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Canonical has brought Ubuntu a long way in terms of polish and use. However, while I considered the built-in themes to be good, something still felt a little lacking.

I’m generally opposed to installing third party skins, themes, icons as they never feel part of the actual intended computing interface. Anytime I try to use a third party theme, I always end up reverting back. I’d rather have complete usable consistency than a pretty UI that breaks when it encounters a problem.

However, I have run across the Orta theme for Gnome. And I can say that it’s probably the best looking theme for Linux yet. In fact, it makes Ubuntu look downright gorgeous.

Here is a screenshot of the new UI:

Installing it is rather trivial. Along with the actual theme you’ll need to install an icon pack, nautilus extension, and I would recommend Gloobus Preview as well. Gloobus Preview is pretty much like Quick Look on OS X, a feature I consider unbelievably useful.

Here are some useful posts to get you up and running:

Nautilus Elementary + Gloobus Preview Installation
Orta Theme + Faenza icon theme Installation

Enjoy.

*Update 12/19* – Just saw this link on the OMG! Ubuntu blog about keeping the Orta theme consistent with Firefox, Chrome, and Docky.