About Agave

Agave is a lightweight application that is all about finding the right color combinations. It offers a number of different options to find just the right one in an easy-to-understand user interface. There are also other useful features that can spur inspiration or keep productivity-minded people happy. For a relatively simple application, it’s quite effective.

Installation

Installation should be easy as usual with any other Linux apps. Just search for Agave in your distribution’s package manager, as all major distributions except Fedora should carry it. Fedora used to offer Agave, but the package has been orphaned at the time of writing, but hopefully that will change. Once the download and installation has completed, go ahead and launch it from the Graphics section in your menu/dash/etc.

Features

When Agave launches, you’ll see a small window that packs most of the application’s features. Most importantly, in the middle you’ll see the color combinations that are suggested by Agave, the main purpose of the app.

You can change the main color by picking a color from the palette towards the bottom of the window. Agave also offers multiple palettes, so you’ll have more quick choices for certain colors.

If you want all the colors of the rainbow, you’ll need to click on the little button just below the first color box. Then you’ll be presented with Gnome‘s color picker window so that you have access to all the colors in existence.

Agave also offers plenty of different combinations. For me, some of them don’t mean much, but to those who know a lot more about art will surely find all combinations very useful. It includes complements, split-complements, triads, tetrads, analogous, and monochromatic.

Across the top of the window, you’ll find forward and backward buttons, as well as a random button to get a random color in case you don’t know which one to pick. Going farther along, you’ll also find four buttons that change some properties about the selected color. Two are responsible for increasing or decreasing the brightness of the color, while the other two are responsible for increasing or decreasing the saturation. This is really handy because you can easily make adjustments to the color without having to handpick a new color that is similar to what you’re targeting.

Last but not least, you can save colors as favorites, so that you can quickly and easily go back to certain colors that you like or want to remember. It is a much better solution to hunting down the color you are looking for.

Conclusion

Agave is a great tool for its purpose. The simplicity is much appreciated, and it does exactly what it’s meant to do. It seems to be extremely stable, with no need for added features, as there haven’t been any new releases in a while. Either way, that doesn’t diminish the quality of Agave.

What’s your opinion of Agave? Would it be helpful in whatever projects you have? Know of a better app? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: Shutterstock

I love the Ubuntu Software Center. It’s  easy to use and not too complex for Linux beginners to figure out. It goes a long way toward making software in Linux as easy to manage as software on the iPad. It’s also not without its faults, however. It’s frequently slow and doesn’t quite integrate everything you might want to do with a package manager.

That’s not true of the Deepin Software Center, which is beautifully arranged and very quick. Sure, at times it can be a little confusing. There are also many things this piece of software does right compared to the alternative – it looks great, functions fast and is intuitive to explore in a way the Ubuntu Software Center isn’t. It’s worth checking out, if only to see how easy a Linux package manager can be.

Using Deepin Software Center

The start page of Deepin Software Center will look immediately familiar to anyone used to the App Store for Mac.

A few applications are highlighted at the top, with slick graphics for the job. Beneath are more recommended apps, broken down by category.

It’s easy to find something you like here, and you just might find something new and awesome. You can click the “Install” button to launch software immediately, or click the software’s name to see more information. There will be a write-up and screenshots, but be warned, the reviews will mainly be in Chinese.

Want to explore more software? Click the “Repository” button at the top. Here you can explore software offerings by category.

Again, click the “install” button to install and the software’s name to see more information. Perhaps the best thing about this software center is the ability to quickly sort the software offerings by rating, number of downloads or recommendations. It’s quick, and gives you new ways to explore.

Deepin Software Center can also handle updating software for you, if you want. This is found on the “Update” page. You can manually pick which packages to update, or update everything – it’s up to you.

By default, Deepin’s Software Center doesn’t blend nicely with Ubuntu. You can change this by picking a different theme. Sure, none of them are perfect, and standard GTK would be nice, but it’s a nice change of pace in some ways.

