I had Gnome Shell working perfectly on my desktop, and I tried to install it on my laptop by the exact same method, (tried apt-get, synaptic and software centre), but it won't work. It seems to install fine with no errors. If I select "Gnome" at login, I get the "Gnome Classic" interface rather than Gnome Shell. My laptop has sufficient specs to run Gnome Shell. Am I missing something? EDIT: I have just discovered that under System Details Graphics, it says "Unknown". So, Ubuntu hasn't recognised my graphics card, and I'm guessing this is why Gnome Shell can't work. I have a nVidia GeForce GT 525M. How can I get it working? (as you may have realised, I'm a linux noob)