Get rid of unity, install another desktop manager

Some do and some don't like the new unity interface that Ubuntu offers by default. Since this version of Ubuntu uses the new GNOME 3 desktop manager as well, things have changed a lot in the look and feel of your system.
I still don't like a lot of unity. It's not easily customizable and [I don't like that. I understand that from a point of view of helpdesk service provider that's nice, because every desktop behaves the same.

What are the choises.

First of all there are the standard derivatives of Ubuntu you could install.

Kubuntu, Xubuntu and Lubuntu  will work fine. But what if you allready installed Ubuntu and don't want to reinstall the lot. This is what you can do:

For running KDE use one of the following commands in a terminal. Aftrer sudo you have to type your login password. It is not shown when you type it.:

for a full blown system (about 2 Gb extra harddrive use) use:
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-full

for a smal laptop without plenty of resources use:
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-mobile

for a normal system use:
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

for a KDE only system without the kubuntu artwork:
sudo apt-get install kde-full
or
sudo apt-get install plasma-desktop
or
sudo apt-get install plasma-netbook


For running XFCE (from Xubuntu) use this command:
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

if you don't want the xubuntu artwork us this instead:
sudo apt-get install xfce4

For running LXDE (from Lubuntu) use this command:
sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop

if you don't want the xubuntu artwork us this instead:
sudo apt-get install lxde


When you're running a localised version of Ubuntu, sometimes you should add the language modules to your installation. E.G. for Dutch systems thats done with these commands:

for KDE systems:
sudo apt-get install kde-l10n-nl language-pack-kde-nl language-pack-nl language-pack-kde-nl-base

for GNOME systems:
sudo apt-get install language-pack-gnome-nl language-pack-nl language-pack-gnome-nl-base

As far as I could discover XFCE and LXDE don't have separate language modules. To be sure run this:
sudo apt-get install language-pack-nl


For german system change nl into de, for french into fr etc.

After this you have to logoff and logon again. When logging on press the button next to your name and choose the desktop manager of your choise.