Change is instant. Sure, it’s a gimmick, but it’s fun.

Installing Deepin Software Center

Do you want to try this out? It’s easy to do, thanks to this Debian package. I tested this on Ubuntu 11.10 and it worked great. It should work on Linux Mint and other Ubuntu derivatives, so try it out.

Deepin Software Center won’t work on any Linux distro that doesn’t use the Debian package manager.

Conclusion

Is this the perfect software center? Probably not, but it’s nice in a lot of ways. I hope the Ubuntu team incorporates ideas from this to make the software center better.

Thanks to the OMG Ubuntu team for pointing out Deepin Software Center to me. Do you want to learn more about Deepin? Check out the Deepin Linux page on Distrowatch.

How do you guys like this software center? Leave your thoughts below, because I love hanging out with you and talking tech.

We’ve shown you Ubuntu chemistry applications for students, but we somehow missed this extremely simple and information-crammed version of the periodic table. That’s too bad. There is a lot of information to be found in gElemental, and it’s very logically arranged. There’s a reason it’s so highly rated in the Ubuntu Software Center, and I think it’s more than a competent replacement for a mere poster.

Whether you’re a student or just a science enthusiast, this is an application worth having around for offline reference. If you’re a real nerd, you can just explore it for fun in your spare time. Science is fun.

Using gElemental

If you’ve seen the periodic table of the elements before, the main screen of gElemental will be familiar to you. You’ll see the elements, all in their proper places.

Hover over an element and you’ll see its name, the series it belongs in and its atomic number at the top. By default elements are color-coded according to series; you can find a legend by clicking the drop-down menu at the bottom of the window. You can change this color code in the menu to any of dozens of factors, which is certainly something a poster can’t do.

It’s a simple interface but what else do you want? If what you want are details about the various elements I highly recommend clicking one of them.

You’ll find a variety of information right away, from basic chemical stats to the year and place it was discovered. Click the “Physical or Atomic” tab in this window and you’ll see even more information:

Under physical, you’ll find the melting and boiling points, the heat of fusion and vaporization and more. The atomic tab contains even more information. Rest assured, there’s more data here than most posters you’ve seen.

Are you wondering where this information is all coming from? There’s a complete list of sources which you can find in the menu.

You’re free to look through this and decide how trustworthy the information is, which is particularly nice if you need to cite something you find in this program.

Installing gElemental

Are you ready to install this program? Search your Linux distro’s repository for “gelemental” and you’ll have it in no time. Are you a Ubuntu user? Then simply click here to install gElemental, thanks to the magic of the Ubuntu Software Center.

If you can’t find gElemental in your repositories, head over to the gElemental homepage, where you’ll finds the source code to compile it yourself.

Conclusion

I love simple applications that do one thing very well. So far as I can tell, this program is a great way to quickly pull up information about the periodic table of the elements. Do you agree? As always, leave your thoughts in the comments below along with any alternative applications for the job.

So are you stuck with whatever the native resolution is? Apparently not, as there is a simple script that will take care of the problem and increase your monitor resolution beyond what your system considers as normal!

Before You Begin

Please note that the script we are going to be using for this is dependent on a Linux technology called Xrandr, which will do the scaling necessary so that the larger resolution will still fit on your screen. However, the author of the script warns that the “non-free” graphics drivers from AMD and nVidia currently do not support the version of Xrandr needed to do these things.

Therefore, trying to run this script while using those drivers should be done at your own risk, and no results are guaranteed. However, since this script is most beneficial for netbook users, the chance of this issue occurring is slim as there is rarely a need for those non-free drivers on such a low-powered device.

Download and Installation

To get started, you’ll need to head over to this page and download the .tar.gz file. Then extract the the two files found inside into your home/<username>/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts folder. You can see hidden folders in Nautilus by hitting Ctrl + H after you open your Home folder with it. That’s all you have to do for the installation!

