Fix Ubuntu 11.10

11.10 is a must-go-to for one reason, stupid easy Gnome 3 shell.

As I posted before, 11.04 was a loser for me, largely due to Unity.

11.10 makes it VERY simple to get with Gnome 3 shell, instead of Unity hell (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?)

after a fresh install, simply run terminal:

sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

reboot, and when logging in choose the user you want, then select  "GNOME" From the menu.
Enter your password, and you should be  in Gnome 3 land.

You will probably want to go to system settings, and then appearance to choose the Adwaita theme, which plays with Gnome 3 shell better.

You may also want to get the gnome-tweak-tool:

sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
Which shows up as "advanced settings" in the GUI, or can be launched from command line.

This gives you even more control of the environment, allowing you to do things like:

Under Desktop, set "have file manager handle the desktop" to OFF.
This gives smoother transitions, and to prevents showing files on the desktop.
Of course if you want it, you can leave it on, and also show other icons as well.

Under Shell, you can have the date show on the clock.
This is a big deal for me.
This is also where you can also choose to show all the buttons (X min and max).

When you've done these two simple things, you will have an Ubuntu install you can live with!

BONUS:  you may want to change the logon screen background OR use this app to do it

BONUS BONUS:  use this app to rotate wallpapers - or even better wallch, which is easier to install and get working.
      EDIT:  This is the best option I've found for wallpapers (sadly as wally give me nothing but trouble in 11.10)
BONUS X3: disable ubuntu overlay scrollbars - if you prefer the Gnome style

Bonus (?): as always, commercial DVD playback must be added:
install medibuntu repos,
then install DVD components via terminal:
  sudo apt-get install libdvdread4
  sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

Pretty important:  Fix Chrome.
It fails with an error in software center when you download the .deb from google.
open terminal, and navigate to the directory containing the .deb

sudo dpkg -i package-name

sudo apt-get -f install


And that should install it.

Yet another nice thing to have is the "Microsoft True Type Fonts"

   sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer