Hey guys,
I have seen screen shots of the Gnome desktop with the buttons on the left side instead of the right such as it is in OS X. I really like them over there. How can I change that? I remember there is a run thing I can do that opens up an application that lets me do it. I don't rememeber what.

Ta ta and thanks,

Dustin

What buttons are you talking about? There are by default, three menus on the left side, but no buttons. Are these what you mean? They are on the left side already, just like in OSX. I guess I am confused as to whether you want the menus on the left or right....

Needed to get into Gnome so I could explain better: by default, there are three MENUs, named "Applications", "Places" and "Desktop". They are built as a single object called the "Menu Bar" and can be moved anywhere on the panel. You can also add what is called the "Main Menu", which is just the foot, and has the same contents of the "Applications" menu. All of these objects can be moved to anywhere on the panel. Make sense?

I am not talking about the menu's i am talking about the actual minimize,maximize and close buttons they are on the right on my gnome desktop on OS X those buttons are the red yellow and green buttons on the left side of the screen. I was wondering how to change them I remember doing it before by running something in the run application thing and it opened up a thing where I can actually type in what order i want them in etc.

Thanks,

Dustin

not the panal , sorry i wasn't too clear

In kde this can be changed and is a theme related thing. Dunno about gnome, but check the window/theme settings

I already checked there in the theme options.

That is a no go.
I remember that i had to go to the run command type thing and type in a certain name and an application opened up in which I could type in something like

Max:Min:shade

and so on and so forth I got the instruction on how on a mac os x theme for gnome but since then I can not find the theme nor the instruction because i had a boot sector virus and had to reformat everything but I love mandriva 2006 and everything works but I can't get my buttons where I want them.

thanks,

Dustin

I understand now - here are a couple of Metacity (window border) themes I found that are like a Mac:

http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=14677
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=16320
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=15067
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=14266

Hope this is what you are looking for.

I already have the window boarder style but i need to know how to actually move the buttons to the left, they are still on the right when you apply them. As I was saying you have to move them manually. I wish I still knew how and it is driving me crazy.

Thanks,

Dustin

OK, now I am confused. The buttons on all those themes are on the left. Is that not what you wanted?

yes but when you apply the themes my buttons are still on the right , and I am confused about why because I think you have to manually change them

Thanks,
Dustin

Well, I'll be damned...I just d/l'd them and they are all on the right. Unfortunately, I see no way to change them. Normally, it would be a function of Metacity, the window manager, but the configuration in Metacity is limited. I'm checking the possiblity of editing the button order using Gconf - hold on and I'll post back when I find out if it works.

It works, but will be this way for ALL themes, not just one. Here's what you do:

1) Open Gconf by clicking "Applications" --> "System Tools" --> "Configuration Editor"

2) Navigate to the following Gconf key: "Apps" --> "Metacity" --> "General"

3) Change the value of the following Name item: "button_layout"

4) Change the order of the buttons from this:
to this:
and the buttons will switch when you click off the value field of the Gconf key name. Let me know if you have any problems.

thank you that is the program i have been wanting ot know about all this time btw on my distro you have to do it from the run application and run gconf-editor instead... i don't know why but when i click on my star in mandrivia i dont have an appliciations menu i just have more applications that have my games and office stuff etc..

thank you,

DUstin

You are welcome. Be careful with gconf-editor, because although it is not as "evil" as winblows regedit, it can still ruin your desktop if you change a value to something inappropriate. Some distros only put things they think you might need on the menus. Trying to protect you from yourself maybe...

Glad it worked for you!