I had installed Kubuntu 7.04 thinking I'd prefer KDE. I changed my mind and followed the instructions on http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/gnome to switch to Gnome. I wouldn't mind switching to Ubuntu to stay more mainstream.

I had expected a mixture of Gnome and KDE launcher short cuts, that I could then prune. But I can't recognize any from Gnome. The only obvious difference (at least that I noticed) in the shortcuts is it added Firefox.

Adept manager says there are 33 updates available, but they're all for KDE applications. When I use kconsole to su my account and run synaptic it states I'm running without admin privileges, and doesn't report any updates are available. Huh?

If I click on system it has "about Gnome" and "about Ubuntu" menu entries. System -> Adminstration lists synaptic package manager (but not adept manager). But System -> Preferences -> Main Menu seems like it has only KDE applications. It lists adept manager/updator/notifier but nothing for synaptic etc. I tried using its add new item command to add some standard Gnome applications but I don't know enough to find them.

Do I need to uninstall kubuntu-desktop?

I'd have no problem running ubuntu instead. I have a separate partition for home. What would happen if I installed ubuntu in the root? Would I keep any applications I had separately installed (such as microsoft truetype fonts etc.)

first of all, gnome would only keep your desktop shortcuts
then the reason that all your updates are for kde applications is because you have the newest version of the gnome applications. to run synaptic, just go to System> Administration then run Synaptic from there, you don't have to get rid of kde, you can have them both installed, it doesn't matter

I can (and have) run synaptic package manager. That is not the problem, though I was confused why it reported no updates.

How do I get Gnome application short cuts so that I can more completely switch to Gnome? I didn't get them when I switched desktops, and can't figure out how to manually add them with "new item" due to inexperience (don't know all of them , where they are stored, or which file to select even if I find the right directory in the right partition).

Solved.

I used the really long sudo apt-get remove string for removing kubuntu at http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/puregnome to change the launcher short cuts. It completely converted me to Ubuntu - I even have the Ubuntu screen when booting.