Oxygen MAC & Concrete Theme

Been enjoying the rugged grey and black combination of the Oxygen (Silver MAC) GTK Theme and Ubuntu concrete wallpaper, Cairo Clock simple theme, and info panel Screenlets.

Ubuntu v9.10 is a fast and stable install

Installed Ubuntu v9.10 and found no problems. There are some changes to the GDM login themes. They basically eliminated them. However, the OS seems speedier, especially due to Firefox v3.5.3. I installed Pidgin back. I still prefer this over Empathy so far.

Firefox v3.6 Promises Improved Speed & Look

Firefox 3.6 public beta slated for 10/14, promises faster startups, loads

Mozilla's stated goal for its next version of Firefox, first and foremost, is a perceivable improvement in the time it takes to do things, not just render pages. We saw a big performance jump in JavaScript execution and page rendering in Firefox 3.5; but for 3.6, the developers want to apply the same level of improvement to responsiveness and process activation.

Although all Mozilla daily builds -- even the "private" alphas -- are publicly downloadable, the public may be formally invited to render its opinions on version 3.6 on Wednesday, October 14. That's the decision made during a Mozilla planning meeting Monday.

Originally, Mozilla wanted to have 3.6 release candidates available by this time; the public beta process was supposed to have been in full-swing by now. In the interim, the organization has been posting daily builds labeled "beta previews" instead of "alphas" or "alpha previews" -- almost ready to be not ready for prime time.

Still, the new browser has an opportunity to make a public show of its everyday performance improvements, including in departments such as page loading. Betanews tests on recent daily builds of Firefox 3.6 show just over 40% speed gains in that department. Our recent CRPI index for a preview build of 3.6 Alpha 2 is 8.67, versus 6.80 for the stable Firefox 3.5.3.

According to the minutes of Monday's planning meeting, released yesterday, engineers in charge of the "Namoroka" development track (where Firefox 3.6 currently resides) plan to freeze code development on the current "beta preview" sometime this week. A daily build of 3.6 was released at about 9:30 EDT this morning, and there's no word as to whether it's the last build before the planned freeze.

There is no formal release date for the finalized version 3.6 just yet. However, a newly published list of goals for upcoming releases places 3.6 release as sometime within the fourth quarter of the year, with a promise to be "less crashy than Firefox 3.5." Also on that goal list is Mozilla's intention to produce a public alpha of version 3.7, the focus of which will be a completely revised theme for the front end. A recently published Mozilla page on the topic now points to a "firm initial direction" for a new design, which makes more liberal use of aesthetic features such as transparency and dimensionality.



A Mozilla artist's mockup of the likely design direction for the new theme of Firefox 3.7.

"Firefox feels dated and behind on Windows," the design team writes. "Especially Vista and Windows 7. These issues include absence of Glass, anemic purple toolbar color on Vista, tall and bulky UI footprint, element overload, inconsistent toolbar icon usage/style, lack of a tactile look & feel and perhaps too great of a divergence between the look on XP and Vista/7." The team aims to overcome these perceived deficiencies by reducing the number of buttons -- for example, by converging Stop and Reload into one button -- and adopting neutral tones and glass textures to enable the application to blend better with the desktop and the user's choice of color themes. The same degree of transparency may not be available in version 3.7 for Mac or Linux yet, but the design team aims to implement similar aesthetics for non-Windows users "going forward."

October 14 is also the scheduled date for the first public betas of version 3.5.4, the next round of bug fixes to the stable release.

Shiki Colors Theme - Linux Mint Inspired

The Shiki themes have been incorporated into the standard Ubuntu builds, called New Wave (grey). The Mint distribution has capitalized on this rich look in their latest Mint 7 XFCE release. I'm using the Shiki Wise (lime green) theme here. Enjoy.

Hulu TV Viewer Comes To Linux

Oct. 16, 2009

Web video site Hulu has released a Linux version of its Hulu Desktop. Hulu Desktop for Linux is optimized for Ubuntu 9.04 and Fedora 11, offers search and playback controls, and includes publisher tools for locating and integrating content, says Hulu.

The Hulu Player



After the release of Windows and Mac versions of Hulu Desktop earlier this year, Linux support was the number one requested feature, says the company. The desktop application provides a "lean-back viewing" interface to its Hulu.com online video service, which includes TV shows, movies, and a wide variety of video clips.

The Linux version has been designed for Ubuntu 9.04 and Fedora 11, but any distribution using glib 2.16, GTK+ 2.12, and LIRC 0.8.2 should be compatible, says the company. Hulu also requires Adobe Flash Player 9.0.124 or higher. Ubuntu 8.04 and Fedora 9 have also been tested as compatible, and the company expects to support other distributions in the future.

