You have to be running GDM in order for those buttons to appear. This requirement will go away when the next version of gnome-panel uses gnome-power-manager for shutting down.
** Changed in: gnome-panel (Ubuntu) Importance: Untriaged => Low Status: Unconfirmed => Confirmed -- Shut Down and Restart buttons gone--hibernate instead https://launchpad.net/bugs/57548 -- desktop-bugs mailing list desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/desktop-bugs