ANSWER: I currently have all of the Ubuntu touch apps working on my Dell XPS 12 and although unstable, Unity 8 works well too. So I'd accept that all of the tablet features will be working in due course.
So while there is no actual 'image' the relevant packages seem to have been packaged and ready for a machine running normal Ubuntu.
EDIT/Clarification: I don't think that this a duplicate of the other question. I'm not asking whether I can run it on my laptop specifically, or what specific hardware will work. I'm asking about its compatibility with the Desktop environment and whether the two could be run side by side on some type of hybrid machine. Switching between the two depending on the mode of the hybrid.
So I understand now that QML is the main language used on the touch interfaces. So there is no correspondence between running a QML application in the desktop environment, in a similar way to how you could run a KDE/QT app in a gnome environment?
Original:
Please could someone explain a bit more for me on the tablet interface. I've Googled around but haven't had much luck.
My initial understanding was that the tablet interface would be like a new interpretation of unity, but running on the same basic system (with power and driver tweaks etc). With this understanding, would it be likely to find some way to install this tablet interface over the standard desktop interface?
In my case, I have a Dell XPS12 Hybrid - laptop with a screen that rotates and turns into a tablet. The multitouch basics work. So I'm less interested in the ideas of drivers, but more about the touch interface itself. I find the desktop interface perfect when I'm in laptop mode, but very difficult in tablet mode. Is there likely to be a system that allows me to switch between the two on my laptop?
Specific answers about the XPS12 are welcome, but generally I'd like to know if I'm fundamentally off the track on the idea of running the desktop and the tablet interfaces side by side on x86.
Thanks in advance!