How to easily install classic "traditional" sessions in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

Submitted by razvi on April 27, 2012 - 13:50

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS was released yesterday, shipping, by default, the gorgeous new Unity shell.

Nevertheless, there are users who still use and enjoy in their daily workflow "traditional" interfaces and interaction behaviors, such as GNOME 2-like sessions.

In Ubuntu 12.04, the above approaches can be easily acquired via plenty of choices, like for instance:

  • GNOME Classic Session keeps the "old" GNOME 2 interface in the up-to-date experience of Ubuntu 12.04, allowing the traditional users to continue their computer usage into a secure, stable and powerful 12.04 LTS.
    The installations is as simple as

    sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback

    The panel settings can be accessed via press&hold the Alt key+right-click on the panel

  • a more versatile yet traditional shell is definitely Cairo/GLX-Dock's (the suite presents both a separate usable under Unity dock/launcher and a complete session, just like Ubuntu (Unity), Ubuntu 2D (Unity 2D), etc).
    The advantages over the GNOME Classic Session are solid, meaning Cairo Dock presents a more polished, modern interface with a noticeable attention on defining and rendering items, a full-fledged dock and enhanced Ubuntu integration (with adopted indicators, etc), as well as fancy top panel, neat main menu holder and more.
    How do we install Cairo-Dock 3.0?
    Add the following official PPA (Lucid, Maverick, Natty, Oneiric, Precise)

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cairo-dock-team/ppa

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins

      • After the above session are installed, they must be selected at login, as such: click the Unity greeter's Ubuntu logo and select the desired session by clicking on it.

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