Make Ubuntu 11.10 Look like Windows 7, Vista, XP or Classic

[Phugoid]

No. To tell you the truth I installed it on my school computer (I never agreed not to do such things) and it is still dual-booted with windows. All I want to do is make sure that if I do accidentally load it up at school it will look normal and no-one will find out what I did. (I am only using Ubuntu on this computer for personal use at home).

Somehow, when I read this, I thought of a guy with hardcore Christian parents taking the cover off "The God Delusion" and replacing it with the cover of the King James Bible.

I didn't realise there would be a stigma attached to running ubuntu?!

[kohoutek1]

Makes a great story.

Reminds me of the time I installed Suse 9.1 to dual-boot on one of the workstations in my office. I made no bones about it... "Hey, guys, I put Linux on this computer. Try it if you want."

Nobody, as far as I know ever did, but as far as I know, it's still there. Next to XP.

I dunno. Maybe your best place to begin would be with KDE, not Unity/GNOME. KDE starts with the task bar at the bottom, window lists, all right where they would be on Windows.

There's also Ice WM. Looks just like Windows 98, only, in my view, tidier. I like to use it from time to time just to smile.

Your real problem may be: What happened to the files that were on the computer before this fateful decision? Still accessible?

Suse had (still has?) a way to access NTFS data (read: Windows partition) from within the DE. I did the courtesy of leaving a little Tomboy note on the desktop telling anyone who might boot in exactly where those files could be found.

[DGedye]

If making Linux resemble Windows is a way to bring more users to the Linux world then I encourage it. Once people have made the move and see what Linux has to offer our user numbers could go through the roof.

I totally agree. My computer dual boots, ubuntu for me and WinXP for my wife. Sooner or later redmond will pull the plug on xp, burt she doesn't like changes. The only way I could get her to use linux would be for it to look and feel like winXP. Thank you LinuxWriter88 for not being a linuxsnob.

[Resistent]

You can change the "already" selected - will be booted if you don't press anything - System for booting, make the default = "Windows".
Then it will never boot accidentally Ubuntu until you press the "down-key" at startup in the time frame of the 15 seconds or less (what you adjusted).

So you can use Windows at school.
If your Ubuntu still looks like Windows, an expert would realize that you don't use Windows.