Hi…
I have Ubuntu 15,10 installed atm and i wonder if it possible to change to Mate from the usual Ubuntu ?
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Switching is possible, but bear in mind you’ll end up with a hybrid of Ubuntu “Unity” and MATE this way:
For just the MATE Desktop:
sudo apt-get install mate-desktop
For the MATE Desktop and all of Ubuntu MATE’s pre-installed applications and branding:
sudo apt-get --no-install-recommends install ubuntu-mate-desktop ubuntu-mate-core
Then you’ll need to manually remove any previous Ubuntu applications, which can leave the system a bit messy as you’ll end up with two sets of programs (e.g. Calculator, File Manager)
If you’d like to keep your system free from duplicates or any unexpected glitches, the recommended way is to backup all your files and software, and then install Ubuntu MATE from scratch.
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I believe there’s software available that you can add to Ubuntu that provides the MATE desktop.
Article concerning 14.04 + MATE
Article concerning 15.04 + MATE
Article concerning 15.1, 16.04 + MATE
I tested Ubuntu 16.04 and added MATE on one computer, and on another I installed Ubuntu MATE. These are both in test partitions; when I switch my main OS [Ubuntu 14.04.4] I will be performing a fresh install of Ubuntu MATE and not messing with adding another desktop environment to Ubuntu.
Although, for the sake of simplicity, I would recommend a fresh install of UM, it’s certainly possible to install the meta package Ubuntu Mate desktop over the top of Unity. I have done it a number of times quite successfully. But, as others have said, you will end up with a fair bit of redundancy in your menu. There are two ways you can deal with that:
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Remove the Unity desktop
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Leave the Unity desktop alone. But, while in the Ubuntu Mate desktop, edit your menu and deselect all Unity desktop apps. That way, they wont appear on your menu.
I always choose option (2). When removing Unity, there is always the risk of removing some shared function that both desktops need. As long as disk space is not a concern, leaving the Unity desktop doesn’t really affect performance.
There will be a bit of other housekeeping to do, including suppressing the lib-overlay scrollbars that come with Unity, as these will still operate while you are in the Mate desktop until you shut them down.
If you do decide to go down the route of installing the Ubuntu Mate desktop on top of Unity, come back on here and I will try and help as problems arise
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Hi and thanks for all answers… 
This sounds interesting… I think i wait for the 16,04 and i do a clean install…
I call for you when/if i need more help… 
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I like some have installed the Mate DE on top of Unity in the past but; as has been pointed out, you will get bloat (unnecessary Unity packages!) and a fresh install is the best option imo. 
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I agree Wolfman. I have only ever done it in the past for practical reasons, such as when I wanted Edubuntu with LTSP pre-installed, but did not want Unity (which also comes pre-installed). If I was just going for a vanilla Ubuntu with the Mate desktop, I would always install UM
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Hallo
You may find my post (no. 7) to be of interest (https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/converting-between-ubuntus/1447/7).
Question for anyone who knows:
I wanted to make a link that led directly to the post. however, in the source code for the page I could not find any “#” -markers at that spot.
How do you (can you) set a link to a particular spot on a webpage when there are no “#”-markers?
O.K. I think I’ve got it, you have to look for the correct “href” tag and combine that (more or less) with the page’s URL. I edited the link above in that manner.