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If you have multiple machines in the same workspace, you probably use a KVM to manage them -- or maybe you even have multiple keyboards and mice. There's a better way! Synergy lets you share a single keyboard and mouse between multiple networked machines -- even across operating systems!

A lot of tech-savvy indivuals face the same dilema: their parents, who aren’t so tech-savvy, count on them to provide constant technical support for their Mom & Dad PC. Here are 7 reasons why the best solution to the problem is not to load up the parents’ PC with antivirus or malware protection, but to ditch Windows altogether and go with a clean Ubuntu approach.

Preload is an "adaptive readahead daemon" that runs in the background of your system and observes what programs you use most often, caching them in order to speed up application load time. By using Preload, you can put unused RAM to good work, and improve the overall performance of your desktop system. Best of all, it's easy to install and use!

There has been a lot of debate recently over whether or not it's a good idea to run an anti-virus program if you're using Linux. I hope to clear up a common misunderstanding: An anti-virus program running on Linux is designed to detect Windows viruses, so that they aren't spread, unknowingly, by the Linux user. This article explains when you should run a Linux anti-virus, and what exactly they do.

Griffith is an application for Linux that organizes your movie collection. Simply by entering the name of a movie, Griffith will query various databases on the Internet and download cover art, plot details, and cast information. You can then export your movie database as a PDF, iPod, or HTML file to show-off to your friends!

Google's Picasa software is a powerful tool for managing your photo collection. It provides a simple interface for organizing your pictures, as well as some easy-to-use, yet powerful image manipulation tools. However, until recently the Windows version of Picasa has had some features that put it above the Linux version; some of these features, like Picasa Web Album integration, are at the core of the program, without which Picasa isn't very useful. With its newest release, the Linux version is being brought up to par with its Windows counterpart.

While it may not let you go where no man has gone before, Celestia is an amazing desktop application that lets you go anywhere in the known Universe.You can view any object in the Solar System, travel to distant stars, and even leave the Galaxy, traveling faster than the speed of light, viewing high-res images of objects millions of miles away.

[My Sister who is a teacher in L.A. uses this program in her classroom and turned me on to it, very cool. - Scott]

Web 2.0 was marked by web-based applications. But the major limitation to all these services is that they existed solely in the realm of the Internet, and data was stored on somebody else's servers.The introduction of Ajax RE's is poised to change all that, allowing coders to write applications using existing technologies to merge the desktop with the web.

One of the great features included in Linux is the IPtables firewall. Unfortunately, its command-line use is rather complex, and it can be intimidating for even experienced Linux users to configure it. Firestarter is a friendly graphical interface that allows you to configure a software firewall in Linux using the built-in IPtables/IPchains utilities.

Fluxbuntu's aim is to be a "lightweight, productive, agile, and efficient" operating system; this review takes a look at Fluxbuntu and whether it lives up to the challenge of creating a user-friendly experience on a tight resources budget. The review discusses included applications, the user interface and ease-of-use, as well as some limitations.

This is a look at the fourth Alpha release of Hardy; including many of the applications that are now included by default and the major changes that will improve stability and usability. Among these are the addition of Firefox 3 and Remote Desktop on the applications side, and a new method for systems control known as Policy Kit, which enables the administrator to unlock certain functions for normal users.

File backups are a key element for every user and on every computer. Whether it be an office setting or a home desktop machine, backups are essential - your hard drive will fail at some point; you will need a backup, and you'll be kicking yourself if you learn this lesson the hard way. Linux users have usually resorted to CRON and Rsync to manage their backups - until now. TimeVault finally offers a complete, easy-to-use, intuitive backup system for Linux.

This week Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, announced a partnership with Parallels, maker of the Virtualization products Parallels Workstation and Parallels Desktop for Mac. This makes four different virtualization programs that run on Linux: the free, open source Qemu; the closed-but-free versions of VirtualBox and VMware-Server, and the newly-available, commercial Parallels. This review takes a look at all four, and compares cost, installation, ease of use, and performance.