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greybird xubuntu 12.10 quantal quetzal

Greybird, the default Xubuntu theme, has got a complete makeover for Xubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal, thanks to the great work of Satya and Simon from the Shimmer project.

The theme doesn't use the Unico GTK3 engine anymore and the GTK3 port has been completely rewritten. Greybird includes:
  • GTK2 theme
  • GTK3 theme
  • Xfwm4 themes (normal and compact)
  • xfce-notifyd theme
  • Emerald theme
  • Metacity theme
  • Mutter theme
  • Unity support
  • Granite widgets support (for compatibility with elementary apps)

This means Greybird isn't just for Xubuntu (XFCE), but it works with Unity or GNOME Shell/classic too:

greybird gtk3 theme

greybird gtk3 theme

greybird gtk3 theme



Install Greybird in Ubuntu / Xubuntu 12.04


The theme is available in Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal repositories in the "shimmer-themes" package, but Ubuntu / Xubuntu 12.04 users can already install it by using the Shimmer PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:shimmerproject/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install shimmer-themes-greybird

For other Linux distributions, you can get Greybird from GitHub or DeviantArt.

Once installed, select "greybird-git" (not Greybird!) from the XFCE settings to apply the theme. In Ubuntu (Unity / GNOME 3), use GNOME Tweak Tool, Unsettings, MyUnity or Ubuntu Tweak and select "greybird-git" as the GTK3 and window theme.

Thanks to Satya for the tip!