How do I get rid of all the Unity bars?

Question

To make my question as simple as possible, I'll start with showing my desktop, so that I don't need to describe everything in words:

Basically this is how I have been using Ubuntu 10.04 since it's been released: all ubuntu/gnome panels erased and only AWN (Awant Window Navigator) running on the left side of the screen.

How possible is it to get as close to this look as possible in Ubuntu 11.10 without downgrading to gnome 2?

Possible solutions I can roughly think of, but am not sure how to accomplish them:

1) Use Unity interface, hide the Unity launcher and try to get used to the necessary top panel (I don't think that can be erased, or can it?)

2) Use Gnome interface and somehow erase all the panels/launchers?

Solution 1

Well almost - once this bug is resolved then the top pesky nautilus menu-bar will disappear!

How to...

1. Some prerequisites - install gnome-session-fallback & avant-window-navigator.
2. Logout and login with the new session "gnome classic"
3. start awn-settings and configure awn as you need to - ensure you tick the box to start awn automatically.
4. Run gnome-session-properties and add a new item compiz --replace
5. Edit /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/gnome-classic.session and remove "gnome-panel"
6. Edit /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/gnome-fallback.session and remove "gnome-panel"
7. Logout and login

Solution 2

I really dislike the new gnome user interface. I love the old classic look and feel so I went back with the help of the following question:

• How to revert to GNOME Classic Desktop?

Then I alt + right clik each of the panel (top, right and bottom) and set their properties to autohide and once more my mind is at ease. Thus far, no errors and desktop makes sense again.

Comments

[Jason Southwell]

@RiMMER: Use GNOME Classic. GNOME Shell will be the same deal as Unity.

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad]

Except that Gnome Classic cannot be run in 11.10. They have a similar looking replacement though, but it doesn't work the same way.

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad]

Who's talking about multiple monitors? Offtopic. -1

[nilsonneto]

Its as safe as the gnome 3 guys support it... its the standard fallback session for computers that cannot support the full gnome 3 session. So very similar as the "unity 2d" fallback for standard Unity.

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad]

No, Gnome Panel 3 is not the same as Gnome Panel 2. It cannot use traditional Gnome Panel Applets, for instance. At least it couldn't the last time I tried it. Has it changed recently?

[Jason Southwell]

@Jo-ErlendSchinstad: you cannot use them because some of them needed to be ported to new technologies. However, it is the same GNOME-Panel. What happened is that many of the old applets still use Bonobo, which has been on the chopping block for several releases of GNOME2, but did not get a complete drop until now.

[fDruga]

It's about the possibility to hide the panel.

[Frantisek]

Thanks, this really looks like the best solution, so I've accepted your answer, but could you please further explain what do the steps 4, 5 and 6 do? I think I understand the steps 5 and 6, but I'm not getting the step 4. Thanks!

[nilsonneto]

When you remove the panels - compiz stops running... therefore, using compiz --replace just gets compiz to startup correctly. 5 & 6 just stops gnome-panel being started on logon.

[Deepak Verma]

@Jo-Erlend Schinstad: Gnome Classic acts a hell of a lot more like Gnome 2 than the XFCE you often recommend. It has the same sort of UI, many of the same standard applets, etc.