So for my private workstation and laptop I'm using Ubuntu. Even though I spent most of my time in a fully tweaked out terminal (terminator, I'd recommend it), I still do not really like the way Unity 'feels' and 'handles'. So, for reverting to gnome there are not much steps to do. First install the gdm-package. You can do so by running [archy@castle-bravo ~]$ sudo apt-get -y install gdm gnome-shell-extensions This might take a while, depending on your internet-connection. After that, you can remove the ubuntu-desktop packages. This is done by [archy@castle-bravo ~]$ sudo apt-get -y remove unity lightdm After that, let the machine reboot. [archy@castle-bravo ~]$ sudo reboot After the machine booted up, you should be greeted by the gnome login screen. Feel free to comment and / or suggest a topic.