• Launchpad Entry: https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/desktop-lucid-update-upgrade-requirements

• Created: Monday, November 16 2009

• Contributors: djsiegel, mvo

• Packages affected:

Summary

Collect requirements and goals for upgrade experience.

Goal

Rationale

Many users upgrade from one version of Ubuntu to the next. Lucid is an LTS release, which adds the additional proposition of users upgrading from the precious LTS, Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron." The upgrade experience must be designed so that users are encouraged to upgrade, informed of important changes caused by the upgrade, and able to revert unwanted changes

User stories

Assumptions

Design

In Lucid, when a distribution update is detected, the following dialog is displayed centered on screen, but does not raise and steal focus. Ideally, this dialog should appear immediately after the user has logged in, when no other applications or windows are open; in this case, it can become the focused window.

WebKit View

The large placeholder is a 570x300px WebKit view that will possibly display a slideshow.

"Yes, upgrade now" Button

The selected button, "Yes, upgrade now" represents the affirmative choice. Clicking it closes the dialog and runs the Distribution Upgrade application (which should already have been downloaded so it can open immediately after the button is pressed).

"Ask me later" Button

The "Ask me later" button closes the dialog and waits one week before appearing again.

"Don't upgrade" Button

Clicking the "Don't upgrade" button displays the following modal confirmation dialog:

• Clicking "OK" closes the confirmation dialog and the upgrade dialog, and the user is never prompted to upgrade again.
• Clicking "Cancel" closes the confirmation dialog only, returning the user to the upgrade dialog.

Release Notes hyperlink

• Release Notes is a hyperlink; when clicked it opens release notes in the user's preferred web browser.

Hardy -> Lucid Slideshow

The following prominent changes should be given a slide each:

1. Guest account
2. Network Manager
3. Encrypted user folders

4. Updated look & feel, including wallpapers and sounds

5. Faster boot
6. Notifications
7. Empathy
8. Firefox

9. OpenOffice

10. Ubuntu Software Center
11. Ubuntu One

Additional slides highlighting the changes between 9.10 and 10.04 should be merged with this collection.

Implementation

Test/Demo Plan

Unresolved issues

UDS Discussion Notes

• education, we have a nice installation slide show, can we do something similar for people upgrading in Ubuntu
  • - will add this to ubiquity-slideshow roadmap; may as well have a prototype to play with
• upgrade experience from Hardy
• acrobat 64 bit doesn't exist anymore, do you want to upgrade?
• you need to keep pidgin, do you want to remove it or not?

Goals

• Education
• Compatibility test
• Preserve configuration/packages
• Clean, full update; avoid "mish-mash"
• Don't mess with people's preferences (really, don't make changes in Canonical's favor)
• Align different versions of Ubuntu with the latest version
• Help users revert when unwanted changes are made. Even if just retaining config files.
• Preserve functionality through translation
• Prioritize changes by user friction and handle them accordingly
• Special window (not Update Manager) when Upgrade is available
• Infrastructure for future (Lucid+-4) LTS Upgrade
• Simple pygtk upgrade app to show after Update Manager (gtkhtml)
• Something more dependable for user configuration changes

Purpose of Upgrade; Why do users upgrade?

• New features
• New applications
• New visual appearance
• New user experience
• Improved performance
• Manage change

Objectives for the upgrade experience:

• Introduce the new features and functionality
• Generate excitement
• Reassure
• Manage change
• Announce the upgrade
• Provide links to website that explains....
• Offline Upgrades

Concerns:

• Removing applications (64bit Adobe Acrobat Reader)
• Changed configuration files (user is asked whether to diff)
• User data

Other elements to consider: Not now thanks... Do not tell me about this upgrade again Display upgrade progress on full screen Show video Warnings: do not power off...

As discussed in round table, we should give upgraders an experience very close to the default

Golden Rule: "1. User Preferences. if a user changes something from the default that you have provided, that change must be respected indefinitely, and the user should never have to make that change again when it conflicts with a Canonical commercial interest. if a future upgrade will genuinely break because of the change, they might be helped to fix it, but in general we should try to automatically fix things to preserve the users intent. 2. System Preferences. if a sysadmin changes something, that change should be maintained through upgrades to the greatest extent possible. Old and new users should see what the sysadmin has changed, though they should be able to override it where sensible."

Important desktop changes for upgraders from Hardy to be aware of

• Pidgin -> Empathy

• Etc... need to make this list. We need to keep in mind packages that are completely removed, no longer in

package archives. For example, acrobat 64 bit. Would be nice if users were notified about these packages, specific to them, before upgrading.

• Can we be more aggressive with dumping configurations and having a way to bring them back?
• generally keep stuff in the panel when it is not deprecated, but default stuff is there now, replacing things
• Interesting difference between Ubuntu and Windows / MacOS: With the latter two, upgrades are definitive acts. User inserts a disk + runs a special installer from boot, or buys a new computer and knows implicitly that he is getting a completely fresh experience. Not the case with Ubuntu's downloaded upgrades.

Isn't this something that differentiates Ubuntu though? The fact that you don't need to do what Windows/MacOS does in this regard?

• How to upgrade offline ... from an iso/usb key to accommodate low bandwidth situations
• Download quietly in background, with more friendly option to resume / pause the download.
  • Note Palm Pre's updater, which offers to download in the background over "the next couple weeks." (Especially optimal for a slower network connection).