Introducing the HUD. Say hello to the future of the menu.

Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of the Ubuntu project, at his blog shows off some interesting stuff Ubuntu is working on to improve what he perceives to be antiquated menu systems in our software (I can't say I disagree). It's some pretty neat stuff, really, and the video is pretty interesting to watch. It seems to mesh really well with how I already use Firefox's "Awesome Bar" agressively and is a bit reminiscent of QuickSilver or similar launchers--but integrated system wide.

This'll be great for power users for sure if executed well and potentially great for normal users if you can get them over the hump of using a new menu paradigm.