There are some you can disable using the unity-tweak-tool.
Install:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool
Run:
unity-tweak-tool &
Click on Launcher (in the Unity section) and in the Launcher tab:
- set Auto-hide to
off
- set Urgent animation to
No animation
- set Launch animation to
No animation
- set Icon backgrounds to
No colouring
.
In the Search tab:
- set Background blur to
off
.
Click on the Overview button at the top to go back to the main menu.
Click on General (in the Window Manager section). In the General tab:
- set Desktop magnification to
off
- set Texture quality to
Fast
- set Window Animations to
off
.
Additionally, you can turn off more animations in ccsm.
Install:
sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
Run:
ccsm &
In the effects category, untick all of the boxes.
In the accessibility tab, untick all of the boxes.
There are probably more you could disable in compiz as well.