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.

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!

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.

Microsoft can be expensive as far as software goes. It’s not as reliable as Linux. With problems, you can usually figure out what the problem is, but sometimes it requires a lot of searching on the Internet, unless you’re willing to hire someone to just come in and fix it for you. Viruses are more common.

To read more of Deciding between Microsoft and Linux, visit this article.

Otherwise, there are some top distributions you can look at reviews for that many people have used and recommend:

• RedHat
• Fedora Core
• Gentoo
• Mandriva
• and more, but there are way too many to even list them all here, so if you’d like to see a longer list; visit: http://www.linuxlinks.com/Distributions/

To read more of Choosing a Linux Distribution, visit this article.

When I tried installing 10.2, I noticed a big difference in the speed of things loading on the screen compared to 10.1. I unfortunately had to go through a very long Internet install, because the DVD drive wasn’t recognized by openSUSE I guess. I’d say about 2+ hours.

Everything seemed to work right after openSUSE was installed, except for the wireless card, which I guess is normal. Following some guides on the Internet, nothing seemed to get it working, although openSUSE did recognize it on its own. It turns out that I needed to use the drivers that came with the card, rather than downloading them and then change one module setting in the hardware settings to display “ndiswrapper”.

Anyway, overall, I’m impressed with 10.2. I didn’t really like previous versions, which caused me to use Fedora Core, but I need something that works right out of the box instead of having to play around with everything. Okay, so I had to play with the wireless card, but that’s only because I didn’t think about putting in the disc that came with it and no one on any forum said to!

Click the preview below to view the full image.

This is where Yakuake comes in. I’m not sure how I found it. Currently, the developer doesn’t keep the website up-to-date, but you can go here to a page that has information about it and a link to download.

Yakuake is like having a terminal that’s out of the way and shows up only when you need it. You can also customize it to look how you want, using Konsole’s settings.

It was very easy to install. I’d recommend changing Kerry Beagle Search’s F12 shortcut to something else though, because the terminal uses that to open up. When I changed it, I had to restart before it would work. But now, I hit F12 and I have a terminal on demand.

Click the preview on the right to view the full image.