Convergence is no longer a concept, it's something real

Apr 9, 2015 11:48 GMT  ·  By

Canonical has been talking about convergence for a while now, but it's still difficult to explain it to new users without some visual aid. A new video has been posted showing the Ubuntu web browser, an application developed initially for the phone OS, running in the desktop edition Ubuntu 15.04.

Ubuntu developers have recently updated their web browser and added a number of settings that were actually needed, making this application a much more reliable one. It's been a core app for Ubuntu Touch for some time now, so it's only natural that improvements have been made. The changes themselves are worthy to talk about, but they also show a much more interesting aspect of Ubuntu. It's a clear example of convergence.

We hear this convergence word thrown a lot lately, and it's nothing new. It's something that other companies are trying to achieve, like Apple or Microsoft, but those entities are taking much smaller steps, and they are pretty far off. On the other hand, Canonical already has apps like the Web Browser that are virtually identical on the phone and the desktop.

Ubuntu Web Browser on the desktop is taking shape

When we first saw this new web browser in action on the desktop, it had almost no options, just an address bar and a couple of buttons. It took some time, but the application has evolved, and it can now restore closed tabs, delete history, manage multiple tabs and a lot of other stuff. That's interesting in itself, but you can see that it's the same app that you get on the phone. The only thing different is the form factor.

For other operating systems, convergence is a just word or a faraway concept, but Ubuntu has already done it. It's happening with baby steps, but you can run the same apps with the same code on two platforms, you know you're on the right track. The video posted by Popescu Sorin is making this crystal clear.