How to make Ubuntu Linux look like Windows 7

February 21, 2013

Windows 8's tile-based interface puts a bold new spin on the familiar Windows interface—so bold that many long-time Windows users are threatening to jump ship to another operating system rather than learn Microsoft's "modern" UI. Of course, you'll still find yourself in foreign territory even if you actually follow through and make the jump. Installing a new operating system is easy, but wrapping your head around an alien environment can be more difficult, even if you're using a comparatively user-friendly OS like Ubuntu Linux. Luckily, Linux is customizable—much, much more than Windows. In fact, if you're having trouble with the transition (or plopping Ubuntu on a parent's PC), you can tweak and tune the OS to feel pretty darned close to the Windows environment you've forsaken. I’ll go through two methods here. One adapts Ubuntu’s default Unity desktop to make it feel slightly more like Windows, while the other entails a bit more work and a different desktop interface entirely to create a truly Microsoft-like experience. Creating a Windows 7-style Ubuntu Ubuntu's default desktop is clean, but not very Windows-like. To be completely honest, Ubuntu's default Unity desktop may be slick and pretty, but it isn’t the most configurable Linux environment around. The taskbars running the top and left sides of its screen are locked in place and can’t be moved whatsoever. Unity is still fairly flexible, however, and some basic—for Linux—tweaks can give it some of that old Windows 7 charm. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028896/how-to-make-ubuntu-linux-look-like-windows-7.html