I hate what Ubuntu has done with Unity. Luckily they still have a GNOME flashback session that allows me to use something that's similar to how GNOME used to look. Here are my instructions to install Ubuntu 14.04.1 with a clean-looking flashback session.

• Install Ubuntu 14.04.1
  • Choose the options to download updates while installing and install the extras.
  • Install any updates it asks for when you're done.
• Install things for the GNOME flashback to work, as well as some other things I prefer to do:
  • sudo apt-get install gnome-session-flashback compizconfig-settings-manager compiz-plugins gnome-tweak-tool
  • Log out, then log back in with the Gnome Flashback (Compiz) session.
  • Open up CompizConfig Settings Manager (Applications→System Tools→Preferences) and change the following settings:
    • Accessibility → Enhanced Zoom Desktop: Change Zoom In Button to <Super>Button4 and Zoom Out Button to <Super>Button5. This will allow zooming in and out by scrolling the mouse wheel with the windows (super) key held down.
    • Window Management → Turn on Application Switcher. This fixes Alt-Tab which is disabled by default in flashback session.
      • Under General tab of Application Switcher, turn off “Icon” because the icon display is all screwed up. Note that this will still be screwed up until you log out and back in.
    • Window Management → Grid: Put Left Key = <Super>Left, Put Right Key = <Super>Right, Maximize Key = <Super>Up. This mimics Windows 7 shortcuts that I like.
    • General → General Options: Under Desktop Size tab, change Horizontal Virtual Size to 4. 4 virtual desktops should show up in bottom bar.
  • In Tweak Tool (Applications→System Tools→Preferences) under Desktop, click checkbox next to Mounted Volumes so that they are shown on the Desktop (if you want). Note that Tweak Tool's UI is weird and might appear transparent or messed up.
  • Change scrollbars so they look normal:
    • gsettings set com.canonical.desktop.interface scrollbar-mode normal
  • Turn off text entry icon in notification icon area. Click on it, click Text Entry Settings, uncheck “Show current input source in menu bar”
  • Fix annoying scrollbars in GTK3 apps so that they don't jump right to where you click:
    • Create (if not already existing) ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini and add the following two lines:
      • [Settings]
      • gtk-primary-button-warps-slider = false
  • Fix layout of close buttons (I hate the default):
    • gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ':minimize,maximize,close'
  • Uninstall dumb web browser app
    • sudo apt-get remove webbrowser-app
  • Fix Qt apps so their menus appear correctly in the window rather than in the (now nonexistent) global menubar
    • sudo apt-get remove appmenu-qt5
• Other things I prefer to do with my setup:
  • sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer build-essential vim openssh-server subversion git-core synaptic openjdk-7-jre openjdk-7-jdk avrdude avr-libc gcc-avr binutils-avr minicom qt-sdk qtcreator nfs-kernel-server eagle gerbv iotop vlc wine gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi{,hf} meld ghex gimp inkscape librecad sqlite3 u-boot-tools bison flex qtcreator-doc qt5-doc qt5-doc-html
  • If on a VMware virtual machine, install the tools:
    • sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools open-vm-toolbox
  • Install Google Chrome from Google's site
  • Make bash the default sh instead of dash. Not recommended by Ubuntu, I know, but I still prefer it.
    • sudo dpkg-reconfigure dash
    • select no to disable dash and use bash instead
  • Add myself to dialout group for serial port permissions:
    • sudo usermod -a -G dialout doug
  • Enable remote desktop sharing in Applications→System Tools→Preferences→Desktop Sharing
    • VNC access will not work correctly with normal VNC clients until you run the following command:
    • gsettings set org.gnome.Vino require-encryption false
  • In a VM, turn off power saving screen off timeout crap in System Settings.
  • Change default editor to vim.basic
    • sudo update-alternatives –-config editor