did a reinstall because of a bug: now minimize and x are on the right side of the pages i want them back on the left side

Hi :)
Try this on the command-line

gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string "menu:minimize,maximize,close"

That should sort the buttons :)
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

when i did the reinstall i used the wrong cd '' ubuntu 10.04 beta 2 .
  mark s. is right after a bit it is just easier that way .

Hi :)

If you are going to explore installs and try other versions of linux then you might find it very useful to move your /home onto it's own partition so that you keep your data safer
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Partitioning/Home/Moving

Also don't forget to work through the Medibuntu worksheet on your new install
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu
to get multimedia sorted.

The beta2 will take a LOT of updates but you end up in the same place apparently :) Lol, it happens, don't worry :) Yes, a reinstall is often a good way of solving a problem quickly as we often tend to clutter up our systems with many of the interesting things worth trying out without really understanding what we are doing at first. It is well worth practising installs because 98% of desktops don't have linux on them at all yet. If we can help make it easier for any 1 of them to install as a dual-boot then people would be a lot less afraid of trying it out :)

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

the beta did 498 updates , and no it not end with a full 10.04 . it just was not right . it just did not act like the release day version . even my 10.04 full ubuntu cd did not reinstall right just acted a bit slow or like it was having problems running programs. so i took out gpart live cleaned the hard drive and reinstalled 9.10 . i never liked 8.04 9.04 and now 10.04 . 10.10 will rock ! when it gets here.

Hi :)

It is weird how that happens sometimes. Have you tried other distros or just Ubuntu so far? If you do try other ones please remember to try them as a LiveCd version first before installing. I tend to have a spare partition to install and try out other distros as part of my machine's dual/multi-boot ;)
http://distrowatch.com

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

i have tried mint 8 , xubuntu ,debrain 5 , puppy linux , lubuntu , kubuntu . just did not think they were as user friendly as ubuntu. i have also looked at web pages with about 75 more releases of linux .

Hi :)

Yeh, most of those are all in the Debian/Ubuntu family and Ubuntu is pretty much the main leader in terms of user-friendly in this family. Mint is supposed to be based on Ubuntu but tries to be better for multimedia "straight out of the box" but i find i get plenty from just adding Medibuntu.

Puppy is made to work on very small and/or ancient systems so it is great until you try changing anything around in the system, such as trying to add programs or change wallpapers or anything.

I would definitely recommend trying Mandriva, openSUSE & Fedora right about now.
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mandriva
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=opensuse
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=fedora
 Fedora is an experimental distro that constantly tries out new developments in linux-land before other distros take what they see as worth working with. It's mainly developed and used by the RedHat family so there's probably a focus on server type functionality but it is very innovative in desktop functionality too.
 openSUSE has a new release due at the end of July i think so it is worth seeing how stable their current release is and then perhaps comparing that against their new release.
 Mandriva is about to change ownership but their newer release is due out fairly soon, sometime in the next few months. So it would be interesting to have a look at this beautiful distro before it starts heading in a new direction.
 Those 3 distros are each from different families so they are worth looking at to see the different package managers and slightly different ethos. Of course if you stick to the Gnome or Xfce desktop environments then things should still be very familiar. I think it's worth having a look at a Slackware distro such as Wolvix as these tend to do less tweaking to packages before they get installed so you tend to seee the programs as they were really intended to be. Slackware distros tend to be faster and lighter on a system but still has all the configurability (which puppy lacks) and also are intended for top-end machines. Wolvix is fairly user friendly despite the reputation of Slackware. I think sliTaz is definitely worth a good try :)
 There is a lot of exciting stuff going on in the world of distros at the moment and it is well worth dipping your toe in with a few LiveCd sessions just to have a look around outside the debian/ubuntu corner.

Check out DistroWatch, it's got about 600 versions of linux and has much better pages comparing distros. It's home-page even eeps you up-to-date with latest changes and news about what is going on & has a "top 100 most popular" list down it's right-hand-side. I know there are a lot of other sites that try to do the same type of thing as DW but they are all very limited in scope and are usually quite out-of-date.
http://distrowatch.com

Good luck and have fun :)
Regards from
Tom :)

 why would/ do i need to look for any think else ubuntu does it fine . it seams to me after using ubuntu for nearly three years now and finding it first that everone is just mocking ubuntu . even so i enjoyed xp pro but there is no way i would go back to it or have it for dual boot . my collage son is studding game programing in windows . love`s ubuntu and does his online classes with it . it `s like that screen saver i had mess with the best die like the rest .

Hi :)

Ubuntu is top of DW's "top 100 list" for a good reason. Usually it gets double the amount of hits as it's nearest 'rival'. Yes a lot of people do mock it but that is not what i intended. Ubuntu is the main Operating System on my machine because i prefer it to all the others i have tried.

However, i found that by trying other distros from other families i learned a lot more about linux generally and even about Ubuntu than i would have learned by just staying with Ubuntu all the time. Oddly i also find that learning a little about linux has helped hugely with understanding Windows better, for example the boot-process and installs & partitioning all suddenly made a lot more sense after trying a few linux installs. Also the concept of running LiveCds and the very much faster file-transfer rates in linux gave me a lot more tools for fixing Windows problems for people. I am not saying to abandon Ubuntu and move away. I am saying try a few others for fun because you seem to enjoy exploring.

Also you said that "i never liked 8.04 9.04 and now 10.04" and back when i felt like that about the 8.10 release i found that trying a few other distros helped me a lot. I kept my 8.04 install tho! just added the others as part of a multi-boot system. Just knowing how similar they are takes the pressure off. Switching from Windows to Linux was quite tough. trying a different linux for a while was quite easy.

Good luck and have fun
Regards from
Tom :)

i started working on computer controlled machines long befor i every own a computer . then i got one for my son ,then later one for me ,then a bit later for my better half all with windows . 95 ,98 ,98 se ,xp pro then ubuntu 7.04 then a new one for me it had vista that lasted about two days droped in a ubuntu install cd and i have tried other linux os ,but just not happy with them . the other just are no fun . while running ubuntu 8.04 i got the book how to do everythink ubuntu based on ubuntu 8.04 read it ; the book was by jeffrey orloff . and i also keep up with zdnet and tech republic news letters . so overall i have a good ideal how the linux works . when i am boarded i try other os `es just none of them last long.

Ahah, ok. That seems pretty cool :)
Have fun, regards from
Tom :)