You didn't have to go back to 10.04. You could have simply changed the desktop environment from Unity to Classic Gnome at the login screen. The Unity interface will be okay for new users but not for most people who are used to using Windows and Gnome. If you have observed Mark Shuttleworth, you will see that leads these changes to ensure that Ubuntu remains modern and is not stuck in a time warp.

Try this export DISPLAY=:0.0 gksudo -u gdm dbus-launch gnome-appearance-properties http://www.vsubhash.com/article.asp?id=13&info=Ubuntu_and_Gnome_Diary#change_login_screen_wallpaper_theme

In the boot parameters, replace vga=something with xforcevesa, kill GDM, and install proprietary nvdia driver. If that solves the problem, then add a custom Grub2 entry with this setting.

Some years ago, I wrote a general media player software in VB6. It is a shell around Windows Media Player. http://www.vsubhash.com/article.asp?id=15&info=Subhash_VCDPlayer#transcription As I was working as a transcriptionist at that time, I added a special transcription mode feature to the player. Thanks to hot keys, you will not need need a footpedal to control the playback. The player window also stays above all windows. On the site, I had offered to give the source code for OSS development but did not give it away as a download. I will go home today and upload the VB6 source code as a free download.