I have lately been exploring XFCE distros for their simplicity as Ubuntu pursues Unity and Gnome pursues its desktop, which I find similar. But I keep coming back to Ubuntu 12.10. With the support for Windows XP waning, Xubuntu and others are bringing back the Cinnemon start panel (below). And this is a nice compromise. For now, I'll keep on using Ubuntu 12.10 using the classic Gnome Shell. I've reposted my 01-2013 My Desktop posting below...updated with my current build today. The theme is Greybird with Lion Metacity icons.
Installed Ubuntu 12.10 on my Dell Core2-Duo 6750 test machine and it is running fine. Installed Gnome Shell classic desktop, Synaptic Package Manager, Chromium, Pidgin, Deluge, Screenlets, Docky, Picasa, Gmusicbrowser, Audacious Player, VLC video player, Advanced Settings Tweak Tool, Restricted Extras, and Wine. It is only using 260 mb of memory. The wallpaper is from OSX Lion and the theme is the wonderful Grey Bird theme available in the Shimmer Themes pack in Synaptic. Most of the tweaks are from my prior December post below. Removed overlay scroll bars. Below are links to where you can dress up the distro to look like mine. Happy Holidays....
Other suggested themes - Get the Gnome Cupertino theme here:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-cupertino-gtk-theme
or here:
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Gnome+Cupertino?content=147061
Below are some of my favorite theme libraries:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/noobslab/themes/ubuntu quantal main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/noobslab/themes/ubuntu quantal main
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The GrayDay theme and can be downloaded here:
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/GrayDay?content=149310
The Elements-GS Gnome 3.x theme:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install elements-gs-theme
Source: http://www.webupd8.org/2011/10/4-beautiful-gnome-32-compatible-gtk.html
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You can add the Elementary and Evolve PPA repositories below:
Then just search for Evolve theme from the Synaptic package manager.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install evolve-gtk-theme
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To get the updated Ambiance and Radiance light themes
type the following on a terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:victored/light-themes-evolved
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
You can also go into Synaptic and search for "light themes" to avoid upgrading everything.
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The MAC OSX Lion "Mt.Fuji" wallpaper can be found here:
http://osxdaily.com/2011/02/24/mac-os-x-10-7-lion-fuji-mountain-wallpaper/