Minimum hardware requirements listed for the application include a system with an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz CPU and at least 2GB of RAM. Hulu Desktop for Linux supports input from hundreds of infrared remote controls using the open source LIRC package, says Hulu. Keyboard and mouse controls are also provided.

Hulu enables browsing of TV shows and movies by alphabetical order, network, studio, or Hulu channel, says the company. Personalization features are also provided. The new publisher tools include keyword and time-period searches, as well as "copy embed code" boxes.

Until now, Linux users who wanted to watch Hulu without using a web browser required the Boxee social media center software running on Ubuntu.

Availability

Hulu Desktop for Linux is now available for free download for 32- and 64-bit versions of Ubuntu 9.04 and Fedora 11, here:
http://www.hulu.com/labs/hulu-desktop-linux

More information on the publisher tools may be found here.
http://www.hulu.com/labs/publisher_tools

-- Eric Brown-Desktoplinux.com

MAC Leopard Theme

I've returned to the classic MAC Leopard theme. I'm using the Shiny Metal theme with MAC4LIN title bars, Leopard space wallpaper, and iFox Metal skin for Firefox. The Thunderbird email client is shown using the new Basic theme. Songbird is shown with the default theme. Enjoy.

Firefox FoxTabs add-in gives Safari-like Gallery View

One of the great features of the Firefox browser are the many add-ins available. One new add-in is called FoxTabs. It simulates the web page gallery view of Apple's Safari browser. You can display 3 or 20 pages in multiple formats. For those of us running Firefox in Linux, this is nice eye candy. Below is a screenshot. FoxTabs is available from the Firefox add-ins page. Very nice.

Ubuntu Dust Theme

I revisited the Ubuntu Dust Theme with great results. This is a nice cross between dark and OSX type themes. If anything, it keeps things looking fresh. It also includes a Firefox Proto Dust skin. You can get the Ubuntu Dust Theme below:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/DustTheme

Linux Mint Xfce Gloria

I've recently returned back to Linux Mint Xfce Gloria and have been pleasantly surprised. The color theme is similar to my current Shiki Black and Green. Based on Ubuntu v9.04 everything works great right off the Live CD and install. It also has the familiar Synaptic Package Manager and simple menu navigation. Mint improves on the Synaptic Software Manager by including screen-shots of the applications you want to download and install. Very nice indeed. Firefox 3.0 and Thunderbird are included along with all restricted codecs and drivers. Because the Xfce window manager does not use much memory, it is a great distro for older computers. I'm running it on a Compaq Deskpro Pentium-3 733-mhz and it is really fast and responsive, yet have all the features of Ubuntu v9.04. Below is another positive review. You can download the ISO at www.distrowatch.com Enjoy.







Linux Mint 7 (Gloria) RC: A Review

It’s been a while since I did one of these, for one because they’re time consuming, and also because after you’ve done a couple of reviews, it’s like you have nothing new left to say. These days, it’s rare that a Linux distribution is anything else than a different repackaging of traditional open source software. When Linux Mint first appeared, it seemed that it was nothing more than “Ubuntu with codecs”, but that doesn’t explain it’s popularity (at the moment of this writing, Linux Mint is third in the rankings, after Ubuntu and OpenSuse, but before established distributions like Fedora, Debian and Mandriva).

The new Linux Mint Release Candidate, named Gloria, is based on the fresh Ubuntu 9.04. but why would anyone choose it over it’s “parent”?

Installation

Well, it can’t be the installation, because apart from the theme it’s exactly the same…which is a good thing. Ubuntu’s installer works well, is easy, and fast. In fact, the less said about the installer, the better. These days, installing Linux is as easy as clicking “Next, next, next, done”, and there’s hardly any configuration needed after install. Gone are the days where I had to edit xorg.conf or /etc/fstab to get a system working. You install, you boot into the new OS, and that’s it. Everything’s done for you, and everything works. Let’s move on.

Look and Feel

Probably the most noticable change from Ubuntu is the look of Linux Mint. I can live with the orange and brown, but if you browse certain internet forums (here’s a tip: don’t), it’s obvious that some people don’t, and would rather walk hot coals and drink boiling water than look at a default Ubuntu install.
Apart from the green, minty theme, Mint drops the top panel in favour of a more traditional (read: Windows) layout and menu, which may not be a bad move. After all, it’s what most people are familiar with.
Mint: Menu

Mint: Menu

Looks can be debated, but I believe Mint looks absolutely gorgeous. The combination of black and green works very well, and I love the wallpaper, which features a Mint logo behind a rained-on window. The black menus work well too: they look good without being unreadable. All in all, I can’t find much reason to change the default look, but if you want to, all the other Mint themes are available.
Mint: Theme

Mint: Theme

In fact, the only hiccup here is the OpenOffice theme, which looks very…orange. I don’t know if OOo will still use the Ubuntu theme in the final version of Gloria, or if a true Mint theme will be provided. As it is, it rather stands out, and not in a good way.

