New Releases: Awn 0.2 & Vixta.org

Awn 0.2

It has been quite a while since I’ve written any Linux related topics. This one should be good – at least I’m excited about it. The image above is a partial screenshot of an image on Flickr, displaying a last.fm player applet. Take a look at the full image if you’re curious.

Awn 0.2 has just been released. This version has some really nice features, which includes icon effects and has an awesome 3D look. There is even a manager for it that allows you to change options, applets and themes.

Check out the video of the icon effects in action.

Vixta.org

Linux that looks like Vista. I’m sure some people have their own opinions on this one. I think it’s great. So many people like how Vista looks, but can’t stand the problems with it. Vixta.org could be a solution.

It looks almost like Vista, except for the start button. There may be more features that aren’t exactly like Vista, but it’s close enough. I have not yet tried it out, but I may in the near future.

The image above is a screenshot of a full image on Vixta.org’s site. Check out the other screenshots and more.

Rainlendar: Best Desktop Calendar

Rainlendar is yet another program that I fell in love with when I started using it at least 4 years ago. No other desktop calendar software can compare to Rainlendar. Yes, it’s that good. Well, that is just my opinion and the opinion of many others.

It surprises me that a lot of people haven’t heard of Rainlendar when it’s very easy to find. It is a really popular calendar and much nicer than the ones out there. I have watched it improve over the years, too.

A lot of you will be happy to know that it can be run on both Windows and Linux.

Here are several features that Rainlendar has:

• Customizable. There are lots of skins available for downloading to change the look of the calendar, events and to-do lists. You can also change the layout of the calendar and lists any way you like. There are also transparency settings.
• Multiple calendars. Need separate calendars for work and your personal life? Run them both at the same time.
• Importing and exporting events and to-do list tasks.
• Set alarms for any of your events and to-do list tasks.
• Syncing with Outlook calendar and shared calendars. Publishing your calendar online. (Pro version only, which requires a license.)

Rainlendar gets a 5 star rating from me, because of the amount of features and that it is mostly free (Lite and Pro version). The features that require a purchased license are Outlook and network calendars (otherwise it will display [Unregistered] in the Pro version if you do not purchase a license). The creator of this calendar deserves money for the time and energy he has put into it. A couple other reasons for the 5 stars: support is great and the amount of skins available created by many people who are willing to share their work for free.

Clicking the preview below will open the Rainlendar website in a new window or tab depending on your browser preferences.

If you have any questions about Rainlendar, before downloading and installing, see the FAQ and the Forum. If you want to ask a question on the Forum, at least be sure that you’ve searched for the answer first (in both the FAQ and the Forum).

Installing should be very easy as it’s an .exe file that installs everything for you. If you want me to help in any way, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help you. Otherwise, head on over to Rainlendar and download this awesome calendar!

Steps to Installing Yakuake

For those of you who are coming here for help installing Yakuake, you may not have found what you were looking for. I apologize. I should have included those steps in my entry: Terminal on Demand. Or, you could just read the INSTALL file that is provided with Yakuake. This file goes into a lot more detail if you’re having problems.

I’m not going to provide a very detailed step-by-step tutorial, because I hope that most of you know how to follow a few commands. If you’re ready to begin, open a terminal and follow these steps:

1. Enter in the su command to log in as root.
2. After logging in, make sure you’re in the Yakuake directory that was created after extracting the compressed archive. I will assume you know how to use the cd command.
3. Enter in ./configure (this may take a while)
4. Enter in make
5. Enter in make install
6. Enter in make clean to remove files from the source code directory. (optional)

Assuming everything went smoothly without any errors during steps 3-5, Yakuake should be installed and ready to use. As I noted in my previous entry (linked above), I recommend changing the Kerry Beagle Search’s F12 shortcut, if you have that on your system. Yakuake uses F12 to open.

Deciding Between Microsoft and Linux

That depends on what you need. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on software, Linux is a great way to go, because it’s free if you download a distribution, such as Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE, etc. Otherwise, you can purchase a copy in a store. Linux is very reliable and fast. There is a lot of support for Linux too. Less likely to get a virus that could damage your system.

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Choosing a Linux Distribution

One of the things I found really hard was choosing a Linux distribution to install on my system. You really don’t know which one will work for you and/or you’ll like unless you try it out. The best way to do that is to get a Live CD/DVD of the distribution (available via downloading) and then try it out without having to install it only to find out you don’t like it. A list of Live CDs/DVDs available for lots of distributions can be found here: http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php

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