Ubuntu Desktop Configuration
This page details steps to significantly improve and customize desktop functionality for Ubuntu systems.
This page also assumes that you're using the default Ubuntu interface, which is called Gnome.
Useful Extensions
Quick reference for useful Gnome Extensions (which can be found at the Gnome Exensions website):
- Workspace Matrix
- Put Windows
- Dash to Dock
Note, for any of these, you need to first install the Gnome Tweaks and Gnome Extensions packages (see Apt-Get Packages.
This will let you customize all installed extensions.
Workspace Matrix - Workspace Grids
Ubuntu 16.04 allowed horizontal and vertical dimensions for workspaces. Aka, allowing workspaces in the form of a grid. It was really convenient and handy for organization.
However, as of Ubuntu 18.04, default configuration only allows vertical workspaces, out of the box. It's a huge downgrade.
We can fix this with the Workspace Matrix extension.
Put Windows - Application Window Snapping
Ubuntu 16.04 allowed holding the windows (aka "super") key and hitting the number pad to automatically snap the selected window to the screen edge.
It was very handy for quick and clean placement of windows.
Once again, as of Ubuntu 18.04, this functionality was removed.
We can re-enable this functionality with the Put Windows extension.
Dash to Dock - Application Dash Bar Customization
As of Ubuntu 20.04, it seems that there is less robust customization available for the application dashboard.
Expanded customization can be enabled via the Dash to Dock extension.
Some bugs can be fixed by making sure to disable any other dash extensions, such as
Ubuntu Dash that seems to come default with Ubuntu 20.04.