Applications

Mint comes with all the Usual Suspects: Firefox, Thunderbird, Rhythmbox, Brasero, Mplayer, Pidgin, Transmission, and a selection of other interesting but not unusual software, like Gnome Do, Tomboy and Giver.

Far more interesting are the applications which are unique to mint. For starters, there’s mintMenu, which to me is the KDE4 menu done right. It offers access to Places, System and Applications without taking up too much space, it has find as you type search (so you never actually have to scroll through menus to find the application you want to start), and it even offers options to install any software you’re looking for but haven’t installed. For example, if I feel like playing Battle for Wesnoth, which isn’t installed by default, I just open the menu, type ‘wesnoth’, and I’m offered with four choices: Search Portal for “wesnoth” (which opens the software portal on the LInux Mint website), Search repositories for ‘wesnoth’ (which does exactly what it says), Show package ‘wesnoth’ (which shows the output of ‘apt search wesnoth’), and Install package ‘wesnoth’ (which is pretty obvious). It all works perfectly, and it’s a very easy way to install new software.
Mint: Looking for Wesnoth?

Mint: Looking for Wesnoth?

Other mintSofware includes mintUpdate, which performs the same function as Ubuntu’s Update Notifier, but gives updates a grade from 1 to 5, with 1 being the most critical/recommended, mintBackup, which lets you take a backup of your home directory, mintNanny, which lets you create a list of blocked websites, mintInstall, which combines every way of installing software on a debian system and combines them in an attractive GUI, and mintDesktop, which provides an easy way to configure your desktop without entering the juggernaut that is gconf-editor. All of these tools are original and provide useful features. For example, mintInstall downloads a screenshot of an application you might want to install, a feature which has since been copied by Synaptic.

Problems

None whatsoever. I’ve been using the RC of Gloria for a couple of days now, and I haven’t encountered a single problem. Everything works out of the box, including Flash, youtube, Apple trailers, mp3 playback, video playback, installing software…everything I tried to do worked as intended. Of course, Ubuntu deserves credit here too, as it’s their solid base which makes this possible.

Conclusion

Even if Linux Mint was nothing else than Ubuntu with a different look, it would have its followers, since it looks just so good. But Linux Mint does more than just provide its own theme, it tries to rethink Ubuntu’s interface, not drastically but subly, which together with added codecs for multimedia layback, should make Mint easier and more logical for new users or Windows converts. As far as I’m concerned, they’ve succeeded. A big thumbs up to everyone who made this wonderful OS possible.

San (http://celettu.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/linux-mint-7-gloria-rc-a-review/)

How to upgrade to Firefox v3.5

How to Install or Upgrade to Firefox 3.5 RC2 in Ubuntu( Karmic, Jaunty, Intrepid, Hardy )
Firefox v3.5 is about 3 times faster than v3.0 due to competition from Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari browsers.

All new Firefox 3.5 RC2 is released by mozilla team. Though it is still not recommended to install the latest release candidate from Firefox, this update is for those who can't wait to test the much hyped Firefox 3.5. Take a look

Update: Firefox 3.5 is released! Install Firefox 3.5 in Ubuntu the easiest way.

Edit /etc/apt/sources.list and add the following launchpad repo.
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

For Karmic v9.10

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu karmic main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu karmic main

For Jaunty v9.04


deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

For Intrepid v8.10


deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

For Hardy v8.04

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa/ubuntu hardy main


Add the Launchpad PPA GPG key

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 247510BE




Install Firefox 3.5RC2

Update: If you dont have an installed verion of firefox 3.5, you need to install it altogether. Upgradation of existing stable version of Firefox wont work. If you don't want that, wait for the official release of Firefox 3.5. Otherwise, do

* sudo apt-get update
* sudo apt-get install firefox-3.5

From the Synaptic Manager, update/reload programs, search for XULRUNNER v1.9.1 and install.

From the Synaptic Manager, update/reload programs, search for Firefox v3.5 and install.




Get a preview on the brand new features that awaits you in Firefox 3.5. You will know why IE losing market share rapidly to firefox.

Source: http://ubuntumanual.org/posts/183/install-or-upgrade-to-firefox-3-5-rc2-in-ubuntu-karmic-jaunty-intrepid-hardy

Shiki Green Theme for August

Shown is the Shiki Wise (Green) theme with Vista Ultimate title bars, and a green earth wallpaper.It is a flat black simple theme.

