[ Thanks to James
Maguire for this link. ]
“1) CompizConfig Setting Manager (CCSM): As you probably know,
Compiz was one of the first window managers for 3-D effects. It is
also a main dependency for Unity — in fact, I have often heard
Unity described as an overgrown Compiz extension.“CCSM is not installed by default, but is available in Ubuntu’s
repositories. Under CCSM’s Desktop category, you will find a
listing for Ubuntu Unity Plugin. Select it, and you will find
options for keyboard shortcuts and options to change the animation,
opacity and icon size for the launcher, as well as the clarity of
the view of the desktop beneath the dash menu.“Should you run into conflict between settings (a common enough
event with Compiz, since it tends to be both bleeding edge and
complex), you can open a command line and restore the default
settings with the command unity-reset.“2) Unity Plugin Rotated: One of the commonest complaints about
Unity is that the launcher, with its mixture of open applications
and launchers for favorites, is fixed to the left margin. Although
this position makes sense, since widescreen monitors have more
horizontal space than vertical, many users would still prefer the
option to reposition it.“Unity Plugin Rotated is a Compiz Settings Manager Plugin that
lets you move the launcher to the bottom of the screen. It worked
for me without any trouble in Ubuntu 11.04, but read the
instructions in the link above before installing, so you know how
to resolve any conflicts — and, if necessary, uninstall the plugin
and restore your desktop.”