The Unity 8 Desktop (Preview)

Introduction

The Unity 8 Desktop Preview is the new Unity 8 desktop shell running on the Mir display technology. It's called a preview, because it's a pre-release view of technology and designs that are not yet ready for general consumption as a full desktop experience. It's there for developers, and anyone else who is interested, to test and review how the Unity 8 stack works in the desktop experience with an eye to full Ubuntu convergence.

Getting the Unity 8 Desktop Preview

The Unity 8 desktop preview is available as an add-on package.

Your choices are as follows.

1. This is the recommended choice. It can be easily uninstalled after testing if desired, or kept up to date as unity8 develops. Run unity8 as a separate session on your local machine. It will be installed in a container, keeping your current installation safe.

2. If you happen to be running the development version of Ubuntu, you can also choose to install the unity8 package directly. Install the unity8-desktop-session-mir package, log out, then select the Unity 8 session at the LightDM prompt.

What to test

Try installing applications, using things, check out the store and scopes, etc.

Limitations

Unity 8 uses Mir display technology. Proprietary video drivers do not yet offer the required level of support for Mir, so your experience if you're using the binary block nVidia or AMD drivers will be somewhat disappointing.

Reporting issues

Issues should be reported on launchpad, using the appropriate component. In doubt of what component is to blame for the issue, file the bug against unity8-desktop-session.

See Also

• Desktop Preview Session Specification

• Desktop-Next ISO Specification