Comment 792 for bug 532633

@Nandan: that's a lot of explaination for something which could easily be integrated into the Appearance preferences. Also, most users will never discover that on their own.

Here is an easy way (though also not easy for users to find this - if only it was included by default into Ubuntu...): install MWbuttons [1], then go to Applications > Accessories > Metacity Window Buttons and you can directly select a layout for your buttons - nothing more, nothing less.

[1] https://launchpad.net/~pabluk/+archive/ppa/+files/mwbuttons_0.2.4-0ubuntu1~ppa2_all.deb