New Chrome 5 stable released today: Welcome, Mac and Linux!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 | 8:59 AM

In our most recent beta release, we fired up all engines to bring to life our fastest version of Chrome to date.

Today, we’re bringing all this beta goodness to the stable channel so that it’s available to all Chrome users. We’re particularly excited to bring Chrome for Mac and Linux out of beta, and introduce Chrome’s first stable release for Mac and Linux users. You can read more about the Mac and Linux stable releases on the Google Mac and Chromium blogs respectively.

Today’s stable release also comes with a host of new features. You’ll be able to synchronize not only bookmarks across multiple computers, but also browser preferences -- including themes, homepage and startup settings, web content settings, preferred languages, and even page zoom settings. Meanwhile, for avid extensions users, you can enable each extension to work in incognito mode through the extensions manager.

Our stable release also incorporates HTML5 features such as Geolocation APIs, App Cache, web sockets, and file drag-and-drop. For a taste of HTML5’s powerful features, try browsing through websites developed in HTML5 such as scribd.com, dragging and dropping attachments in Gmail, or by enabling the geolocation functionality in Google Maps. We’ve also given Chrome’s bookmark manager a facelift with HTML5:

Pedal to the Chrome metal: Our fastest beta to date for Windows, Mac and Linux

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 | 8:31 AM

Here in Aarhus, Denmark -- home of the V8 project, Chrome’s JavaScript engine -- we’ve been tuning, testing, and polishing the V8 engine to give Chrome a hefty boost in speed.

Today’s new beta release incorporates one of Chrome’s most significant speed and performance increases to date, with 30% and 35% improvement on the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks over the previous beta channel release. In fact, looking back in time, Chrome’s performance has improved by as much as 213% and 305% on these two benchmarks since our very first beta.





Today’s beta release also includes a handful of new features. Not too long ago, we introduced bookmark sync into the browser, which allows you to keep your bookmarks synchronized on multiple computers using your Google Account. Beta users can now synchronize not only bookmarks, but also browser preferences including themes, homepage and startup settings, web content settings, and language. By popular demand especially from avid Chrome extensions users, you can now install and use Chrome extensions while in incognito mode.

Under the hood, today’s release contains the goodness of some new HTML5 features, namely Geolocation APIs, App Cache, web sockets, and file drag-and-drop capabilities. Additionally, this is the first Chrome beta that features initial integration of the Adobe Flash Player plug-in with Chrome, so that you can browse a rich, dynamic web with added security and stability -- you’ll automatically receive security and feature updates for Flash Player with Chrome’s auto-update mechanism.

To try out all these new features, download Chrome on the Windows beta channel, or download the Mac or Linux betas.

Lastly, with this beta’s crazy speed improvements, we designed a series of equally unconventional speed tests for the browser. While the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks have their strengths, we felt that more could be done to measure speed on the browser. Here’s an early preview of how we designed, built, and implemented these speed tests. Stay tuned for the full results; we’ll post them here tomorrow.



Source: The Chrome Blog http://chrome.blogspot.com/

Here is the download link:

http://www.google.com/chrome?platform=linux
.

Chrome 5: Faster and better

Chrome 5: Faster and better
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, Cyber Cynic, ComputerWorld

The first thing you'll notice with Google's new beta of its Chrome Web browser is that it's faster -- much faster -- than the last version. You don't need any fancy tests to see that. All you have to do is use it, and you'll see that it blows other browsers away.

But if numbers are what you want, here's what I found using the SunSpider JavaScript benchmarks. I ran these tests on a pair of Dell 530S desktop PCs. These older computers are powered by a 2.2GHz Intel Pentium E2200 dual-core processor with an 800MHz front-side bus. Each has 4GB of RAM, a 500GB SATA (Serial ATA) drive, and an Integrated Intel 3100 GMA (Graphics Media Accelerator) chipset. One was loaded with Windows XP SP3 and the other used MEPIS 8.0 desktop Linux. First, I ran the benchmarks with an old copy of Chrome 4, which I installed just for these tests, and then with Chrome 5.0.375.29, the latest beta. The average result was 660.4ms for Chrome 4 and 380.0 for Chrome 5.



Other Chrome tests haven't shown such significant improvements, but the bottom line is that the new Chrome is visibly faster than most other browsers. While it's true that Opera Software's Opera 10.53 is faster still, it's also true that Opera has been plagued with numerous serious security problems. For the best combination of speed and security you can't currently beat Chrome.

For sheer silliness, and to get an idea of just how fast Chrome really is in a very visual way, check out Google's Chrome video of Chrome pages loading with potato guns firing and Tesla coils blasting model pirate ships in the foreground.

