Cool Ubuntu Tips and Tricks for Beginners

How to Restart X

'X' is, correct me if I'm wrong, the desktop environment of Ubuntu or Linux or in other words it provides the graphical user interface in Linux systems.
Remember in Windows 98 when you wanted to restart your computer because an application was creating problems, we would press ctrl+alt+del twice and the system would restart.
Ubuntu has a similar option, if we are having problems with the GUI or if your system has stalled then the last resort will be to Restart X with the command ctrl+alt+backspace. The difference here is that, instead of restarting your whole computer this will only restart X. It's much quicker :)

How to Stop a Misbehaving Application

We all know how important the ctrl+alt+del command was in windows. It would open up the taskbar and we would select the application that was not responding and select "End Now".
But what if you have a similar problem in Ubuntu? The solution to a non responsive program in Ubuntu is as simple as in Windows. For such problems you will have to add a small applet to your taskbar or panel. Right click on your panel and select Add to Panel, there you will be presented with a lot of icons and their descriptions. Scroll down and select the icon of a windows which has a crack in its middle. There should also be a description with it saying something like, "used to close misbehaving applications".
Once it is added, all you have to when a program or application stops responding is to click on the icon and then click on the misbehaving window

How to Show Hidden Files in Nautilus (File Explorer)

All you have to do to show hidden files is to press ctrl+H, while in Nautilus. But to permanently enable hidden files you can go to Edit Menu >> Preferences >> Views Tab >> Default View >> Check "Show hidden and backup files"

Reset a Forgotten Password

If you forgot your password you cannot log into Ubuntu, no matter what you do. Its like the administrator account of Windows, if you forget that password it will be very difficult to recover it. But if you forgot your Ubuntu password you can reset it with the following method. Startup your computer in recovery mode; Its usually the second option in GRUB. Once it starts up type this command there
passwd your_username
For example if your username is Ashley then you will type passwd Ashley. Now type in your new password and press Enter and you are done.

Log in automatically

By default, when you boot up the computer, Ubuntu will give you a login screen before you get to your desktop. If you don't want this, you can configure the system to log in automatically without showing the login screen. To do that you have to go to System >> Administration >> Login Window. You'll need to provide your password, then you'll get the Login Window Preferences window with five tabs. Choose the Security tab and click Enable Automatic Login.

How to Install Beryl and some Eye Candy

Many people choose Ubuntu because of the eye candy brought by compiz and beryl. You can install beryl and some nice themes.
Update:Bery has merged with Compiz Fusion. If you have Ubuntu 7.04 and above then compiz is installed by default. To get those nice emerald themes. OPen up the synaptics manager and search for emerald window manager.