How to make Ubuntu look like Windows7
(This guide is for all Ubuntu versions)


If you're looking for an exact Windows7 match then you should have stay with windows ☮

The First thing you need to do is make sure your OS is fully updated, next you have to enable your graphic card to run 3D effects if have no idea how to do this follow this detail guide here
if you got an error or you couldn't enable effects your graphic card may be blacklisted check here for more info.
note: you don't need (Compiz Configuration Settings Manager) install for this guide you just need to enable the desktop effects.
If you got the Desktop Effects working next you need to install (Emerald Theme Manager)

Go to Synaptic Package Manager by clicking on:
System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager
In Synaptic Package Manager, click the search button. In the box that appears type “emerald”, and then click search

you also need another package call "libemeraldengine0" Mark it for installation as well. click Mark then Apply again in the new window that appears. Then, close Synaptic Package Manager.

next download the windows7 "Emerald theme" from here now go to >system > Preferences > Emerald Theme Manager.

click on Import and browse to the location where you downloaded the Windows7 Theme highlight it and press open.

once the theme is installed if you don't see any changes Hit "Alt+f2" and restart Emerald by typing this command:

emerald --replace

you should now be able to see the transparency in your window borders, now download the clean version of the windows7 wallpaper from here install it by right clicking on an empty area of your desktop and scroll to "Change Desktop Background" it should look like this

click on "Add" and browse for the file, it should install after that

the next thing you need to do is completely delete the top panel(don't worry there is an easy way to get the panels back if you don't like it), so right click on it and press"delete this panel" now you need to add/delete from the bottom panel all the things you're going to need like the menus, notification area, window switcher etc...
you can add what ever you want to the panel from the "add to panel" list. I will add what I think will make the bottom panel still productive while keeping it clean but again you can modify it to fit your needs. I strongly suggest looking through the list and experiment with different things.

the first thing I'll delete is the "4 work spaces" at the bottom right, to do so right click on it and press "remove from panel" next remove the "trash can" the same way.
next all the way to the left you should see the "show desktop" button, I don't ever use it so I'm going to remove it but you can keep it if you want because it won't hurt anything. next to it you should see a separator line right click on it and remove it, you should now have a clean bottom panel.
this is the only way I know besides adding a picture to make it as close as the windows7 taskbar, right click on the panel and click on "properties" first make the "size 38" next click on "background" and select the "solid color" option that should be it for that.

Now I'm going to add all the things I need if you disagreed with my choices I will tell you that makes me happy because that means you got your own opinion and preference.
right click on the empty panel and press "add to panel" you should see this menu:

the first thing I'm going to add is call "Window selector" is all the way at the bottom of the list, this will allow you to switch between windows with a menu instead of buttons which take a lot more space. next add "the Main Menu" this has all the menus compacted in one(if you don't like this menu skip this step and keep reading down to install "Gnomenu". The last thing I'm going to add is the "notification area" only because I like to see when programs are running and when there's an update.

To add the trashcan to the Desktop hit Alt+F2 to get the run dialog box and type this:

gconf-editor

Now browse down to this key:

apps \ nautilus \ desktop

On the right side look for the entry called trash_icon_visible and check the box beside of it you can also add other things to your desktop like computer and network.

Gnomenu
Gnomenu is a consolidated menu for gnome that has a similar look to the windows menu.

To install "gnomenu" there are some dependencies you will need in order to run it. so go to the terminal and enter this command:

sudo apt-get install python python-xdg python-cairo python-gconf python-xlib deskbar-applet

next click this LINK it should say open with package installer, click install and wait until is finish.

note: if you have trouble with this version of "gnomenu" as I did you can try an earlier version which worked fine for me, in that case go to this link and choose a different version.
After its installed log out and then back in, now right click on the remaining panel and choose "Add to panel" when the menu opens look for "Gnomenu" and add it to the panel.

once you have it in your panel right click on it and hit preferences to reveal all the settings and themes. I picked the glass theme but you can play around with different themes as well as downloading new ones.

There is one more thing you can do and that is to customize FireFox. Go to > Tools > Add-ons and search for the "Firefox Vista Aero" theme which is as close as it gets to anything windows7. follow the instructions to install it after you click add to Firefox.

if you want to get your panels back from the "main menu" go to Accessories > terminal and type this command:

gconftool-2 --shutdown
rm -rf ~/.gconf/apps/panel
pkill gnome-panel

Thats it hope you like it here is a final screen shot



note: Im still looking for the right icons I will add them when I find the ones I think go with the guide

update: I recently found the perfect "Icon Set" for this guide, just click the
LINK to download, once is finish just drag the file to the "Appearance Preference Box" to install it (in case you don't know where the Appearance Pref.. is just right click on an empty area of your desktop and scroll to "Change Desktop Background" when it opens make sure you have "Theme" selected then drag the file to it, it should automatically install.)

Let me know if you like the icons, I think they're as windows7 as it gets