Ubuntu Wiki

This content is not finished (yet), but the idea is to use more meaty paragraphs, but building on the skeleton of ../SimpleTextAboutApps. The goal of each section is described in italics for the purpose of this proposal, but of course that italicized text shouldn't be in a final copy.

Welcome

Establish some friendly vibes. Encourage exploration.

Thank you for choosing Ubuntu. Here is a quick slideshow about your new operating system. We hope it enhances your Ubuntu experience. Let us know how things work out at ubuntu.com/community.

Ubuntu is carefully designed to be easy and safe. Feel free to explore!

TODO: Any space to briefly mention a line from the Ubuntu promise, or other such introduction to free software?

Have fun

Introduce menus. (Make sure we don't build tunnel vision, by pointing them out in loosely defined chunks for the user to interpret himself). Provide escape route :) TODO: Maybe a bad idea. Discuss :)

Not a slideshow person? No problem! There are some games already installed, including Solitaire, Chess and Sudoku. Look under Games in the Applications menu to the top left of the screen for the full list. If you would like, you can play them right now.

You could also check out the example content, which is available if you open the Places menu to the top left and click on Home.

Installing more software

Introduce software installation and updates. TODO: Keep the name "Software Store" up to date...

Ubuntu already comes with lots of great software which we will examine in a moment. We also store thousands of extra packages that you can get to from the Software Store, in the Applications menu. All you need is an Internet connection to get at more excellent free software, from space simulators and database environments to games and 3D modellers.

For everything that is installed from the Software Store, we keep track of updates as well. When a new version becomes available, we will put it in the next version of Ubuntu. We will also deliver important fixes and security updates straight to you through the Update Manager.

Control your digital life with Evolution

Introduce Evolution as the central PIM suite. Invite a glance at the clock applet. TODO: Are we targeting home users with this slide, or business users? We should choose vocabulary to match.

Evolution is the tool in Ubuntu that helps you keep track of email, contacts and events. Open up Evolution Mail, under the Internet section of the Applications menu, to get started. Evolution has comprehensive search tools and filters so that managing information is a snap.

If you have upcoming tasks or events, you can find them right away by clicking the clock on the upper right side of the screen.

Keep in contact with Pidgin IM

Introduce Pidgin (a gentle relief from boring office software!), the message indicator and the fact that we are totally in on cool new social networking stuff. TODO: Note that this may or may not become Empathy

Ubuntu comes with Pidgin; a great tool for instant messaging. It connects to all the major instant messaging networks including Google Talk, Facebook Chat and Jabber. It organizes buddies who have many different accounts so that you can always reach them when they are online, quickly and easily.

When Pidgin is open, it hides in Ubuntu's Message Indicator, which looks like a little envelope beside the clock. It will let you know when you have new messages and when friends have logged in.

Pidgin also comes with some interesting plugins that you can enable to add extra features. For example, the MusicTracker plugin can share the music you are playing in Rhythmbox or Banshee.

All about F-Spot

Introduce F-Spot Photo Manager as a tool that imports photos from a camera, a phone or a memory card. Point out how awesome it is to tag photos, mention import rolls. TODO: A title that is better than the above

It is really easy to organize, share and edit photos with Ubuntu using F-Spot Photo Manager. F-Spot has a flexible system for keeping track of photos by tagging them. You can create tags and then link them with photos to describe who is in them, where they were taken, what the weather is or whatever else makes sense to you. Later on, F-Spot can run advanced searches with those tags to narrow down specific photos. It also remembers which photos came together - like rolls of film - using "import rolls."

You can double click photos to touch them up, then you can use the Export option to burn them to CDs or share them through online services.

Just open F-Spot from the Graphics Applications menu or attach a device with pictures, such as a camera or its memory card, to get started.

Watch and listen on Ubuntu

Introduce Banshee (or is it still Rhythmbox?) as a tool for organizing music, ripping CDs, burning CDs and downloading stuff from Jamendo / Magnatune. Movie player is there to watch videos from YouTube and DVDs (We don't really need to mention it directly, though, since it opens automatically for DVDs and video files.

Ubuntu comes with Banshee...

To be done...

(You're welcome to step in!)

Thank you

...

When you are finished with your installation disk, feel free to pass it on.