Some background: last year I attended Microsoft's //build/ conference, where each attendee received a free Samsung 700t loaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview. Well, when I got bored with that, I decided to replace Windows 8 with some form of *buntu. After several failed attempts and one diversion (had to learn all about UEFI), I finally got something to boot and be useful: Kubuntu Active 12.04, running Plasma Active Two.

I recorded a 15-minute tour of my initial foray. Please note that I had only about two hours of experience with the UI, and in the video I express a few frustrations. These are more because of my unfamiliarity with the UI than anything else, although a few bits could be made smoother.

http://vimeo.com/43749964

If you're interested in the various bits of exploration it took for me to reach this point, please follow these links:

• First attempt, described at Ubuntu Forums
• A post chronicling some experimentation with UEFI (on ThinkPads, but relevant as the Samsung is UEFI)
• Initial, if incomplete, success at getting Ubuntu to boot
• My rant about Microsoft "accidentally" sending me a 1099, claiming I owed taxes on the tablet
• Balsam's build of Plasma Active Two, running but mostly non-functional
• First actual useful install, KFN post created with Kubuntu Active

Part of the challenge getting anything to work is the dodgy partial UEFI implemention on this tablet. Another is its Atmel touchscreen, a PCI device that has some kind of USB wrapper around it; proper driver support didn't land in the kernel until 3.3. I also had to upgrade X from 1.11 to 1.12 (using the Xorg-Edgers PPA) for touch input to become fully operational.

Anyway... congratulations to the Plasma Active team. You've created a much better UI than Unity. I look forward to later releases.