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ANSWER: I currently have all of the Ubuntu touch apps working on my Dell XPS 12 and although unstable, Unity 8 works well too. So I'd accept that all of the tablet features will be working in due course.

So while there is no actual 'image' the relevant packages seem to have been packaged and ready for a machine running normal Ubuntu.

EDIT/Clarification: I don't think that this a duplicate of the other question. I'm not asking whether I can run it on my laptop specifically, or what specific hardware will work. I'm asking about its compatibility with the Desktop environment and whether the two could be run side by side on some type of hybrid machine. Switching between the two depending on the mode of the hybrid.

So I understand now that QML is the main language used on the touch interfaces. So there is no correspondence between running a QML application in the desktop environment, in a similar way to how you could run a KDE/QT app in a gnome environment?


Please could someone explain a bit more for me on the tablet interface. I've Googled around but haven't had much luck.

My initial understanding was that the tablet interface would be like a new interpretation of unity, but running on the same basic system (with power and driver tweaks etc). With this understanding, would it be likely to find some way to install this tablet interface over the standard desktop interface?

In my case, I have a Dell XPS12 Hybrid - laptop with a screen that rotates and turns into a tablet. The multitouch basics work. So I'm less interested in the ideas of drivers, but more about the touch interface itself. I find the desktop interface perfect when I'm in laptop mode, but very difficult in tablet mode. Is there likely to be a system that allows me to switch between the two on my laptop?

Specific answers about the XPS12 are welcome, but generally I'd like to know if I'm fundamentally off the track on the idea of running the desktop and the tablet interfaces side by side on x86.

Thanks in advance!

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marked as duplicate by Web-E, LnxSlck, Raja, Seth, hhlp Feb 23 '13 at 17:47


So is it right to say that the tablet is essentially a different operating system? That one will not able to do an 'apt-get install ubuntu-tablet' which is a case of pulling the necessary interface files and installing? I don't think its a duplicate as I'm not to worried about the hardware specifically, more the idea of running desktop and tablet interfaces together. –  kleinric Feb 23 '13 at 14:42
definitely it is not possibly, it is not an desktop environment. –  Web-E Feb 23 '13 at 15:44
with all due respect, please let me express a slight bit of concern that we tend to mark some questions as duplicate a little bit too early. I would modestly suggest, that in case the question might lead to some more clarity or deeper knowledge it should be untouched so that some experts are motivated to get a little bit deeper. In this specific case I would love to get a proper answer to the question if it could be possible to have unity/phablet also working on a PC (or on the Ubuntu TV). So please consider removing the duplicate mark and wait for more enlightenment through additional answers –  NilsB Feb 27 '13 at 5:46

1 Answer 1

up vote 2 down vote accepted

QtQuick and QML are multi-platform, so you can run ubuntu touch interface even on Mac or Windows. But it's need some coding and porting.

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I was really just interested in running the Ubuntu touch interface on a normal Ubuntu laptop/hybrid. It seems to work :) –  kleinric Nov 13 '13 at 14:04
