Way to theme 12.04 to look like windows xp?

[amaruq_atka]

I want to upgrade my dad from 10.10 to 12.04 but he will refuse to use it unless it looks like XP. He is to old and does not have time to learn the new layout. I am not sure how to do that and wont upgrade him until I can, if I can do that. Is there themes out there? Is it possible with unity?

[codemaniac]

You can install various Windoze like themes still you cannot hide a Lion in a sheep skin .
You can get he look and feel close to Win xp but the functionalities and applications available might be a world apart and this could easily fraustrate the user .

http://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-...ndows-7-theme/

[amaruq_atka]

He is ok with different apps, as long as there is his start bar (that looks almost exact) and his firefox. And thats windows 7. Also, unwilling to learn something new (even if its the same) I will just have to switch him back to windows I guess.

Thanks though!

[codemaniac]

You can find the below thread useful .

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1230463

[Henne91]

Just don't use Unity but install GNOME 2 (GNOME classic) or KDE. GNOME 2 is the desktop environment used in 10.10, so he should feel comfortable with that.

Here is a tutorial how to install GNOME 2 in Precise (12.04):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcFUcur0HaU

(Haven't tried it myself!)

And here you find help on making GNOME 2 look like XP:
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/l...es/32255.aspx#

Another option is to install KDE 4, which you can get from Ubuntu Software-Center. This uses different applications than Ubuntu (and your system would be called Kubuntu) but it's much more like Windows with a start menu at the bottom left.

Info about KDE: http://www.kde.org/workspaces/plasmadesktop/

You also have the possiblity to install different themes for KDE but I'm not sure if there is one that makes it look like XP.

Hope this helps.

Hendrik

[rjs987]

Kubuntu is most like Windows XP to me. I know there are a few other distros available that may be more like Windows but if you want to stay with the *buntu distros then this may be the one (or any Linux distro that uses KDE). Kubuntu has the "start" button in the lower left corner and the task bar across the bottom with the clock on the right. Libre Office is the default for 12.04 and looks and operates just like Office 2003. Be sure to set the default format for saving documents to the Windows doc or docx (xls or xlsx for spreadsheets) format so he can share them with friends who only have Windows with M$ Office. The default email client/PIM suite is Kontact. I used to use Kubuntu and I thought Kontact was very familiar when I was just coming out of my Windows stuper. Firefox has a one click installer built in.

[amaruq_atka]

ohhh! this is good. I will play with these to make it to dads liking! thanks everyone!