To install Desktop on server version
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
To install desktop without addons like OpenOffice
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends ubuntu-desktop
startx
How to remote to Ubuntu 12.04 with XRDP
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xrdp
cd ~/
echo "gnome-session --session=ubuntu-2d" > .xsession
sudo /etc/init.d/xrdp restart
How to remote to Ubuntu 14.04 with XRDP