To be honest, I never really liked Human, Ubuntu's default theme, and seems that many other people don't. Happilly, on GNU/Linux systems it is easy to customize everything, even the buttons aspect or the windows borders. Here's a list of 30 Gnome themes of all styles, from the Windows XP look-a-like to the very original skin, to enhance your Ubuntu experience.
Apotheosis

Blubuntu Aurora

Blue Joy

Bluespace

Bluman

ColorBit

Creamy

Darker Ice Murrina

Elegant Aurora

Elegant Brit

Gaia Nova

Gilouche Posh

Gray Human

Moomex

Moomex Ultimatum

Murina Aero

Nimbus Vista Look

Noname Peace

Not XP

Orange Linsta Black Plastic

Royale

Slickness Black

SlicknesS

Soffice

Tigris

Want more?

Check out our list of 20 beautiful dark themes for Gnome and Ubuntu.

 

53 Comments

  1. Posted July 24, 2008 at 6:42 pm | Permalink

    Good list of themes here, I currently use the blue version of the Human theme installed by default but I may check some of these out..

  2. Posted July 24, 2008 at 7:45 pm | Permalink

    Glad you liked it =)

  3. Posted July 24, 2008 at 8:10 pm | Permalink

    Thanks for the post! It’s always a little overwhelming trying to dig through all the themes to find the best ones out there.

    Looks like I have a few new ones to try now.

  4. Posted July 24, 2008 at 8:37 pm | Permalink

    Oooh, I really like some of those. Thanks!

  5. Posted July 25, 2008 at 12:57 am | Permalink

    Really nice list, thanks for sharing.

  6. Phil
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 1:49 am | Permalink

    I used to use slickness black until I got tired of the dark text areas and I switched to the lighter one but could never find a happy tone of gray…and didn’t like the scroll bar. I told myself I wasn’t going to go theme hoping again but some of them are too tempting.

    This is why I can’t understand the call from Canonical to come up with a new default for Ubuntu. What is has is clean and functional for the home and business user. I’d mainly just change the color scheme. Come up with an ultra simple way to install these themes with one click and point the users at that on first boot. Let them choose what they want for their desktop.

  7. Posted July 25, 2008 at 2:12 am | Permalink

    Okay, go to gnome-look.org to download & install via appearance these:

    1) Controls: Ubux2
    2) Window Border: Gilouche Express – color it blue or but whatever you like.
    3) Icons: MacUltimate Leopard
    4) Cursor or pointer: ArchCursorBlue

    5) Firefox Browser: just go to the add-on part of their website, and install iFox Metal for your skin. Probably the most important part, as you use the net the most.

    Thank me later.

  8. anon
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 3:08 am | Permalink

    Um, they’re all either WinXP or Vista look-alikes. If I wanted winders, I’d buy it.

  9. lyiaun
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 3:11 am | Permalink

    Some of those look beautiful . I will try some . Think you!

  10. Posted July 25, 2008 at 3:13 am | Permalink

    Thanks for enjoying Darker Ice Murrina

  11. Gary W
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 3:42 am | Permalink

    I must be nearly the only person who can’t stand white backgrounds…

  12. anonymous
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 3:47 am | Permalink

    Lots of really nice themes.

    Were these included with Ubunut?

    If not, where did you get them?

    Could you give a quick description on how you went about changing them?

    Thanks and keep up the good work!

  13. Posted July 25, 2008 at 6:07 am | Permalink

    Nice set! For the record anon, not all of them are windoze clones. I don’t really like the look of windoze, yet I like a-lot of these.

  14. bob
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 6:47 am | Permalink

    Yeah, this collection shows the problem with trying to find a different theme; 80% of them are a simple recolor, or clearly a windows/leopard ripoff or clone (or a weird mix of the two, which never works out well). If I wanted Linux to look like Windows or Leopard, I would just run Windows or Leopard.

  15. Posted July 25, 2008 at 7:24 am | Permalink

    Thanks everyone for your feedback!

