There’s been a fair amount of news online about Canonical’s specialized version of Ubuntu for Atom based laptops, but the current word on it is that Canonical will only be licensing it directly to OEMs.  However, there is a PPA that you can use to turn an Ubuntu Hardy install into UNR.

Just add the repository and install the applications that it contains, then log out and in and set up your new desktop.

I have mine configured as close as I can to what the default layout seems to be from the screenshots I’ve seen online.

UNR makes good use of available screen real estate (my screenshots are running at 800×600) by putting each application in a “Tab.”  I installed a couple of extra apps, Deluge 1.0rc2 and Banshee 1.0, and sure enough, they automatically conformed to the layout.

UNR places it’s launchers and menus on the desktop, which is quickly accessible from the “Go Home” button in the upper-left corner (it looks like an Ubuntu logo).

I’m not crazy about the look and feel.  The desktop has a nice, new, polished look to it while the applications themselves use the standard Human theme.  Either are nice on their own, but they seem to clash when used together.  The interface was also a little slow, but that may be due to running it inside a virtual machine, as I’ve heard that the interface makes some use of OpenGL.

Overall, it’s a nice product and most tasks are accomplished easily.  This will make a great OS for the Eee PC or any other subnotebook.