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I'm a bit of a linux noob. I just successfully burned a CD with Ubuntu 11.04 (released today, April 28, 2011), and I loaded it on my windows computer running XP. It works great just like it did when I tried out 10.10. However, it seemed no different from 10.10 - the Launcher (dock), dash, workspaces were not available. When I clicked on the logo in the top left corner of the screen, on the applications menu showed up (just like in 10.10).

Can someone help me? I'm still just using the demo, I haven't installed it yet. Will installing it enable these features?

Thank you.

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The new interface (Unity) requires 3D graphics to run correctly. If your graphics card isn't capable of 3D Compositing, then Ubuntu will fall back to the traditional Gnome desktop that you were used to in Ubuntu 10.10.

In some cases your graphics card will be new and powerful enough to run Unity, but you'll still fall back to the classic desktop. The problem then is that Ubuntu ships with open source graphics drivers for legal reasons, and these drivers may not be advanced enough to run Unity. In this case, you should be able to install the official, proprietary graphics drivers supplied by your graphics card manufacturer (Nvidia, in your case). To see if proprietary drivers are available for your system, go to System > Administration > Additional Drivers in the classic interface, and Ubuntu should automatically detect and offer to install any drivers it finds.

If there are no drivers available for you that will let you run Unity, you can install Unity 2D from the Software Center. It provides similar features and a similar interface to the standard Unity interface, and next October, it will be the fallback for users who can't run regular Unity instead of Gnome.

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  • Thanks for your response. I have the Nvidia 9400gt...it's not that old of a card. This can't be the reason... (my other specs: pentium 4ht processor, 4gb of ddr2 ram)
    – Andrew
    Apr 29, 2011 at 17:46
  • The problem is probably with the graphics card drivers, then, not the card itself. I've updated my answer (the 2nd paragraph) with information that should help you install the best drivers for your graphics card. Apr 29, 2011 at 19:01
  • @Andrew What he's saying is that when you're using the LiveCD and haven't installed it the drivers you need to run Unity aren't running. You need to install, then let the OS install the right drivers after the first boot and then you can log into Unity. Apr 29, 2011 at 19:02

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