Ubuntu 10.04 will bring panel overhaul, social network menu (ars technica)

I like the new scheme. The old one pissed me off daily because it was always obscuring something that I wanted to see or use and it wouldn't go away.

The new scheme has the advantages that (a) it appears lower down so it doesn't obscure window buttons and controls, (b) if you mouse over it, it becomes virtually see-through so you can ignore it, and (c) you can click right through it so you don't have to wait for it to disappear before you can use anything in that part of the screen.

The only thing I don't like about it is how long it stays: I really don't need 15s or whatever to understand the simple message it's telling me. If it stayed about half as long as it does now that would be perfect for me.