The new Chrome has more than just speed and security going for it though. It also includes several new features. The one I like the most is expanding Chrome's bookmark sync, from just letting you keep your bookmarks in sync with multiple computers to letting you sync browser preferences such as themes, homepage and startup settings, and Web content settings across PCs. If you're like me and you use several computers this is one handy feature.

It also includes several HTML5 features such as Geolocation APIs (application programming interfaces), App Cache -- HTML5's answer to the old Google Gears for offline Web applications -- and file drag-and-drop capabilities.

This is also the first version of Chrome where, as promised, Adobe Flash Player is built-in. While Flash has recently had more than its fair share of serious security problems, bundling them together is probably a good thing since Chrome quietly and automatically updates itself, and now Flash, as soon as fixes are available. Considering how many security holes are exploited simply because users can't be bothered to update their software, I like Google's automatic update model.

What it all comes down to me is that Chrome is continuing to become my favorite Web browser. I still have lingering fondness for Firefox, but Chrome, which also runs on Linux, Macs, and Windows is moving into first place in the browser races.

http://www.google.com/chrome

Best Tricks and Tips for Google Chrome

Google Chrome is the fastest web browser available (according to Google’s commercials, anyway), and it’s because of that speed that so many computer users are dropping Firefox and IE for this slim, streamline application.

The thing about its trimness is the apparent lack of features. When you first install Chrome, you see an address bar and some word-less buttons, and that’s about it. What exactly can you do to make this fast browser even better, you ask? What tweaks can you make, what tricks do the veteran users know? Glad you asked. We have the answers.

Dedicated Incognito Mode

In case you missed all those ‘Chrome has prOn mode!’ blog posts when Google first released Chrome, I’ll clue you in – Chrome has a porn mode…sorta.

Chrome Incognito is an instance of the Chrome browser that does not store history or cookies. Google didn’t market this as a prOn browser, but humans are simple creatures, and Incognito was dubbed by the populace to be the browser “that you use this when you’re searching for porn”.

You can access the Incognito browser by pressing “Ctrl + Shft + N”. What if you forget, one blightful day, to press this blessed combo? What if you walk away satisfied (wink, wink), and someone else logs on and sees your shame lined up alphabetically in Today’s History?

The solution is to ‘hack’ (and we use that word lightly) the Chrome launch icon so that it only launches the Incognito browser. You can either do away with the Normal Mode icon entirely, or change the Incognito icon so that it is blue like the Incognito browser.

To do this, right-click on the Google Chrome icon and choose Properties.

Look for the TARGET line. Scroll to the end of it and add “-incognito” minus the quotes. Click the APPLY button, then close properties and launch the browser. It should start in Incognito mode.

Oh, and just remember:

Application Bookmarks

For those of you who enjoy having icons on your desktop, icon panel, or start menu, Google Chrome allows you to turn a website into an ‘application’. And by application, we mean “A Nifty Launching Icon”. These icons looks just like application icons. You double-click on it, ala an application, and it launches a singular web browser with that website in it. This ‘application’ won’t allow you to open additional tabs or view history. It also won’t have the address bar and other nuisances that you may not want crowding your screen.

To make a website application, click on the page icon in the upper right-hand corner of Chrome.

The first option on the menu says “Create Application Shortcut”. Choose that. 

A box will appear with three options: Desktop, Start Menu, and Pin to Taskbar. Select the locations you would like to add the application icon. Choose OK. The icon will appear in those locations. Double-click it to launch.

Zap Pop-ups with a Keystroke

No matter how many pop up blockers you install, some squeak through anyway. This is beyond annoying, not just because it invaded your computer without permission, but also because you have to stop what you’re doing and close it. It is much easier to close that popup by clicking “Ctrl + W”. Just make sure the popup is the main window, because if you click on your open tab and then follow this keystroke, it will close the tab.

Pull a Tab into a Window

If you want to shake a tab free of the window and turn it into its own window, you can just grab the tab and pull, thusly breaking it free of the others.

You can also grab a straggling window and add it to a bunch of tabs.

Drag Downloads Wherever You Want Them

It might seem a little inconvenient to have all of the downloads latched onto the bottom of the browser and get shuttled into a folder. This is, of course, until you realize that you can drag that download to any folder you want with a simple mouse-click. That’s right—click on that download and drag it to the desktop, and away it will go.

While we’re on the topic of downloads, here’s another tip. If you’ve downloaded quite a few items and you want to see them in chronological order, press CTRL + J. This will open a new tab that neatly displays all downloads.

