In Ubuntu 11.04, the new look Unity launcher is the default configuration. It is easy enough to go back to the traditional gnome desktop by selecting "UbuntiuCassic Desktop" at log-in.
Of course nobody wants to keep the default standard, so here are some helpful hints.
1. Adding a Launcher
Click on the "Ubuntu" logo at the top left hand corner of the screen. Select "More Apps", then find the App you want. You can then click on the icon and, holding the mouse button down, drag it to the required place on the Unity panel.
2. Adding a Custom Launcher
Sometimes, the app you want to add doesn't appear in any menu, or you want to launch a particular file in Libre Office, for example. This is quite simple also.
Right click on the desktop and create a launcher. Add a useful icon. Drag the resulting icon to the unity panel at the place you want to insert it.
If, like me, you don't like your dektop cluttered with launching icons, then simply use nautilus to copy the launcher to somewhere safe, then drag the icon from the new location to the panel.
3. Removing a Launcher
To remove any launcher from the Unity panel, right-click on it and then unselect "Keep in Launcher", or simply drag the icon away from the panel.
4. Changing Auto-Hide
The default for Unity is to hide whenever there is a window near the left edge of the screen. At one stage in my playing around, this behavious stpped working. I'm not sure why. I did notice that I could push the right edge of the panel back to the edge of the screen and this fixed the problem.
New Life Narrabri 