When you hover your mouse over anything on the Gnome desktop in Ubuntu, such as a menu option or a file, a yellow box, called a Tooltip, pops up and gives you more information about the item. These Tooltips can be annoying; however, there is an easy way to turn them off.
Right-click on the Applications menu in the top panel and select Edit Menus from the pop-up menu.
The Main Menu dialog box displays. Click System Tools in the left pane. In the right pane, select the Configuration Editor check box to turn on that option.
Click Close. Now select System Tools | Configuration Editor from the Applications menu.
The Configuration Editor displays. In the left pane, navigate to apps | panel | global.
In the right pane, click the tooltips_enabled check box to unselect it. Select Quit from the File menu to close the Configuration Editor.
Now, your Gnome desktop should be free of yellow pop-ups as you move your mouse around.
by Lori Kaufman
That's great, thanks. I really appreciate having Linux help which is GUI-based rather than using the command line!