MAC4LIN Theme v1.0 Released

The authors of the famous MAC4LIN theme package have released version 1.0. This is the closest you will get to a MAC Leopard Theme for Linux. Below are my desktop screenshots with this wonderful theme along with a link where to get it. The theme also includes a Firefox MACOSX special theme. You can get the MAC4LIN GTK Gnome theme here: http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Mac4Lin?content=108478
















Anyone interested in watching some Harry Potter with the excellent VLC movie player?

Dust Theme

With Ubuntu v9.04 the Dust theme and its variations were added. Here is where you can add it to your existing builds from the Ubuntu forums: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming/DustTheme
What an improvement over the standard pale brown. Enjoy.

Another Windows 7 Theme with Beryl Title Bar

From Gnome-art.org shown is the Win-7 Basic GTK theme along with the Vista Q Beryl title bar theme. The wallpaper is part of the genuine Windows 7 offering. Songbird default feather/skin is also shown. Enjoy.

Linux Windows 7 Theme

I came across a few Windows 7 Themes on Gnome-Art.org and gave them a try. Below is the Distant Light GTK theme, Gnome Win menu, and Songbird WMP skin. Below is the link to find it.
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Distant+Light+(Vista+Inspired)?content=107673

July Desktop - the return of Linux Vista

Linux Music Players

I've been exploring the available music players to find out which one works best. I'm interested in Internet Radio stations, playing my ripped CDs, and playing my general MP3 library. I have tried Audacious, Rhythmbox, Banshee, and Songbird. It's kind of mixed bag of sorts. For the best sound, the plugins in Audacious are tops. For the best music library management Songbird excels. Songbird also has some excellent skins, called feathers. Rhythmbox and Banshee are similar, with a slight edge to Banshee for support for various MP3 VBR variable bit rates. So right now, Songbird seems to fill the bill. Below are screeshots of:
1) Rhythmbox
2) Banshee
3) Songbird and a few skins



Rhythmbox-



Banshee-



Songbird Aero-


Songbird Default Grey-



Songbird Dark-



Songbird Aero Blue-



Songbird WMP-



Songbird NABS white silver-

FrostWire Gnutella Client for Linux

The OpenSource successor to LimeWire is FrostWire. It was built with free components. This Gnutella client has just been also released for Linux. There are other clones of FrostWire available such as MellonWire and others, which offer different feature sets. FrostWire is a very fast Gnutella client getting great search results. It has no spyware or viruses. It asks to install the Ask Search Bar, but that is all. It is a great program and my new favorite Gnutella client. Below is my current desktop and a screenshot of FrostWire for Linux running and a link where to get it. The lines between Windows and Linux are seeing some overlap. This is a good thing.

Softpedia has a review and the download link:
http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Communications/Filesharing/FrostWire-6084.shtml

Linux gOS Earth Theme with System Monitor

I added a new PC for May, with dual-core processor. The old gDesklets did not show both processor cores. So I'm now using the System Monitor available in the Screenlets library. It is a much cleaner and less resource hungry alternative.

Black Vista Theme for Linux

With all the interest in the upcoming Windows Seven release, I wanted to give my Linux desktop a more black Vista appearance. Below are my efforts along with the Vista Start Menu add-in, gdesklets, and Nimbus Vistalook GTK theme for Gnome. The last photo is the Simple Black GDM login screen.

Dvorak Likes Linux

03.09.09

Almost all the newest hardware coming out has Linux support. The critical mass has been reached, and it's time everyone tried Ubuntu.

Total posts: 69

by John C. Dvorak

Buzz up!on Yahoo!

Every so often I take a stab at Linux, to see exactly what I like and do not like about the OS. Many of its problems, for me, stem from its inability to run on my overloaded hardware, or the occasional driver that makes the OS impossible to use without hand-tweaking something or other. That said, I seriously like the Ubuntu 8.10 implementation and will now install it permanently on my latest machines. It's a winner.

This OS has a lot of nice features, and it's quick. It's freely downloadable all over the net as a ISO disk image, too. Go to the official Web site for a download link. Ubuntu is particularly cool because the install version is also a "live" version, meaning that you can boot it and run it from a CD without installing the OS at all. More important, it's a fully functional live CD, meaning that it can save and load files from drive C: or a NAS.

When I encountered a glitch, I changed to a safe graphics mode that limited my screen to 1,280-by-1,024 rather than 1,600-by-1,200—but this was no big deal.

While your PC is running Ubuntu as a live install, the CD is doing all the work for the OS, and even so, it's at least as snappy as Windows. Install it onto the hard disk as the OS for the system and the thing really flies. I'm not sure how many legacy old clunkers can run this operating system, but it's the perfect reinstall for older machines that bog down under Windows. The live feature is what it makes it so cool; no need to install the OS before thoroughly testing it.

For lightweight work, the install disk comes with Firefox for Linux and AbiWord, a credible open-source substitute for MS Word. In fact, there is probably a Linux program that will substitute for just about any Windows programs with as much or more functionality—with the exception of Adobe Photoshop. That said, there are plenty of photo editors for Linux. The popular GIMP app comes to mind.

