How To Install Unity 2D (Qt) In Ubuntu 11.04 / 10.10

Unity 2D (the package is called "Unity-Qt") got an Ubuntu PPA a few minutes ago and it can now easily be installed in Ubuntu 10.10 and 11.04. 

I've tried Unity Qt in VirtualBox and I must say I am impressed: it's not identical to Unity 3D but it's A LOT faster! Further more, because Unity 2D seems to have more elements from Ubuntu 10.10 then 11.04 (even though some new stuff from 11.04 is there), it already has Dash (the application launcher / file browser) - something that's currently missing in Unity 3D in Ubuntu 11.04.

Here is a quick video I've recorded with Unity 2D (Qt) in action:


(Video available in HTML5 if you've enabled it on YouTube. Follow us on YouTube and Facebook for more videos)

The video above has been recorded in VirtualBox without Guest Additions - yet Unity ran smoothly and without any major issues (I've only encountered one issue: maximized windows still have a titlebar for some reason).

Install Unity 2D (Qt) in Ubuntu

Please note that this PPA contains daily builds so it might break stuff so use it at your own risk!

The Unity Qt (2D) PPA currently holds packages for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat while Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal already has Unity 2D available in the official Repositories. To install Unity 2D in Ubuntu 10.10, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:unity-2d-team/unity-2d-daily
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unity-2d-default-settings
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

For Ubuntu 11.04, all you have to do is run this:

sudo apt-get install unity-2d-default-settings

Then when logging in, select "Unity 2D" instead of the regular Ubuntu Desktop session.


Report any bugs you may find @ Launchpad!


Update: Initially the Unity 2D packages were called unity-qt-* but now they have been renamed to unity-2d-*


Also see: 2D Unity To Be Available As An Option In Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal