Teenage Tantrums

Vista + Ubuntu = Vubuntu

Posted on August 26, 2006. Filed under: Teen life |

In the last 1 month , that I have been associated with Ubuntu I have had many changes done to the look and feel of Ubuntu. First it was brown to blue , Ubuntu to Blubuntu ! Then for a short period of time I had Mac’s look and right now I have Vista’s look. I’m simply loving it. This is a short tutorial on how to make Ubuntu look like Vista.

I’ll focus on some important aspects of Vista like the single taskbar , unlike Gnome’s dual Taskbar system. Just a note , this tutorial is targeted at New Linux users like myself. So , first of all we will make Ubuntu’s dual panel into 1 panel.

1.Panels

Ubuntu has 2 Gnome panels. A top panel and a bottom panel. The top panel has the clock , notification area ( this is where your update notifier icon pops up ) a separator and the Volume Control Applet some other usual applets which you might have added. The bottom panel has the window list , the Show Desktop Applet and most importantly Trash and Workspace switcher. The shortcuts that are on the top panel can be easily re created so it’s best to delete them. Here’s my previous desktop with 2 panels…

Follow these steps to obtain a Windows like single taskbar with all that you might need…

1.Delete the top panel.

2. Right Click beside the Show Desktop button on the bottom panel. Click on ” Add to Panel “.

3.In the list that pops up select ” Main Menu” , which is found in the Utilities Section. Now it appears on the bottom panel.

4. Move it to the extreme left of the panel. There , that’s your ” Start ” Menu.

5.Now , to the extreme right add the following applets – Notification Area ( Utilities Section) , Clock (Accesories Section) , Volume Control (System and Hardware).

6.RIght Click on the clock applet and in the Preferences Menu disable the option titled ” Show date”

7.Right Click on the Workspace Switcher and in the Preferences Menu , Select the option titled “Show All Workspaces” and make the no. of rows 2. There that should save space.

Now your basic ” Base ” Panel is ready. You can customize it as you wish. Try adding a couple of separators and make your panel neater. Add some applets and all.

There is one more advantage to have just one panel. RAM gets freed and you apps work faster.

Now the next step…

2.Theme

It is very easy to Obtain the theme. I’ll give the link of Linsta , the currently popular Vista theme for Gnome. Just download the 2nd option ( GTK+Icon+Metacity ) and the icon set ( last option). That should be all that you need. Now just install the theme. If you don’t know how , then follow the steps…

REMEBER , I AM ASSUMING THAT YOU ARE INSTALLING THE THEME AFTER STEP 1.

1.Click on the Main Menu button. Go to System>Preferences>Themes.

2.Click on the Install theme button , open the bz2 or tar file.

3.In the Controls Tab select Lintsa_3 , in the Window border tab select Linsta_3 and in the Icons tab , select Dropline Neu.

4. Save the theme as Vista.

Great , now you desktop should be looking something like this…

3.Wallpaper

Just download some of your favorite wallpapers , or something of you choice. Or you could try my latest creation…

Vector Ubuntu

                                                                      Hosted on Zooomr

I would love some comments on this one…

4.Finally…

Well everything is finally in place. That was really easy. Now just snap some screenshots and share with us.

technorati tags:ubuntu, windows, vista, cool, art, wallpaper, linux, tech

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