", looked around the test environment to discover that your hardware was working, and double-clicked the Install icon on the desktop. The Ubuntu installer helped you make room for Linux on your hard drive, and even copied over some of your documents and settings from Windows."

"Half an hour ago, you had only Windows on your PC, but now you have a choice at boot time, and a whole new world to explore. Congratulations!"

"But wait--before you dive in too deeply, here are seven steps you can take right away to prevent common headaches and help yourself enjoy your new surroundings."

"U.S. users may notice before too long that the right-hand Alt key on their keyboard doesn't work in Ubuntu. This will drive you nuts if you frequently use that key. (I use mine constantly for the "

"By default Ubuntu assigns the right Alt key (but not the left one) to "third level" character input--that is, the key is reserved for entering extended and international symbols. This is good for our Ubuntu-using friends in places where third-level characters are in use, but the Gnome Keyboard Indicator applet shows that the U.S. English keyboard layout contains no third-level symbols. So for us statesiders, our right Alt key has been mapped to a function that we cannot use in the first place."

". On the Layout Options tab, open the 'Third level choosers' branch, and reassign the third-level chooser to another key. (I prefer the right Windows key--my laptop doesn't even have one of these, so I am actually assigning a useless function to a nonexistent key!)"

"You've booted into Ubuntu and your expensive high-res display is running at a paltry 1024 by 768 resolution instead of the 1280 by 1024 or 1600 by 1200 you're accustomed to. So you click "

", only to find that the higher resolutions you know your display can support are not offered in the drop-down list. What the heck?"

"This is usually an indication that Ubuntu has failed to suss out the characteristics of your monitor. (Graphics card woes are also possible in this case, but in my experience monitor trouble is more common.) Luckily, a helpful "

" in the Ubuntu wiki has solved this issue every time I've encountered it. The instructions there should be enough to get your display in gear."

"Automatix is a gem that I've discussed before: It's the easiest way to add certain components to your system that are not included in a default Ubuntu installation for legal reasons. Automatix makes enabling DVD support, for example, a very simple point-and-click process."

"Start double-clicking your various audio and video files to see if they play. (You'll find links to your Home folder and your Windows partition--if you have one--in the "

" menu, so start there to find your media collection.) When Feisty encounters a file type it doesn't know how to handle, an automated codec installer will pop up to try to help you download and install support for the file in question."

"If you find video files in your collection that do not play properly no matter what you try, use Automatix (see above) to install the AUD-DVD Codecs collection of packages; then use Synaptic (see below) to install the Totem-xine package, and try your videos again. (This procedure disables Feisty's ability to automatically search for codecs, but you're taking this step only if that functionality fails you in the first place.)"

", I looked at Feisty's Desktop Effects--an experimental feature set that brings gee-whiz 3D effects to the Linux desktop. If you have a decent graphics card with 3D capabilities, it's totally worth your while to see if Desktop Effects will run well on your system. (The features work reliably on some machines, crash after a while on others, and completely garble the display on particularly unlucky PCs--hence the designation "experimental.")"

" button. After a few moments of on-screen craziness, your desktop should reappear, looking as it did before. But you'll notice a difference the moment you drag a window or open a drop-down menu. (Yowza, look at that!)"

" in the dialog box asking you to confirm the change. (If things look bad, this is your first chance to bail out. If things are so poor you can't even see the dialog box, have no fear: Feisty will automatically revert to your former settings after 30 seconds.)"

"Try enabling the workspace-switching effect back in the Desktop Effects box; when you click to a different workspace (via the widget in the lower right of your screen), you should see a nifty effect. Also note the altered behavior when you press "

"If you don't like what you see with Desktop Effects (or if you find that your system becomes crash-prone or otherwise behaves oddly with the Effects, uh, in effect), you can turn them off by once again summoning the Desktop Effects dialog box and clicking "

". Yes, you read that right: The button behaves as a toggle--though, alas, at this point in time its label doesn't change to 'Disable Desktop Effects' to indicate this to the user. But clicking the button when effects are enabled disables them, as you will see if you click the button and then move a window around."

", originally developed at Novell. Last year some enterprising hackers working on Compiz decided to fork (that is, split off from, using existing code as a starting point) the project, and came up with their own offering, "

" back into one program
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