While the various Linux desktops generally aren't as polished as Vista, they are functional and easily as slick as Windows 2000, the OS most observers think was the best Microsoft ever did. In many instances the complexity of Linux turns out to be smoothed over by the Ubuntu architecture. It's so good that I'm a little annoyed with myself for not getting to it sooner. And I sure don't want to hear "I told you so!" from all the Linux mavens.

I'm in the process of putting together a new Atom-based mini-ITX machine (with an Intel D945GCLF2 motherboard) for use as a Web browser in the kitchen. This OS would be ideal if for no other reason than the fact that I won't have to worry about anyone in the family fooling around online and getting the little machine clogged with viruses and Trojan horses.

I seriously appreciate the fact that Linux is mostly immune from malware, in much the same way as the Macintosh. I had a small machine in the kitchen running Windows, and every time I ran a scan on the thing I kept discovering too many problems. I know that if Linux becomes too popular, the malware will come. But for now it's rare—a good thing as far as I am concerned.

I'm tired of dealing with Windows malware, patch Tuesday, and the never-ending deterioration of the OS as it clogs up like a drain in a greasy-spoon restaurant. I can't take it anymore.

And there's something else that always bugs me about Windows. I have an iMac that I use at the office, and a few times every month Apple has some patch that it sends out. With few exceptions, each time a patch is installed with the Mac OS, the performance of the machine improves. With Windows, the performance always declines.

I don't think Microsoft has ever sent out a patch that improved the performance of the machine. Ever.

And of course, the biggest differences between Ubuntu and Windows are the cost and the subsequent headaches, because Microsoft is constantly fretting over bootleg copies. The company monitors machines to make sure they are running legal copies of software. There have already been instances of computers shut down by Microsoft HQ because of some glitch in the cloud. This is simply unacceptable. I don't want to rely on a system like that.

I cannot wean myself off Windows altogether because, well, I write about Windows. But for ancillary machines that I put together where I need reliability and low price, I'm always going to see whether Ubuntu works. And if it does, that's what gets installed.

If I had a small or mid-size company, I'd probably use only Linux and open-source software, just to stay out of the way of the software police and their onerous "audits"—another abhorrent situation that, to me, is intolerable.

You should also note that almost all of the newest hardware coming out has Linux support. The critical mass has been reached. Go download Ubuntu 8.10 and see for yourself what the fuss is about. You won't regret it.

Article link at PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2342703,00.asp

Simdock is an Application Launcher for Older PC's

You can find Simdock in the Ubuntu Synaptic library. It does not require the Compiz effects manager. See two examples below.

Linux Equivalents to Windows Software

Linux Equivalents to Windows Software
Source: www.linuxlinks.com at http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20070701111340544/Equivalents.html

There are many articles written about the reasons why users may wish to convert to Linux. Frequently cited reasons include the favorable licensing terms, the freely distributable software (with source code), support from the Linux community, improved security, open file formats, the fact that Linux can run on a wide variety of platforms, etc. However, unless a desktop user is provided with real alternatives to the existing software he or she currently uses, migration to a different operating system is going to be very difficult.

This collection of articles aims to dispel the myth that Linux isn't ready for the desktop user to move away from the Microsoft world. If you are contemplating switching from Windows to Linux, please be assured that many of your favorite desktop applications have Linux equivalents, often with a comparable feature set.

For each Linux application, we have compiled a portal page providing an overview of the software, a screenshot of the application in action, a comprehensive list of its features, and links to sites offering information and support on the software such as forums, tutorials, and reviews.

Unlike their Window counterparts, the vast majority of the Linux applications listed below are available to download without charge (a few of the Linux equivalents are commercial, or released under a proprietory license). Popular Linux distributions conveniently include many of the software applications listed below (see our Linux Distribution Guide if you are unsure what is meant by the term distribution, or if you would like more information on what they offer).

We have also produced a more detailed compilation of the best Linux software in our Portal Pages & Features section.

Alternatively, we have also provided a large flat list of all the software included, which is in alphabetical order.


