Technical Reviews and Geek Toys

It isn't often that I find an application so useful in my work that my efficiency would be greatly reduced without it.  I rely heavily on my notes and I need to be able to organize and search  my ramblings effectively.  I have been using this application for several years in our business and whenever the need arose for a group of individuals to share information I recommended it.  Now as I work in tech support I find it invaluable.  The application I am referring to is called Feng Office.

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I am totally amazed that I wrote my last article about Ubuntu 10.04 in July 2010.  If you are interested as to the what I have been doing check out The Flip Side of this blog.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I got so excited when I realized it is April and time for a Ubuntu distribution upgrade.  (My wife just smiles and shakes her head.)  I checked out the site and discovered Ubuntu 12.04 LTS final Beta was out and available for download.

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Shortly after writing the comparisons of the Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook versions, I installed Ubuntu Netbook version on my Acer One.  As a followup I would just like to say I have been very impressed by the usability of this version.  As I mentioned in the above referenced article, one thing that the Netbook version does not have is multiple workspaces.  I have to admit I am spoiled by Linux with the multiple workspace thing.... Windows users have never had multiple workspaces so it is something I can certainly live without.

Performance wise, I have certainly noticed a reduction of boot-up time.  I haven't actually timed it, but it boots up and shuts down fast.  I am also very thankful that I no longer experience kernel panics when playing videos.  I don't know if this is due to the new kernel or updates to flash.  Anyway... thanks to the Ubuntu team for another winner.

The Linux Mint team just released the newest version of Linux Mint.  Based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, Linux Mint 9 "Isadora" is most definately a winner.  New features include a New Software Manager with over 30,000 packges; a new Backup Tool which will perform incremental backups; improvements to the Menu; improvements to the Desktop Settings - changes apply immediately; a better Look & Feel; System improvements include a windows installer, and a USB creator; Project changes include a new Community Website, CD & DVD ISO images, Community Editions, OEM Installation Disks, USA / Japan distributors disks, 32 & 64 bit editions; and Upstream Improvements include Faster Boot times, and Long Term Support.

I downloaded the Linux Mint 9 Release Candidate a little over a week ago and installed it on a virtualBox.  I have been very pleased with it's performance.  I think the only issue that I have had is setting up my Facebook and Twitter accounts on Gwibber.  I'm not sure what the problem is as I didn't have any problem setting it up on the Ubuntu Netbook edition that I have running on my Acer One.

I have my torrent running to share the CD and DVD versions.  Nice.... in less time than it has taken to write this article both the CD and DVD versions have downloaded and are already seeding.  Am really enjoying my Comcast Internet connection.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of Linux Mint check out these installation instructions.  They bring up a valid point..... Do I NEED to upgrade?  Well, no I suppose not....  but... well, YES.  Ok, my machine is working just fine running Linux Mint 8.  I have no issues.  am I going to upgrade?  Yes.  It will take a few hours but with the way business is going lately I have the time.

Six more days to ago before the release of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS.  My last article addressed the some of the new features of this new version.  I mentioned the Ubuntu Netbook version but didn't comment on the new Kubuntu Netbook version.  When the Ubuntu Netbook Remix was released a year ago (version 9.04) I thought it would work really well on my Acer Aspire One.  Well it didn't take long for Remix to become to limiting.  It only has one workspace and then I found Linux Mint so I switched to that.  With the release in less than a week, I thought I would take a more in-depth look at the two Netbook versions.

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