This post is for all those Ubuntu beginners ( not necessarily! ) who are currently bored by the default themes and its non ability to play media files. Sadly yes, you cannot play a media file in ubuntu as it is. Even a mp3 file wouldn't play. This might be because of various reasons, but ubuntu doesn't restrict you from installing codecs that can handle these media files.

So the good news is, there are codecs for Ubuntu that can make your system play files that wouldn't run in other operating systems! Some of the weird extensions which wouldn't run in windows with vlc and  K-lite codec ( which i think are the best players for windows ) ran fine in Ubuntu. OK  so to install the codec's just click the below link.

Install Codecs 

For more themes click on the below link. It will install you all the themes from the community package.

You can also download theme. Usually it will be a .tar.gz file. Just goto 

System --> Preference --> Appearence

There you have an option ti install themes. Just browse for the theme location and install.

There is a very nice tutorial to install Mac theme for Ubuntu by MakeTechEasier. Seems to work pretty well!


I would also suggest you to install Cairo Dock which can totally change your desktop looks. Its one of the most impressive open source software's I have seen (though there are some bugs here and there!!) and is worth a try! Just type the below code in your Konsole.

sudo apt-get install cairo-dock

Or you can visit their site Cairo Dock and install directly.