# Customizing Your Computer

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This section describes how you can change the look and feel of your computer.

1. Customising Panels

2. The Main Menu

3. Visual Effects

4. Customising other aspects of the desktop

## How can I move the window buttons to the top right of the window?

In this version of Ubuntu the close, maximize and minimize window buttons are placed at the top left of the window. If you would prefer them to be at the top right of the window, as in previous versions of Ubuntu and Windows, then follow these instructions:

- Press Alt F2 to open the Run Application window.

- Type `gconf-editor` into the text box and click Run to start the Configuration Editor.

- Open /apps/metacity/general using the side pane and double-click the button_layout item.

- Change the value to say

      :minimize,maximize,close

  (the position of the colon determines which side of the window the buttons appear on).

- Click OK and the location of the windows buttons will change immediately.

## Using KDE or Xfce instead of the GNOME desktop

By default Ubuntu comes with the GNOME desktop, which is a popular free desktop software package with a focus on ease of use. Other desktop environments exist which provide different types of user experience.

This topic provides instructions on how to install and use a desktop other than the default GNOME desktop, such as KDE or Xfce.

### Installing a KDE desktop

KDE is a popular, fully-featured desktop environment. Kubuntu is a version of Ubuntu which uses the KDE desktop.

To install and use KDE:

- Install the kubuntu-desktop package.

- Click the User Switcher in the top right hand corner of the screen and then press Log out to log out of Ubuntu

- At the log-in screen which appears, press Options Select Session...

- Choose the KDE option and press Change Session

- Enter your username and password as normal. KDE should then start.

### Installing an Xfce desktop

Xfce is a desktop environment which is designed to be fast and lightweight. Xubuntu is a version of Ubuntu which uses the Xfce desktop.

To install and use Xfce:

- Install the xubuntu-desktop package.

- Click the User Switcher in the top right hand corner of the screen and then press Log out to log out of Ubuntu

- At the log-in screen which appears, press Options Select Session...

- Choose the Xfce option and press Change Session

- Enter your username and password as normal. Xfce should then start.