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View Full Version : [xubuntu] New to Xubuntu and confused!



berinde
April 5th, 2011, 04:41 PM
Hello everyone. I am currently enrolled in college with a major of computer science. I have been using Ubuntu 10.10 for several months now and I really like it, since it helps with the programming and connecting to off-site computers. I wanted to try out Xubuntu environment. I am currently running Xubuntu 10.10 desktop from a flash drive to give it a go before I install it. I booted up into it last night and I REALLY liked it. When I turned my computer back on this morning I booted from the same flash drive again and the desktop layout had totally changed! Last night it was more similar to windows where the panel was on the bottom instead of the top ( see pictures ). I want to try something different so I do not want the applications/places to be at the top of the screen for this install. How do I get it back to bottom? The only difference I can think of is that I had another flash drive plugged in last night that had Ubuntu 10.10 installed to it and a casper-rw section. This morning that drive is unplugged.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

These two images were found on google image search. The top one is the one that I am going for, and the buttom is what I would like to try and stay away from.

http://i.imgur.com/xFEvm.jpg






http://i.imgur.com/O9Y1o.png

berinde
April 5th, 2011, 04:42 PM
Apologies if this is in the wrong section, I am new to the forums.

XubuRoxMySox
April 5th, 2011, 04:53 PM
I'm using 10.04 (I stick with the LTS versions) but Menu > Settings > Xfce Settings Manager opens a whole 'nother menu where you can customize everything from wallpaper to panels and fonts and stuff.

Select Panels and you can add or delete panels (you can have four panels if you like, or just one or two). You can position them where you like, make them large or small, add launchers for your favorite apps, and cool little gadgets like a weather applet, clock, CPU monitor, etc.

These settings may not be persistent on a USB-drive though. Installed on the hard drive they "stick" and don't change 'til I change them.

I have two panels: One kinda oversized one that looks like a dock (only better) on the bottom with launchers and stuff (see screenshot), and one on top that is invisible until I mouse over it, containing only the taskbar. Sweet and simple.

I hope I've helped,
Robin

3Miro
April 5th, 2011, 05:02 PM
The bottom panel view is the default for XFCE 4.6. The two panel looks like default Gnome and has been chosen as default for Xubuntu (make it more like Ubuntu). Form Apps -> Settings -> Setting Managers you can select how many panels you want, where you want them and so on. By right click on a panel, you can also add useful applets.

I am not sure how the settings would persist. I suppose this depends on how you installed Xubuntu on the flash drive. I think if you install Xuvbuntu regularly by selecting the flash drive, you should be able to save your settings. I am not sure what the Ubuntu Live USB utility would give you.

FYI: XFCE 4.8 is out and the panel is now even more awesome. Xubuntu 11.04 is not stable yet, but when it comes out, it will be great.

berinde
April 5th, 2011, 05:29 PM
If I can get the GUI looking like I want I am going to make a persistent drive so that I can travel home/gf's and take everything I need to continue programming with ease. I liked how fast and responsive xubuntu was compared to Ubuntu last night. It is more of what I expect from Linux. I will take a look at the settings mentioned when I get home today.

berinde
April 5th, 2011, 05:31 PM
Are there special steps to update xfce to 4.8 or is that part of Update Manager?

3Miro
April 5th, 2011, 07:30 PM
Are there special steps to update xfce to 4.8 or is that part of Update Manager?

You will have to update to Xubuntu 11.04 when it comes (by the end of the month). You can try the beta now, but you should expect plenty of bugs. You can also upgrade 10.10 to 11.04, but clean install is preferable to upgrade.