Release upgrade, menu downgrade
Debian team,
On the Web page announcing extended support for Debian 6, you state "Users ... are encouraged to upgrade to Debian 7 (“wheezy”)". Well, I tried Debian 7 shortly after it was released on my desktop PCs and laptops. My first and strongest impression was of the menu. It is a dumbed-down Ubuntu / Windows 8 style menu better suited to portable devices than to desktops. The Debian 7 menu is not a quick path but a series of hurdles to be overcome in order to launch an application. It's not a pleasure to launch an application, It's a nuisance. I tried Debian 7 "classic", whose menu is a shadow of the Debian 6 menu. It feels like an afterthought, a feature that Debian would rather not include. I tried xfce and a few other choices. Finally I uninstalled Debian 7 and reinstalled Debian 6, where I feel I have a measure of control. I wonder how many of the "various interested parties / companies" favouring long-term security support also prefer the Debian 6 menu.
I would upgrade to Debian 7 or 8 in the blink of an eye if it offered a full-featured desktop menu.
Peter Bratton
Reply to: