The company that makes the popular Ubuntu Linux operating system, Canonical, recently announced what I like to think of as a Lord of the Rings software philosophy: one operating system for PCs, smartphones, tablets, and TVs. Not only is it an ambitious idea, but early images and videos of smartphones and tablets running the new software look intuitive and impressively touch-focused.

I’ve spent some time playing around with this one-size-fits-all OS through what the company calls the Ubuntu Touch Developer Preview, a very early version of the OS released in late February that can be installed on just a few Android smartphones and tablets.