Tab to Search

Fire up a new tab, start to type in Google, and you’ll see a little phrase pop up that says “Press Tab to Search Google”. Press tab, then type your phrase directly into the addresss bar to run a Google search.

If that doesn’t seem cool enough, you can do this for any website. Type in the main address, such as “www. Youtube.com”, and then press tab. You can then search for a video specifically in that website. 

Integrated Task Manager

If you want to see just how much memory each individual tab is using, Google has a feature for that. Press SHFT + ESC to open Chrome’s built-in task manager. You view individual tabs and the memory they are using. 

Compare Browser Memory Usage

If you’re wondering if your favorite website takes up more memory in Google Chrome or a different browser, then fire up a new tab and type “about:memory” without the quotes. The resulting page will show you the active browsers running and the amount of memory being used.

Pick Through the Cache

By digging around the cache, you can easily see just what images, pages, videos, etc, etc, have been downloaded. This is easier with a Cache Viewer, which can be downloaded by as an extension. If you don’t want to bother with an extension, open a tab and type “about:cache”, which out the quotes, of course.

If you discover that the cache is too messy and convoluted to easily sort through, this Chrome Cache Viewer will make your life easier:

Chrome Cache Viewer

Source: http://laptoplogic.com/resources/best-tricks-and-tips-for-google-chrome

Perfection OSX Theme

I'm excited to find the new Perfection Theme. It offers bright clean looks that are so very close to Apple Leopard OSX. You can get it here:

http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Perfection?content=122822&PHPSESSID=22ae190d8769ea37567c49dd328530a7

Below are some screenshots:

Two P2P Torrent clients for Linux

Deluge and qBittorrent are 2 excellent torrent clients for Linux. Below is info on each of these.

Deluge

Deluge is BitTorrent client that no only works with Linux but all the other major operating systems like Windows as well. Deluge has a wide-array of features, including:



-Web UI
-BitTorrent Protocol Encryption
-Mainline DHT
-Local Peer Discovery (aka LSD)
-FAST protocol extension
-µTorrent Peer Exchange
-UPnP and NAT-PMP
-Proxy support
-Web seed
-Private Torrents
-Global and per-torrent speed limits
-Configurable bandwidth scheduler
-Password protection
-RSS
-And much more!

Deluge is available from the Synaptic Software Library and from their website:
http://deluge-torrent.org/


qBittorrent


The qBittorrent project was started in March 2006 by a French university student to create a lightweight but featureful BitTorrent client that would be multi-platform and very easy to use. It looks very similar to the popular uTorrent client for Windows.

qBittorrent v2 is the closest open source (GNU GPL v2 license) equivalent to µtorrent. qBittorrent is based on Qt4 toolkit and libtorrent-rasterbar.



qBittorrent v2 Features

-Polished µTorrent-like User Interface
-Well-integrated and extensible Search Engine
-Simultaneous search in most famous BitTorrent search sites
-Per-category-specific search requests (e.g. Books, Music, Movies)
-All Bittorrent extensions
-DHT, Peer Exchange, Full encryption, Magnet URI, ...
-Remote control through a Web user interface
-Nearly identical to the regular UI, all in Ajax
-Advanced control over trackers, peers and torrents
-Torrents queueing and prioritizing
-Torrent content selection and prioritizing
-UPnP / NAT-PMP port forwarding support
-Available in ~25 languages (Unicode support)
-µTorrent spoofing to bypass private trackers whitelisting
-Advanced RSS support with download filters (inc. regex)
-Bandwidth scheduler
-IP Filtering (eMule and PeerGuardian compatible)
-IPv6 compliant

Go ahead and try qBittorrent v2, you won't regret it!
Website: http://qbittorrent.sourceforge.net/index.php
also available from Synaptic Manager.

gThumb: The Free Software IrfanView

From Linux Today: http://www.linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2010042901435MMSW

So you've done it, you moved over to GNU+Linux (or you made your move a while ago). Everything works and you're happy with it. Well, for a while now, I've been asked the same question on many occasions, a question I did not previously have a good answer to, "Can I use IrfanView with Debian [Ubuntu, Fedora, etc.]".

Before recently my answer was always "You can't use IrfanView, as it's only available for Windows, and there isn't a good IrfanView equivalent for GNU+Linux." Well, I'm happy to say as of version 2.11.3 that I can now tell people that gThumb is as good as IrfanView, if not better.







I used to suggest F-Spot, no one liked that. Sure it can view and organize images and can make simple edits, like resize, crop, brightness and contrast, but it also started slow compared to IrfanView, and didn't (still doesn't?) play audio and video. Also its Mono dependencies really made F-Spot a pain, because the Mono libraries take up quite a bit of space, 35.8MB for just Mono, does that sound like a small simple image viewer? IrfanView takes up 9.7MB the last time I checked. And gThumb takes up 10.5 here. Free Software advocates also don't like using F-Spot because of potential patent issues with Mono.