  16. Posted July 25, 2008 at 7:49 am | Permalink

    @anonymous: You can download theses themes and many others on gnome-look.org. If you’re interested in how yo customize your Ubuntu desktop, you should totally grab the rss feed as I’m planning to publish a post on that subject next week :)

  17. Martin
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 10:04 am | Permalink

    So, if I don’t use Ubuntu, but I use gnome I shouldn’t use this themes?. Please, GNU/Linux is not only Ubuntu, it is a lot more.
    And by the way, you can use gnome not only in Linux.
    Stop confussing people please.

  18. Posted July 25, 2008 at 10:44 am | Permalink

    @Martin: I named the post in order to make it more accessible from Linux novices. I know that Gnome is only Ubuntu or only GNU/Linux, but you right, I should have said it somewhere in the post.

  19. Posted July 25, 2008 at 1:10 pm | Permalink

    Weak list.

    Most of the themes are horrible.

  20. Posted July 25, 2008 at 1:31 pm | Permalink

    Obviously, it’s hard to make a list that will make everyone satisfied ;)

  21. Katie
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 2:40 pm | Permalink

    I support Linux 100% but I feel that people should make an objective decision forthemselves after reading The Truth about Linux.

  22. Posted July 25, 2008 at 4:08 pm | Permalink

    Maybe another theme worth to mention is Nodoka (Fedora’s default theme)…one of my favorites.

  23. Vadim P.
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 4:50 pm | Permalink

    It’s Katie the troll again! Her post has been added to my Troll Cave Colletion: http://vadi-blog.com/2008/07/15/the-troll-cave/

  24. Posted July 25, 2008 at 5:24 pm | Permalink

    Haha, maybe Microsoft owns this website!

  25. wally
    Posted July 30, 2008 at 3:13 pm | Permalink

    Black menu bars and title bars sure are an ugly fad. They’ll be here a few months and then will look hopelessly dated.

  26. robert
    Posted July 30, 2008 at 8:49 pm | Permalink

    I use :
    Window: Camino
    Controls: glossy P
    Icons: gnome ultimate
    and i am definitely with this.

  27. Posted August 4, 2008 at 9:58 am | Permalink

    > It’s Katie the troll again!
    Hey, it made my day 8) There’s such a brilliant collection of amusing nonsense behind that “promotinglinux” link, you know. (disclaimer: I’m not *their* audience, and agree that “there’s a twist” — and a paid campaign indeed)

    jbj, thanks for the post; still, I personally second the opinion that mostly dark stuff in working area is less personally usable (while running darkish theme/bakground with my WindowMaker, but *not* the widgets). Forwarded to a friend with a comment “| grep -v vista-like, and you might get a few interesting ones” :)

  28. Randy
    Posted August 4, 2008 at 4:49 pm | Permalink

    I’m new to linux. How do you install these themes in Ubuntu. Thanks.

  29. Posted August 4, 2008 at 4:57 pm | Permalink

    @Randy: You’ll find all the info you need here. Have fun with GNU/Linux!

  30. Posted August 11, 2008 at 5:09 am | Permalink

    Definitely a great list.
    Congratulations on the great blog :D

  31. Posted August 13, 2008 at 10:15 pm | Permalink

    Excelent! =)

    Congratulations! o/

  32. Comrade Sergey
    Posted August 19, 2008 at 7:41 pm | Permalink

    Why do people like XP themes. I think linux should be unique and has its own footprint

  33. Posted August 19, 2008 at 8:07 pm | Permalink

    Comrade, you should have a look to our dark Gnome themes list. They don’t look like windows at all ;)

  34. hey
    Posted August 23, 2008 at 2:07 pm | Permalink

    I need the background of the Darker Ice Murrina theme, does someone know where to find it ? :/

  35. Posted August 23, 2008 at 2:27 pm | Permalink

    @hey: I don’t know, why not asking the theme author directly?

  36. Posted August 30, 2008 at 7:30 am | Permalink

    Great list. With all these themes around that look great (i love Moomex) i don’t understand why Ubuntu ships with the dated looking brown desktop.. maybe I’m missing something or some cultural significance?

  37. Posted October 9, 2008 at 5:10 pm | Permalink

    Great stuff. I was looking for themes for LiveCDs.

