Installing XPDE on Ubuntu

Why XPDE?
I don't know why, actually. As far as I can tell, XPDE is a just-for-fun thing, and it isn't really a functional desktop environment. Nevertheless, I see it asked for enough on the Ubuntu Forums that I figured I might as well help people install it.

My advice, though: if you really want a fake XP environment, consider using the Smooth XP theme for Gnome.

Installing XPDE
Download this file to your desktop.

Then go to a terminal and copy and paste these commands:

cd ~/Desktop
chmod +x installxpde.sh
./installxpde.sh

In order for your changes to take effect, press Control-Alt-Backspace or reboot.
username@ubuntu:~/Desktop$

That's it. It should be installed now and available in your KDM or GDM "sessions" menu.

By the way, there's a README file in the .tar.gz from XPDE.com that tells you do edit the xinitrc file. Those instructions don't work.

Removing XPDE
If you use the installation script, try out XPDE, and finally realize it's not a functional environment, just copy and paste these two commands into the terminal to remove it:

sudo rm -rf /usr/share/xpde
sudo rm /usr/share/xsessions/XPde.desktop

If you have suggestions or corrections for these tutorials, please post in this Ubuntu Forums thread or leave a comment on my blog.