When viewing images, gThumb can resize, crop, rotate, adjust colors, enhance colors, equalize, desaturate, invert colors, mirror, flip, and remove red-eyes. gThumb can read and edit metadata, convert images, batch edit multiple images as well, and for organizing your files gThumb also has simple features like Bookmarks, and Catalogs.








gThumb can zoom in and pan images fast as well, and has fullscreen support for viewing both images and video (audio as well, but you don't need fullscreen to listen to music).


The main feature that makes gThumb great is its support for video and audio playback. That's right, gThumb is just like IrfanView it can view and edit images, and play your videos and music as well. When, playing a video there is also a "Take a screenshot" feature which creates a single image file from the current frame of the video.








The best part, most of gThumb's features are implemented by plugins, so if you don't think you need to rotate images, you can simply remove the plugin responsible for that feature. Removing these plugins can make gThumb start even faster. And anyone can develop useful new features for gThumb with a simple plugin.







There is even plugins for burning files to an optical disc, and uploading images to Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa Web Albums. Right from inside gThumb.


And just for the record, gThumb starts in -- well, I'd like to time it, but it starts to fast. gThumb starts in less than a second on my single-core system, I can only imagine what it's like on an Intel i7.

If you want gThumb 2.11.3 on Debian, it's available in the "unstable" repository (sid). As for Ubuntu, the developers have removed gThumb 2.11.x from the latest release, but I suppose the Debian package will work on Ubuntu.

I really feel that with just a little more work, gThumb should replace the "Eye of GNOME" on all distributions. And perhaps become the official GNOME image viewer? It definitely has what it takes.

For more information on gThumb please visit: http://live.gnome.org/gthumb

Source: http://www.inatux.com/article?r=gthumb-the-free-software-irfanview

MakeMKV offers simple cross-platform Blu-Ray ripping

by Jay Hathaway Mar 22nd 2010 ...from DownloadSquad.com

Software developers basically have DVD ripping down to a science at this point. No matter what operating system you run, you're only a few clicks away from importing a movie from a DVD to your hard drive. Blu-Ray, on the other hand, is a tougher nut to crack. That's why it's exciting to see a cross-platform app that handles both DVD and Blu-Ray ripping: MakeMKV.

MakeMKV offers one-click ripping of most DVDs and Blu-Ray discs on Mac, Windows or Linux. Advanced settings are available, but most users will just happy to pop the disc in, click, and let 'er rip. To play MKV files -- not as common a file format as .avi or .mpg, maybe, but familiar to anyone who's ever torrented a Blu-Ray movie -- you'll need free software like VLC. MakeMKV is currently available as a free beta, says Lifehacker, so it's smart to grab it now if you're too frugal to pay for a competing app.

Source: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/03/22/makemkv-offers-simple-cross-platform-blu-ray-ripping/
.

Unified Theme is a bright OSX Look

The Unified Theme was recently modified and I've incorporated this with a newly found iFox Firefox Theme for some great results. My goal is a clean bright MAC-like Linux experience. Below are some screenshots and a link where to get the Unified Theme and iFox Firefox Themes.









The Unified Theme: http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Unified?content=121728

Firefox Updated iFox Themes now called iFoxfork Themes: http://site.aladen.free.fr/ifoxfork/

25+ Mac Look Alike Themes For Linux OS

Lately I've been leaning towards the Apple Mac Themes on all my Linux machines. Many others are too. You can get the overall feel of Leopard OSX for a free Linux price. How sweet it is. Posted Thursday, February 25, 2010

Mac OS has been popular ever since Apple Computer Inc. has established itself as leader of brand of stylish cool tech gadgets and latest innovations. Mac OS is one such product which is counted by many industry believers for its beauty and eye glossy charming sight to its users. Since open nature of Linux OS permits modification and changes, so many Linux users have tried to giveaway free Mac look alike themes compatible with most of Linux OS. Default themes at times can be boring and extra theme pack in hand always comes handy when you wish to juggle your Linux OS theme. Here I have compiled 20+ cool near Mac look alike themes developed by Linux gurus. Have a look please.

Munics

Munics is a Mac OS X Leopard look-a-like GTK theme for GNOME. Its different from all the Mac look alike themes out there as none of them are update or bugged with petty issues. Its made from scratch with core pixmap engine and of course combine of host of many other applications too. Developed by Vincent Murasame.