Windows Software
Category
Linux Equivalent

3D Studio Max
3D Computer Graphics
Art of IllusionBlenderK-3D

ACDSee
Graphics Viewer
CornicegThumbGwenviewImgv

Adobe Acrobat Pro
PDF editor
PDFedit

Adobe After Effects
Realtime Editing
Jahshaka

Adobe Flash Player
Multimedia
Gnash

Adobe Reader
Office Utility
Adobe ReaderEvinceKPDFokular

Abode InDesign
Desktop Publishing
Scribus

Adobe Illustrator
Graphics
InkscapeSkencilXara Xtreme

Adobe PhotoAlbum
Digital Camera
digiKam

Adobe Photoshop
Graphics
CinePaintGIMPGimpshopKritaPixel

AOL Instant Messenger
Communication
KopetePidgin

ArcGIS
Geographic Information Systems
GRASSQuantum GISuDig

AutoCAD
CAD
K-3DQCadBRL-CAD

Borland Delphi
Pascal Development
Lazarus

CDex
Multimedia
GripK3bRipOffSound Juicer

ChemDraw
Chemical Structures
XDrawChem

Citrix Presentation Server
Networking
NX Free ServerRealVNCVinagre

Copernic Tracker
Web site tracking
Specto

DigiGuide
TV Guide
Maxemum TV-Guide
Dreamweaver

Web Development
BluefishQuanta PlusKompoZerNvuScreem
Eviews

Econometrics
gretl

Filezilla
FTP Client
gFTPFilezillaFireFTPKFTPgrabber

Final Cut Pro
Multimedia Editor
AvidemuxCinelerraKinoRosegarden

FL Studio
Midi SequencerDrum Machine
EnergyXT2HydrogenLMMS
Forte Agent

Usenet newsreader
KNodePan
GetRight

Download Manager
Downloader for XGWGETKGet

Gmail Notifier
Email Tool
CheckGmailGmail NotifierMail Notification

Google Desktop Search
Search Tool
BeagleGoogle Desktop

Guitar Pro
Multitrack editor
TuxGuitar

Inspiration
Mind mapping
FreeMindSemantikView Your Mind

iTunes
Media Player
AmarokBansheeExailegtkpodRhythmboxSongbird

Launchy
Application Launcher
GNOME DoKatapult
Legacy

Genealogy
GRAMPS
Logos Bible Software

Bible studies
BibleTimeGnomeSword

MATLAB
Numerical computation
MATLABOctaveScilab

Mathematica
Computer algebra
MathematicaMaxima

Meal Master
Recipe Manager
Gourmet Recipe Manager

Microsoft Access
Database
KexiOpenOffice.orgPostgreSQL

Microsoft Excel
Spreadsheet
GnumericOpenOffice.org

Microsoft Internet Explorer
Web Browser
FirefoxKonquerorOpera
Microsoft HyperTerminal

Communications
GtkTermminicom

Microsoft Money
Money Management
GnuCash

Microsoft NetMeeting
VoIP and videoconferencing
Ekiga

Microsoft Office
Office Suite
Google Docs & SpreadsheetsKOfficeOpenOffice.org

Microsoft Office OneNote
Notetaking
BasKet Note PadsTomboy

Microsoft Outlook
Email Client
BalsaEvolutionKMailSylpheedThunderbird

Microsoft Powerpoint
Presentation
KPresenterOpenOffice Impress

Microsoft Project
Project Management
KOffice KPlatoGanttProjectTaskJuggler

Microsoft Word
Wordprocessor
AbiWordKwordOpenOffice.org

Microsoft Visio
Office Drawing
ArgoUMLDiaKivio

Microsoft Visual Basic
Programming Language
Gambas

Microsoft Visual Studio
Development Environment
AnjutaCode::BlocksEclipseGeanyKDevelopNetBeans IDE

Microsoft .NET Framework
.NET Development
Mono

mIRC
IRC Client
KonversationXChat

MegaStar
Astronomy
CelestiaStellarium

Movie Collector
DVD Cataloging
GCstarGriffithTellicovMovieDB

Nero Burning Rom
CD/DVD Burning
BraseroGnomeBakerK3bNero Linux

Nero Recode
MPEG-4 encoder
HandBrake

Nero Vision Express
DVD Authoring
KMediaFactoryQ DVD-Author

NewsBin Pro
Usenet Binary Downloader
KLibidoPan

NewzCrawler
News Aggregator
AkregatorBlogBridgeLifereaRSSOwlThunderbird

Notepad
Simple Text Editor
CreamgeditKateSciTEScribes

OmniPage
Text Recognition (OCR)
Kooka

Palm Desktop
Personal InformationManager
ChandlerEvolutionJ-PilotKontactKPilotqOrganizerSpicebird

Parasoft Insure++
Debugging
Valgrind

Partition Magic
System Utility
GParted

Picasa
Photo Management
blueMarineF-SpotPicasa

PowerDVD
DVD Player
MPlayerVLC

Quicken
Personal Finance
GnuCashGrisbikMyMoneyMoneydance

Quick Books
Financial / Taxation
MyBooks Professional

Scientific Word
Typesetting
KileLyXTeXmacs

Skype
Internet Telephony
SkypeWengoPhone

Soundrec
Audio Recorder
AudacityJokosherTraverso DAW

SPSS
Statistical Analysis
PSPPRSPSS

Symantec Ghost
Backup
ClonezillaPartition ImagePING
Symantec Veritas NetBackup
Backup
AmandaBaculaKeep

