While much of the excitement around unity8 and the next generation of ubuntu has revolved around mobile, again I'd like to point your attention to the desktop. The unity8 desktop is starting to evolve and gain more "desktopy" features. This includes things like window management and keyboard shortcuts for unity8, and MIR enhancements with things like native library support for rendering and support for X11 applications.
I hosted a session with Stephen Webb at UOS last year where we discussed the status of running unity8 on the desktop. During the session I mentioned my own personal goal of having some brave community members running unity8 as there default desktop this cycle. Now, it's still a bit early to realize that goal, but it is getting much closer! To help get there, I would encourage you to have a look at unity8 on your desktop and start running it. The development teams are ready for feedback and anxious to get it in shape on the desktop.
So how do you get it? Check out the unity8 desktop wiki page which explains how you can run unity8, even if you are on a stable version of ubuntu like the LTS. Install it locally in an lxc container and you can login to a unity8 desktop on your current pc. Check it out! After you finish playing, please don't forget to file bugs for anything you might find. The wiki page has you covered there as well. Enjoy unity8!