Ubuntu Clean Theme

Ubuntu Clean Theme was made from different files downloaded from gnome-looks.org website. Thanks for all those who made the original files! Developed by Aby Gomez

Nodoka Mac

Nodoka Mac is a modification of Audora Leopard BSM, based on Nodoka GIT.

Developed by Wojtek Konefal

Similiar Suite

Similiar Suite is a GTK theme/style based on elementary by Daniel Fore (DanRabbit) and the Elementary Art TeaM. Developed by Razanajato Harenome

McNarf

McNarf includes: GTK and Emerald themes, a round and a square Metacity theme and two readme-files (for example, ho to change from the button-look toolbar to the normal toolbar...). Developed by Dani Klenovsky

Aurora Leopard Metaled

Aurora Leopard Metaled merges components of three themes, and makes a fine tune on the style & color. Developed by My feing

eLeopard

A Leopard-like GTK 2.x Theme/Style for GNOME. eLeopard is a GTK theme that may be another Leopard emulation version. Developed by Yogi Yu

1a gekos-iTunes (LEOPARD)

Mac OS-like theme for your GNOME desktop. 1a gekos-iTunes (LEOPARD) is a Mac OS Leopard look-a-like GTK theme. Developed by Georgi Kostadinov

Aurora Leopard BSM

Aurora Leopard BSM is a Leopard-like theme powered by the Aurora engine. Developed by Bruno Schmidt Marques.

Leopard Black

Leopard Black is a Mac OS X-like theme for your GNOME desktop. Developed by Hitokiri Shostakovich.

GlowLeopard

GlowLeopard is a mix between the Glow and the last iRoll themes. Developed by join fh2s.

Human Leopard

Human Leopard is a GTK theme based on the Glossy P and Elegance GTK-themes.

Developed by Nelson lvarez

imetal

imetal is a port of the imetal OSX theme by AndyBlac. It uses the pixbuf engine so it's a little slow, but i couldn't make an accurate port without it. Developed by Nick

GrayThemeX

GrayThemeX is a GTK theme for the GNOME desktop based on Symphony Clearlooks Compact. It tries to emulate the MAC OS X Leopard look. Developed by tenebro

Open Leopard

Open Leopard allows you to make your KDE look like MacOSX Leopard! Who says KDE isn't beautiful? The archive contains two configurations for Domino kde style, polyester window decoration settings and two kde colour schemes. Instructions are included. Developed by Eldarion.

GTK Leopard for Linux by eamon63

GTK Leopard for Linux by eamon63 is a clone of the MAC OS X Leopard look, for the GNOME desktop environment on Linux systems. Developed by Arturo Vauva

Mac OS Tiger

Mac OS Tiger is a GTK theme based on the OSX-Tiger style. Metacity theme based on MacOS-X Aqua Theme 1.2.1. Developed by Andrew.

mac'a'like

mac'a'like is a GTK theme powered by the Candido engine. Developed by jck bcn.

MurrinaWhite

MurrinaWhite is a Mac OS X-like GTK theme powered by the Murrine engine. Developed by Adam Agentdunken.

Mac Os X Leopard

Mac Os X Leopard is a Leopard-like GTK theme for GNOME users. To get the Menu bars like a glass theme right click them hit properties, then background, check the solid color box, and set transparency to desired level lower = more clear higher = darker.

Mac OS PINK

Mac OS PINK is a pink Mac OS X-like GTK theme for GNOME. Developed by Alberto Piet.

gekos-leopard

gekos-leopard is a Mac OS X Leopard-style GTK theme for GNOME. You'll have to add Panel/menubar-gekos.png (from the theme directory) as background for your panel using panel properties dialog (right click on an empty part of the panel and choose "properties" in the menu). Developed by Georgi Kostadinov

Leotard

Leotard is yet another a Leopard look-a-like GTK theme for GNOME. Developed by Johan Eriksson.

OSX-Leopard

OSX-Leopard is a refined and smooth GTK theme for the GNOME desktop, with a Mac OS X Leopard look. The Metacity theme is included in the package. The theme is based on OSX-Tiger by Lauri Taimila. Developed by Riz Blan.

Cybertron Leopard

Cybertron Leopard is a GNOME theme based on many other themes. It tries to clone the Mac OS X Leopard theme. Developed by Sidney Matias.

MurrinaPredatore

MurrinaPredatore is a theme for the GNOME desktop inspired by, but not a copy of a well known operating system.

Read more:

* Tutorials to make Linux look like a Mac.

* 4 Linux Distros Which Look Like Mac OS X

Source: http://www.learnthisblog.co.cc/2010/02/25-mac-look-alike-theme-for-linux-os.html