Traktor DJ
Disc Jockey Tool
Mixxx

µTorrent
BitTorrent client
DelugeKTorrentTransmissionVuze

Videora
iPod Video Conversion
thin liquid film

VideoReDo
Video Editing
AvidemuxKdenliveLives

VMware Workstation
Virtualization
VirtualBoxVMware Workstation

Winamp
Multimedia Player
AudaciousAmarokBansheeHelix Player

Windows Calculator
Calculator
SpeedCrunch

Windows File Explorer
File Management
Endeavour Mark IIKonquerorKrusaderNautilusPCMan File ManagerThunarXfe

Windows Live Messenger
Communication
aMSNemeseneKopeteMercury MessengerPidgin

Windows Media Center
Home Media Box
Elisa Media CenterFreevoLinuxMCEMythTV

Windows Media Player
Multimedia Player
KaffeineKPlayerMPlayerTotemxine

WinIso
CD Image File Utility
KIso

WinZip
Compression Utility
File Roller

ZoneAlarm
Firewall
GuarddogFirestarter

February Desktop

This month I am supplying the Weather Screenlet link shown. You will have to look up your location on www.weather.com, tweak the size, theme, and lock the screenlet to your screen in order to see it on every desktop. See below.





Weather Screenlet download link: http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Weather+Screenlet?content=99586

01-2009 Text Messaging with Pidgin

For January I've grown tired of the Beatles wallpaper, switched to something simpler and colorful for our dismal cold Winter weather upon us. Still using the same Tigris GTK Theme, gDesklets, and Avant Launcher. Also included is a weather gadget called Screenlets.

This month I setup text messaging using Pidgin. Using your AOL instant messenger User ID, just add your friends and family's text address as buddies. You can send and receive text messages right from within Pidgin. Below is the link how to do this:

http://features.engadget.com/2004/07/13/how-to-use-aol-instant-messenger-to-send-a-text-message-to-a/

Ubuntu 8.1 and a Beatles-MAC Theme

I've tried the latest offering of Ubuntu v8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" and had some stability problems. For very little new in the way of features, I've taken it off and returned to v8.041 LTS. I had video rendering problems with nVidia video cards. I'll wait for the v8.10 LTS (long term support) version.

This month I customized my desktop with the following tweaks:

- Beatles wallpaper
- Simdock
- gDesklets
- Tigris theme from gnome-look.org
- MAC4Lin icons and window title bar
- Audacious media player
- K3B CD/DVD burning software
- iFox Metal Firefox skin
- Thunderbird Email client
- Wine: running uTorrent and Picasa graphic viewer

Until next time...

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop Themes

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS - Desktop Themes

Ubuntu Packaging

Dress Up Your Desktop with Vista & MAC Themes

One of the great things about Linux is its ability to modify just about everything. One of my favorite pastimes is to change the skin or theme of my Linux desktop and applications. After all, when you spend hours on the computer, why shouldn't it be easy on the eyes and elegant.

Below are two Linux themes, one based on Windows Vista (Dark Ice Gnome Theme), and an Apple MAC OS X (MAC4LIN Gnome Theme)...







Below is the Thunderbird Email client with the Windows Vista Mail theme applied....




Below is my Linux Apple MAC Tiger OS X Theme along with the Avant Window Navigator launcher at the bottom.

Below are a sampling of desktop Linux apps showing off the MAC4LIN theme....




You can dress it up with some MAC4LIN icons available here....
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Mac4Lin+Leopard+GTK+Icon+Theme?content=68413

Kiwi Linux 7.1 - Is My New Passion Fruit

In many Linux users' search of a distro that has ease of use, hardware compatibility, and multimedia add-ins preloaded, Kiwi Linux 7.1 fills the need. Built on Ubuntu 7.1 it has all the codecs, flash plugin, and MS True Type fonts included. It also adds the great multimedia player Audacious..(Xmms clone?). This distro only includes 3 languages, English, Romanian, and Hungarian. Below is the description from this week's DistroWatch...























Jani Monoses has announced the final release of Kiwi Linux 7.10, an Ubuntu-based distribution optimised for Romanian and Hungarian users and enhanced with multimedia codecs and other desktop conveniences: "The Kiwi 7.10 live CD for i386, based on Ubuntu 7.10, is available. Modifications to Ubuntu 7.10 include: Romanian and Hungarian localization and language support packages; removed Evolution, Rhythmbox, Ekiga, Asian fonts, and languages other than en, hu, ro; removed Windows applications from the live CD; added Audacious audio player, Inkscape, Thunderbird, Vim, Midnight Commander; replaced Totem GStreamer with Totem xine, added ffmpeg and libdvdcss2; included Firefox plugins for Java, Flash and MPlayer; improved networking support by enabling the pppoeconf GUI, adding firmware for the SpeedTouch USB modem...." Here is the brief release announcement. Download: kiwi-7.10.iso (702MB, MD5, torrent).

