I was wondering if there was any way to open up some kind of windows manager program like on XP because my laptops been freezing a lot when i use Ubuntu for some reason and i don't know how to get out of it other than to physically shut it down. Also how can i check what's causing the freezing? On XP i think it's safe to say that my laptop never froze

If it freezes use this key combo.

Hold down Alt+SysRq and press k.

That will will kill the x session and take you to the login screen.

to fix the freezing first try disabling desktop effects. Sys>prefs> appearance >visual effect = none.

oh ok thanks!

To kill individual programs the visual way.

System/Administration/System Monitor

You can also add this little tool to your Taskbar by right clicking your taskbar - add - System Monitor

then you will have a visual tool right at the top of your screen showing CPU activity and if you just click it one time your System Monitor will pop right up

Powel