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SalineOS is a desktop Linux distribution based on Debian and uses the Xfce desktop environment. The first version reviewed on this website was SalineOS 1.1, and that was back in February 2011 . There has been several versions published since then – SalineOS 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5.

This article is a review of the latest version, SalineOS 1.6, which was released on February 1 2011.

Yet another screen shot post on yet another pre-stable release distribution. This time, it is from Kubuntu 12.04 beta 1, the first beta release of what will become Kubuntu 12.04 LTS (Long Term Support).

Unlike Fedora 17 alpha, which is loaded with new and enhanced features, some of which have been written about here and here, Kubuntu 12.04 beta 1 comes with very few new features, other than the usual upgrades to software and the kernel.

The first beta version of what will become Ubuntu 12.04, Precise Pangolin, has just been released. The final, stable version will be released by the end of April. This beta release, as with all pre-stable distribution releases, is an invitation for bug hunters to get busy.

From an end-user perspective, there are not that many significant new features in Precise Pangolin. The desktop is still Unity, which means a significant number of users will likely be replacing it with Cinnamon when the final version is released.

This article lists the top ten features that will appeal primarily to enterprise users. Keep in mind that most of them have not been fully implemented in Fedora 17 alpha, the first public release of what would become Fedora 17.

The features in alphabetical order, are:

The first public step towards the release of Fedora 17, code-named Beefy Miracle, was taken yesterday with the release of Fedora 17 alpha.

Fedora fans are encouraged to download, install and report bugs to the Fedora QA team. From the test installation of this alpha release that I have made, bug hunters will be very busy. I know I will be.

Like previous editions of Fedora, Fedora 17 will ship with several major feature enhancements. Some will be of interest only to enterprise users, while others will be mainly for desktop users. Other features will, of course, appeal to the needs of both enterprise and desktop users. Here is a list of the top features that desktop users should expect on Fedora 17 when the final stable version is released in May.

The latest version is Cinnamon 1.3.1, but if you are running Sabayon 8 (GNOME), the binary version available for installation is Cinnamon 1.2.0. That, however, from my perspective anyway, is still better than the default GNOME 3 desktop that comes with Sabayon 8. This short tutorial gives the steps you need to install in – if you are running Sabayon 8.

The first article on Fedora and Cinnamon published on this website was about installing Cinnamon 1.1.3 on Fedora 16. Now that a newer version of Cinnamon has been released, time for an update or upgrade.

The first beta release of Mageia 2 was made available for download yesterday (February 21). The final stable release is not due until May 3, but from test installations of this first beta, in both real hardware and virtual environment, I can tell you that Mageia 2 may very well turn out to be the best desktop distribution of 2012.

Cinnamon 1.3.1 is the latest version of Cinnamon, a new desktop environment forked from GNOME 3 by the developers of Linux Mint. Given the need for a desktop other than Unity on Ubuntu, Cinnamon just might be the best GNOME 3 alternative desktop environment available. This tutorial gives the simple steps required to install Cinnamon 1.3.1 on Ubuntu 11.10.

How to install Ubuntu 11.04 on external hard disk, showed how to install Ubuntu 11.04 on a portable USB hard drive. This tutorial, written for Ubuntu 11.10, takes it a step further by showing how to add an NTFS partition at the end of an external drive – after installing Ubuntu.

It is a very simple process, but if you a new to this, and need some hand-holding doing it, this tutorial should be all you need.

Chakra is a desktop-centric, Linux distribution that was derived from Arch Linux, but is now a fork of that distribution. Unlike Arch Linux, which supports several desktop environments, Chakra is a KDE-only distribution. The latest edition, Chakra 2012.02, code-named Archimedes, was released on February 12. Since there is very little difference, other than changes in software and kernel versions, between this latest release and Edn, the previous release, this article offers a summary review only.

Autologin and passwordless login play a critical role in the physical security posture of your computer. In KDE, they are very easy to configure. But being easy to configure does not mean that you should. Why? From a security perspective, passwordless login falls in the same category as autologin. It is, therefore, not recommended to enable it for an account with management privileges.

There are several menu styles available for users of the K Desktop Environment. Virtually all, should be familiar with the Classic menu, the Kickoff menu, and Lancelot. I have recently published several articles on the Takeoff Launcher, and there is, of course, Mandriva’s ROSA Launcher.

Today, I bring another menu style to your attention. It is called AppMenu-QML.

That brings up this question: What is the penetration or adoption rate of Ubuntu Desktop in the business sector? I do not have the numbers, and Canonical has not released any, as far as I know, but given that Mark and Co. have had a rough going trying to persuade PC vendors to pre-load Ubuntu Desktop on personal computers sold to the public, I doubt that the adoption rate is significant. If true (I could be wrong, though), I do not thing that a separate desktop edition for business users will make any difference.

Back on December 17 2011, I published a review of a new Linux distribution named Pear Linux OS Panther 3. It is based on Ubuntu Desktop and has a desktop interface fashioned after Apple’s Mac OS X. It had its faults, but it was a refreshing take on the Linux desktop. That first release was code-named Panther, after Mac OS X 10.3. Subsequent releases were supposed to be code-named after the corresponding Mac OS X version. So the next version, Pear Linux OS 4, would have been code-named Tiger, after Mac OS X 10.4. But that was last year. This year, things have changed. The distribution now goes by a slightly different name – Pear Linux Comice OS, and the latest version is Pear Linux Comice OS 4.

Many articles have already been written about Ubuntu’s HUD, or Head-Up Display, a feature that is expected on future versions of the popular distribution. It is intended to replace the menu as we know it, with voice capabilities built-in. You may read the original article by Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu, here. If you use a distribution running the K Desktop Environment, there is an application that offers HUD’s promised functionality, minus the voice part, that you can install now. That application is called Appmenu-qt. This article shows how to install it on Linux Mint 12 KDE.

Linpus Technologies, Inc., a Linux software solutions provider based in Taipei, Taiwan, just announced that they have ported Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest edition of Android, to run on x86 tablet, netbook and notebook computers. Aside from Linpus Lite Desktop, distributions from Linpus are usually for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs).

Sabayon follows a rolling release development model, which means that once you install a new system, you may never need to re-install – ever. While the project provides installation images for all known desktop environments, only those for the 32- and 64-bit editions of the K Desktop Environment, GNOME 3, and Xfce, have so far being made available for download. Going by the distribution’s release history, installation images for other (supported) desktop environments should be released soon. This article offers a summary review of Sabayon 8 KDE.

The folks behind DuckDuckGo have been deftly positioning the search engine as one you should be using, if you are tired or want to avoid snooping by Google and others like it. It is a message that I have bought into, and I think you will too, once you get to know how Google and other search engines track and bubble you. Ok, so Chromium’s developers have not recognized DuckDuckGo as a major search engine, but that should not stop you from adding it to the list of search engines in Chromium and making it your default (search engine). This brief tutorial shows you the simple steps to make it happen.