Canonical has revealed the style of the new default theme that will be used in Ubuntu 10.04, the next major version of the popular Linux distribution. In a significant departure from tradition, Ubuntu is shedding its signature brown color scheme and is adopting a new look with a palette that includes orange and an aubergine shade of purple.

Ubuntu's distinctive brown look dates back to the very first version of the distribution, which was released in 2004. Although the style has evolved considerably since then and new colors like orange gradually gained a foothold in the desktop palette, brown has been the dominant color of Ubuntu's default themes for the past five years.

Canonical began discussing the possibility of a major visual refresh in 2007 during the development of Ubuntu 8.04, the last major long-term support release. At the time, Canonical's art team was thinking about adopting a darker look with a black and orange color scheme, but the theme concept was abandoned and never implemented. Although the idea of a major visual refresh was resurrected and discussed again during the development process of several subsequent Ubuntu versions, it hasn't happened until now.

The theme change is part of a broader effort to redefine Ubuntu's visual identity, a move that could help make the open source desktop platform seem more professional and attractive to a mainstream audience. According to design documentation in the Ubuntu wiki, the new style was developed last year by Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth and a team of designers. They chose "light" as the thematic concept behind the new brand identity. The new Ubuntu logo, which was also unveiled today, has a thinner font and a smaller icon.

"We're drawn to Light because it denotes both warmth and clarity, and intrigued by the idea that 'light' is a good value in software. Good software is 'light' in the sense that it uses your resources efficiently, runs quickly, and can easily be reshaped as needed," the design documentation says. "Visually, light is beautiful, light is ethereal, light brings clarity and comfort."

Another GtK theme

The new logo and colors will be rolled out to the Ubuntu website. The logo will also be featured in the new boot splash screen for Ubuntu 10.04. The updated GNOME theme will include an aubergine desktop and gray widget styling. The orange "Humanity" icon theme will apparently be retained during this cycle. Two variants of the GNOME theme are displayed on the Wiki page, one with black menus and panels and another with light menus and panels. It's unclear at this time which one will be the new default. These designs are still at a relatively early stage and will undergo further refinement prior to the official release.

Making Linux beautiful

When Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth gave his memorable keynote at OSCON in 2008, he articulated a vision of building a Linux desktop with industry-leading design and unbeatable usability. He promised that Canonical would invest in a broad effort to make Linux beautiful.

"I think the great task ahead of us over the next two years is to lift the experience of the Linux desktop from something that is stable and robust and not so pretty, to something which is art. Not emulate, but blow right past Apple in the user experience we deliver to our end users," he said at OSCON in 2008.

A few months after that speech, Canonical launched the Ayatana project, a broad initiative to improve the usability of Ubuntu and upstream open source software projects including the GNOME desktop. Canonical assembled a team of professional usability and design experts to take on the task. Ayatana has delivered tangible results, including an enhanced desktop notification system and a multitude of minor improvements to usability and consistency throughout the desktop.

Although Ubuntu has made great strides in the area of usability, it has still lagged behind other distros like openSUSE in the quality of its theming and visual style. The new theme is a nice improvement that will move Ubuntu forward and make the desktop more visually appealing.