I know many users who dislike Unity interface. I too personally prefer the classic view with a Cairo dock - Unity 3D is very heavy for my Asus EeePC 1101HA. I had installed Ubuntu 11.10 on my machine as an upgrade from 11.04, which I removed later as I never liked the Unity menu bar. I like the classic view more.
Later I tried installing Lubuntu 11.10, Kubuntu 11.10 and Xubuntu 11.10 - each time I ended up with Ubuntu 11.10! Somehow if once Ubuntu 11.10 is installed, it won't allow installing the other variants on the same machine. So, as a get around, I found the following very useful - integrating the benefits of both Ubuntu and a lightweight desktop environment like XFCE, KDE or LXDE.
To install type the following commands on your terminal (with an active internet connection - involves around 50 mb of download):
1. To install Lubuntu or LXDE desktop:
sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop
2. To install Kubuntu or KDE desktop:
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
3. To install Xubuntu or XFCE desktop:
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop
All of these are derivatives of Ubuntu with a lighter desktop environment, specially good for older machines. Once you restart after installation, grub will provide you the options to log in to the desktop environment you installed. That way you don't have to remove whatever you install - Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu or Lubuntu, and enjoy the benefit that other desktop environments offer
These are snapshots of my Ubuntu desktop (classic view), LXDE desktop and Lubuntu desktop (which I installed minutes ago) on the same computer. Hope you'll like them.
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| Ubuntu 11.04 desktop (Classic View with Mac theme) |
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| LXDE Desktop |
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| Lubuntu Desktop with Cairo Dock |
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