Details on Kiwi Linux 7.1 from Softpedia.com....

Kiwi description
Download
Kiwi is a free operating system based on Ubuntu Linux primarily targeted at users in Romania. The project comes on a single CD that can be used both as a live CD and for installing on the hard drive.Here are some key features of "Kiwi":·

-Localization and spell-checkers for Romanian and Hungarian·
-Better support for connecting to local ADSL providers (Romtelecom and RDS)
-NTFS write support via ntfs-3g on both the liveCD and on the installed system
-Adobe Flash 9 web-plugin
-Support for proprietary audio and video codecs
-Support for DVD playback using totem-xine (including encrypted DVDs)
-Miscellaneous apps (Inkscape for vector drawing, mc, vim)
-Customized artwork based on the original Ubuntu one
-Windows applications and language packs for languages not mentioned above were removed to make space

Why include proprietary software and non-open multimedia codecs?

We believe that while free data formats and free software are preferable to closed ones, compromises are acceptable when the alternative means even less freedom. We'd rather have our users run a combination of free operating system and proprietary codecs than only proprietary operating systems and software.

What is the relation to Ubuntu?

We plan on releasing versions keeping up with the latest Ubuntu. Features that are deemed appropriate for Ubuntu will be proposed for inclusion as we try to keep the differences contained to the packages that for various reasons are not included in Ubuntu. Who develops Kiwi?Most of the development work on Kiwi is supported by Startx SRL. Obviously the vast majority of what is on the CD is the work of the free software community of volunteers and paid developers who make Ubuntu, Debian, GNOME, Xorg, GNU/Linux and the rest of the free software ecosystem. The translations are the work of the Romanian and Hungarian free software localization teams and individual translators.

What's New in This Release:

· The Kiwi 7.10 live CD for i386, based on Ubuntu 7.10, is available. Modifications to Ubuntu 7.10 include: Romanian and Hungarian localization and language support packages; removed Evolution, Rhythmbox, Ekiga, Asian fonts, and languages other than en, hu, ro; removed Windows applications from the live CD; added Audacious audio player, Inkscape, Thunderbird, Vim, Midnight Commander; replaced Totem GStreamer with Totem xine, added ffmpeg and libdvdcss2; included Firefox plugins for Java, Flash and MPlayer; improved networking support by enabling the pppoeconf GUI, adding firmware for the SpeedTouch USB modem....

Below is a first-look from Softpedia.com ...

First Look: Kiwi Linux
- Yet another Ubuntu based Linux distribution!By: Marius Nestor, Linux Editor
Enlarge pictureKiwi is a Linux operating system based on the latest version of the popular Ubuntu Linux, Feisty Fawn. This distribution was created especially for the Romanian and Hungarian people, but it can also be used by all the English speakers out there. Probably you're wondering what else is special about this Linux distribution; well, let me tell you that in this OS you will find proprietary software and non-free codecs and the Adobe Flash plugin, because the developers think it's better for their users to run a combination of free operating system and proprietary codecs than only proprietary operating systems (like Windows) with free software.

The CD includes all the standard Ubuntu applications for your daily usage, like Firefox (with Romanian translation), Evolution, OpenOffice.org suite, but it also includes some cool packages like the Microsoft TrueType fonts, Compiz and the Audacious music player. On the other hand, they have removed the Spanish, German and French translations and the xmoto package, because of lack of space. The Romanian language is set by default when the CD boots, but you can easily change it to English or Hungarian just by pressing the F2 key.Highlights:• Localization and spell-checkers for Romanian and Hungarian• Support for proprietary audio and video codecs• Support for DVD playback using totem-xine (including encrypted DVDs)• Better support to connect to local ADSL providers (via Speedtouch USB modem)• NTFS write support via ntfs-3g on both the liveCD and on the installed system• Adobe Flash 9 web-plugin• Customized artwork based on the original Ubuntu one • Windows applications and language packs for languages not mentioned above were removed to make space• Miscellaneous apps (Inkscape for vector drawing, mc, vim)In conclusion, if you are a Romanian or Hungarian Linux user, then this CD is perfect for your needs, as it's based on Ubuntu and ships with proprietary software and codecs.Please enjoy some screenshots of Kiwi Linux:

You can download Kiwi Linux now from Softpedia.






















The Audacious media player....includes codecs for mp3, flac, ogg, wmp, and wav, among others.....






















Includes the MPlayer video player....to handle all video formats you can throw at it.....