Tag: GNOME

We've always been fond of Amarok. It has some good features, nice add-ons, and felt just a little friendlier than some other Linux media players. We recently discovered a contender to the title of most loved Linux media player, the ominously named Banshee. Fortunately, Banshee doesn't involve listening to shrieking demons, unless that's your genre of choice. It's an application that has been ...

Way back in the dark ages of 1993, we were introduced to this thing called email. Email in the olden days was not like email now. All the packets traveled uphill no matter where they were going, and usually there was a good three or four feet of snow on the internet backbone. We used these big hulking things called VAX/VMS nodes that were attached to some pretty sweet fourteen inch monochrome VT ...

Back in prehistory (or January, thereabouts) we talked a bit about webOSes, and the migration of Ewedrive to Desktop on Demand. This week we got a chance to play around with Desktop on Demand in more depth. Desktop on Demand (DOD) is a true networked OS. It's a Linux based system, with a clean, clear GNOME interface. There is online storage, and a good mix of open source apps. Our little issue ...

Theming one's OS to look like a Mac is all the rage these days, but for the most part such modifications are superficial. However, Global Menu actually changes the user experience quite a bit. For those who haven't seen a Mac before, [do such people exist?] on Mac OS, the menu for applications is located in a bar at the top of the screen, rather than the top of the window, like in Windows and ...

This week's Squadcast features an interview with one of our own. Kristin Shoemaker joins Grant and Christina to talk about what it takes to switch to Linux and leave Windows behind, for good. Also, we take a look at our five favorite Linux applications for people who've recently switched. Direct replacements for a few of those must-have apps on Windows. More from Download Squad on switching ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2007/12/30/flipping-the-linux-switch-kde-the-k-desktop-environment/";There's one thing for certain: Now is an exciting time to be a KDE user. The much anticipated launch of KDE 4 is slated for January 11th, 2008. This is a major revamp of the look and feel of the KDE desktop, with the inclusion of a built-in compositor (think eye candy) and something ...

The time between Christmas and New Year's is what folks in the biz typically like to call a slow news period. But in the fast-paced world of technology (cue the Quantum Leap-them song styled synth pop), the news never stops. Here are some of the stories you might have missed if you were spending too much quality time with the family this week. Flipping the Linux Switch: The GNOME Desktop ...

There is a controversy in the Linux world. It doesn't have to do with Microsoft, or anything overtly technical. It may seem, to the outsider, the open source equivalent of the question, "Boxers or briefs?" But it's much more serious than that. GNOME or KDE? There's a lot of emotion on both sides of the argument. Because we here at Download Squad value our lives, we're not going to tell you which ...

Picture this: It's late at night. You've restarted your computer. The optical drive is whirring contentedly, but you have butterflies in your stomach. Tonight is the night you install Linux for the first time. You choose your language, and then your keyboard layout. This is pretty easy, so far. A partitioner works its magic on your hard disk, either resizing your Windows partition or wiping it ...

Gnome-Do is a lightweight and speedy little file and program launcher for the Gnome Desktop environment. Basically, Gnome-Do does for Linux what Launchy does for Windows, and a tiny bit of what Quicksilver does for Mac. The application works great on Linux, letting you launch any installed application in a matter of nanoseconds. In order to use Gnome-Do, you'll need to make sure it's running, ...

So now that Gutsy Gibbon is out, you've decided to try out Ubuntu. But you can't decide which version of the popular Linux distribution is right for you. Ubuntu's main system has a toolbar at the top, a brown color scheme, and comes with Firefox preloaded. But Kubuntu has a nice calming blue feel, a Windows-like taskbar and start menu, and comes with a powerful new file explorer called Dolphin. ...

There's been a lot of talk this week about Ubuntu 7.10, which was released today. It has improved hardware and driver support, 3D Desktop graphics, and integrated desktop search. But Ubuntu's main branch isn't the only OS getting an update this week. Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and Xubuntu and other Ubuntu-related projects are also getting a facelift. Kubuntu, if you're not familiar, is basically Ubuntu ...

For those who have tried out or even purchased Parallels, odds are the first virtual machine you created was for Windows XP. I'm also willing to bet that you underestimated how large to create your virtual hard disk. If that's the case, then that clever chap Dan over at UNEASYsilence has put together an über-handy how-to on making some more elbow room for yourself. Using a combination of the ...

One of the best and handiest tools in the power user's toolbox is GParted. I've written about it before, and the short version is this: GParted is an open source Linux app for modifying your hard drive's partitions without losing any data. It has support for a huge number of file systems, including those belonging to Windows, and though it's not as easy to use as some commercial solutions, it has ...

When I installed the OS on my laptop I let Ubuntu pick the BitTorrent client for me. That wasn't a mistake; Ubuntu's default, BitTornado is no slouch and I've been happily using it for quite some time. This weekend I started downloading AMD 64 images for my much anticipated new machine. As I blissfully piled up simultaneous torrents I was reminded again that, as happy as I was with BitTornado, ...