  38. Posted October 10, 2008 at 4:24 am | Permalink

    Great! This proves Linux can be attractive too.

    From the list my favourite theme is Elegant Brit.

    As for the Promoting Linux website, I believe that everyone should use the OS that adapts better to their needs. I am not saying that Linux is better than Windows and viceversa, cause they both have different goals. The user has the power to choose what Operating System he/she will use on him/his PC.

  39. Posted November 7, 2008 at 5:18 am | Permalink

    List is all right some of the themes are lame but a few good ones

  40. Posted January 23, 2009 at 2:54 am | Permalink

    cool list, I never liked the default theme too

  41. russel
    Posted January 28, 2009 at 1:38 am | Permalink

    all i can say………..just awsome……………

  42. Posted February 5, 2009 at 9:37 pm | Permalink

    I have been wanting to get to know Linux for ahwile. From what I hear it is amazinly secure, and now with themes like these the gui isn’t bad either.

  43. Posted March 5, 2009 at 9:12 pm | Permalink

    i’m new in UBUNTU or Linux i think the default is good in ubuntu 8.10 and they offer nice themes but i want to know how i move from workspace to another using the mouse .

  44. united pot smokers
    Posted April 14, 2009 at 4:15 am | Permalink

    nice themes…!

  45. Posted April 27, 2009 at 6:46 pm | Permalink

    Thank you so much,for a time i find theme really for free :D

  46. Posted May 11, 2009 at 12:35 pm | Permalink

    I havn’t use the Ubuntu , If i use it with my computer, i will test them, bookmark it now. :)

  47. Posted May 24, 2009 at 6:56 pm | Permalink

    Very colorful .. I think is worth trying …

  48. Posted July 23, 2009 at 10:25 pm | Permalink

    These are some cool ubuntu themes.
    This is the one I am currently using http://krashr.com/2009/07/cool-ubuntu-theme/

  49. wolfslack
    Posted November 4, 2009 at 2:24 pm | Permalink

    Seems like a list for vista lovers.
    A selection of mediocre themes.

  50. shintu
    Posted December 3, 2009 at 8:25 am | Permalink

    Respected Sir

    I don’t know anything about linux I want to know how to apply ‘ Not XP ‘ themes in my computer

    hoping more infermatiuon about linux administration

    regards shintu antony

  51. Bibin
    Posted December 8, 2009 at 4:32 am | Permalink

    Hello I am new to Ubuntu and would like to install some of these themes will you plz help me to do it.

  52. wildberry
    Posted February 18, 2010 at 8:27 pm | Permalink

    i was looking for a red theme but this is pretty good

  53. kotesh
    Posted April 7, 2010 at 9:04 am | Permalink

    l like these themes and these are very very colorful
    thanks for sharing

17 Trackbacks

  1. By 25 Plantillas para Gnome | Incubaweb on July 22, 2008 at 6:18 pm

    [...] Fuente | CatsWhoCode [...]

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  3. By Moreless » 30 Gnome themes para seu Ubuntu on July 25, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    [...] Dê uma olhada no sire CatWhoCode, tem um acervo muito bom de temas para Linux – Ubuntu.Link: http://www.catswhocode.com/blog/featured/30-gnome-themes-to-enhance-your-ubuntu-experience-18 [...]

  4. By 30 Temas para Gnome « El Signo de los Cuatro on July 26, 2008 at 7:00 am

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  7. [...] you keep the same engine but have a totally new look and feel. I recently posted a list of 30 great Gnome themes, so you should check it out if you haven’t read this article yet. To change your Gnome theme, [...]

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  14. By 20 beautiful dark themes for Gnome and Ubuntu on December 13, 2008 at 2:42 pm

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  15. [...] Pel que fa a iconos o a themes de colors s’ha d’anar a sistema-preferencies-apariencia i cambiar els temes.. si en voleu instalar de nous aneu a la pagina de eyecandy o gnome-look.. Poseu al google ” temas para Ubuntu 8.10″ i en surten un colló. Jo personalment he tret el meu tema d’aquí [...]

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