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Tech Tips and Tweaks
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Ubuntu 12.10 has been released. So it's time for another review to see what's in it, and if it's worth considering as your preferred desktop distro. In keeping with Canonical's past tradition, Ubuntu 12.10 has a cute animal nickname. This time around it's called "Quantal Quetzel." You're probably wondering what the heck a "quetzel" is,…
Peppermint OS 3 has been released. If you aren't familiar with it, Peppermint OS is a cloud-oriented distribution. It's based on Ubuntu 12.04 (it's actually a fork of Lubuntu 12.04). Unlike most other distributions, it's geared toward letting you use your favorite web apps as well as desktop software. Web apps such as Editor by…
In my last review, I covered Linux Mint 13 MATE. However, there's quite a bit going on with Cinnamon so I decided to do another review to cover it in a separate review. The Cinnamon desktop is quite different than MATE, and it's worth looking at in its own right.
Woohoo! It's Linux Mint time again! Linux Mint 13 (wow, not exactly a lucky number!) has just been released, so I hopped right on it. Linux Mint has long been one of my favorite distros. We'll find out in this review if the latest version measures up to its previous incarnations.
Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin) is out. By now there are a zillion reviews of it already, but I wanted to take a little more time to use it before writing one of my own.
When it comes to Linux distributions, it's truly different strokes for different folks. Some folks want software that is truly free, meaning that they can do with it as they please. That's where distros like Trisquel come in. Trisquel is based on Ubuntu, but it provides only free software. You will not find proprietary software…
Siduction 11.1 is a fork of the Aptosid distro. Siduction comes in KDE, Xfce or LXDe spins. You can get 32-bit or 64-bit versions of each spin. Siduction is based on Debian Sid and includes Linux Kernel 3.1-6 and X.Org server 1.11.2.902. For this review I opted for the Xfce version.
Fedora 16 was released a while back, and I've finally gotten around to checking it out. For this review though I've opted for the KDE version of Fedora. As you may already know, Fedora comes in multiple spins including GNOME, Xfce, KDE and others. If you're interested in checking out other versions of Fedora, you…
The recent release of Linux Mint 12 has gotten quite a bit of attention. Most reviews of Linux Mint 12 have focused mainly on the GNOME 3 desktop (as pointed out in the comments of my Linux Mint 12 GNOME 3 review by reader liquidkermit). But there's another desktop environment included in Linux Mint 12…
The moment so many have waited for is finally here. Linux Mint 12 has been released! This update to Linux Mint has had many people on edge since it marks the move from the older version of GNOME to GNOME 3.2. GNOME 3.2, as you might already know, has had many detractors. Linux Mint users…
openSUSE is one of the most popular desktop distros available. This time around it's version 12.1 that has been released. If you aren't familiar with openSUSE then you should know that it comes in KDE, GNOME, Xfce and LXDE versions. For this review I've picked the KDE version of openSUSE 12.1. I may do a…
Yet another Ubuntu release is upon us. This time around it's Oneiric Ocelot (Ubuntu 11.10). Canonical, as you may already know, tends to name its release after various kinds of animals. The ocelot is a dwarf leopard that dwells in South and Central America and Mexico. The other part of the name is the word…
The release of Ubuntu 11.10 also means that all of the related spins have also been updated, including Kubuntu 11.10. Many people have expressed dissatisfaction with Ubuntu after Canonical added Unity to it. Kubuntu has often been mentioned as a possible replacement for Ubuntu for users who dislike Unity and want to move to another…
Mandriva had been around a long time and is a popular desktop distribution. I was intrigued to find that Mandriva now has a fork called Mageia. The first release of Mageia came out recently and I finally found some time to sit down and give it a go. Mageia was created by former Mandriva contributors.…
The last time I looked at Sabayon Linux it was up to version 5, this time around it's version 6. Sabayon Linux is based on Gentoo and, as you may already know, Gentoo has not always been considered the easiest version of desktop Linux for non-technical users to install and use. Sabayon Linux does a…
Fedora 15 was recently released and I decided to snag a copy to review. Since there are a billion reviews already of the default desktop version with GNOME 3, I'll be covering the KDE version in this review (though I may circle back to the GNOME version at some point for a review). As I…
There's been quite a lot of talk about "the cloud" lately so what better time to do a review of one of the best cloud-oriented desktop Linux distributions? Peppermint OS One came out a while ago and its successor has just been released. Peppermint OS Two is based on Lubuntu 11.04 and, for the first…
In one of my last reviews I covered Linux Mint 201104 Xfce, a distribution featuring the Xfce desktop environment that is based on Debian Testing. Linux Mint 201104 is a rolling release distro. Rolling release distros are great for some folks but not so great for others. In this review I cover Xubuntu 11.04, an…
Each time a new version of Ubuntu is released, a new version of Linux Mint quickly follows. Linux Mint 11 has just been released and it's probably the best version of Linux Mint ever. If you aren't familiar with Linux Mint then you've missed out on what is arguably one of the best desktop Linux…
Linux Mint Debian Edition has proven to be a popular release for the Linux Mint developers. It's certainly at the top of my list of favorite distros. Linux Mint Debian edition uses the GNOME desktop and, as good as it is, it's just not right for some folks (especially those on older or slower computers).…
In my last review I considered Kubuntu 11.04 as an alternative to Ubuntu for disgruntled Ubuntu users. But there's another Ubuntu derivative that should be taken into consideration as well: Lubuntu 11.04. Lubuntu uses the LXDE desktop environment, a much simpler and faster alternative to Unity, GNOME and KDE. Lubuntu also users PCmanfm as its…
The release of Ubuntu 11.04 has garnered an enormous amount of attention, mostly due to the inclusion of Unity as its default desktop environment. But, as with any new version of Ubuntu, there are alternatives available and one of the most prominent is Kubuntu. Kubuntu 11.04 is a KDE-based distro that might work well as…
Ubuntu's latest release (code named Natty Narwhal) is finally out and I grabbed a copy of it to check it out. Canonical has gotten some flack for this release since it uses Unity as the default desktop instead of the usual GNOME interface. Some users seem to love it and others have vowed to switch…
Ubuntu has many different derivative distros and now there's a new one called Bodhi Linux. Bodhi derives from the Buddhist term for enlightenment and, not surprisingly, it uses the Enlightenment desktop environment. The leaf logo used throughout this distribution takes meaning from its name since the word "bohdi" also denotes a sacred tree in Buddhism.
Fedora is one of the best known desktop Linux distros but there aren't a whole lot of derivative distros based on it. Fusion 14 is a new distro that uses Fedora 14 as its base. Don't be fooled though, Fusion is not your father's Fedora at all. There's more to it than meet's the eye…
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