution 2:

gnome-shell looks like it's going to be a serious contender for tablet interfaces. Other than that, I'd try out the various netbook-orientated environments like Ubuntu Netbook Edition.

To test out gnome-shell I recommend not using the repo version which is a very long way behind the current development version and instead use a PPA like so:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ricotz/testing
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

To use it just fire off:

gnome-shell --replace

To turn it off:

metacity --replace

To remove it:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge -p testing ricotz