Running the Script

To launch the script, you can right-click inside either a Nautilus window or on your desktop. Under Scripts, you’ll find the newrez scripts. I advise that you choose newrez, and only newrez-v if you have issues with the former.

You’ll be presented with a window that will ask you for your new horizontal width. From there, it will take care of the rest. It will calculate the appropriate vertical width to maintain the same aspect ratio. Within a few seconds, you should have your new resolution, ready to go.

Before the script finishes, it’ll ask you if you’d like a launcher so that you can have one click access to your new resolution as the change isn’t permanent. You can also take the contents of the launcher and have the command run during start-up so that you won’t even have to use the launcher to get your new resolution.

Don’t be surprised if the higher resolution isn’t any sharper, as the monitor’s physical resolution is still the same. However, your workspace should be a lot bigger, letting you do more with the space that you have.

In order to go back to the normal resolution without restarting the system, you can run the newrez script again but enter in your normal horizontal width, and you’ll be returned to your normal, native resolution.

Conclusion

For netbooks, this is a great way to get some more space out of your screen to see more of whatever applications you’re running. While less effective, you can also use the script on your desktops with its large screens. If you’re daring enough, you could technically use this script even if you have a 2560 x 1600 monitor, to gain a resolution of 3000+ and make your enormous workspace even larger.

What do you think about newrez? Would this trick be helpful for you on netbooks? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credit: Shutterstock

If there’s something PDF files aren’t really supposed to be, it’s editable. The format, originally created as a way to transfer data from a computer to a printer, is essentially a digital piece of paper. Sure, there are tools that kind of do the job, but most of them end up converting the PDF to some other file before letting you re-export them. We highlighed tools for editing PDFs before, and they basically do this or something like it.

PDF Mod isn’t a tool like that – it allows you to edit your PDF files directly. This is possible because of its limited functionality. You can’t make changes to pages, but you can move pages around or remove them altogether. Basically, it lets you re-shuffle pieces of paper the way you can in real life.

It’s always best to avoid editing PDF files, assuming you have access to the source files. If something was made in Libre Office, for example, it’s a lot easier to edit the Libre Office document then it is to edit the PDF. If you just need to quickly re-arrange or remove some pages in a PDF, though, this is your go-to Linux tool.

Using PDF Mod

Open a PDF with PDF Mod and you’ll instantly see all of your pages.

Do you need to see more? You can quickly zoom in and out using the slide at the bottom of the window. Re-arranging pages is easy – just click and drag. You’ll also find buttons in the menu for removing pages, and another for extracting images from a given page.

Do you want to add pages from another PDF? There’s a button for that too. This is a quick and easy way to combine two PDFs into a single file. You can also rotate pages.

Do you want to change the author’s name, and other details? Just click the “Properties” button.

You can also quickly edit the bookmarks in your PDF. Remove, add or change the references, it doesn’t matter.

Like I said, you can’t make changes to the text, or move images around on a given page. PDFs aren’t really meant to be edited that way, just like a piece of paper. You can re-arrange things, though, and that’s what this program is for.

Installation

Do you want to install this program on your Linux computer? Check out your distro’s package manager, because it’s probably there. Ubuntu users can simply click here to install PDF mod, though users of older Ubuntu releases might find this doesn’t work.

Can’t find PDF mod in your package manager? Check out the PDF Mod website, where you’ll find a few packages and some source code you can compile yourself.

Conclusion

This simple tool is great if you ever need to make quick changes to, or to merge, a couple of PDF files. It’s got a simple interface and runs quickly. Like I said, it does one thing and does it well.

Have you made use of this? Let me know for what in the comments below. Or you can tell me about how PDFs are totally easy to edit.

It’s not that Linux is hard to use or understand, but it simply doesn’t fit the Windows mindset that most people have. Expecting to do everything in Linux exactly like in Windows is where problems start appearing, which can easily deter a good number of users. Thankfully, there is now a Linux distribution that could make the process a whole lot easier.

About Zorin OS

Zorin OS is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu, but besides identical packages and base system there are some major differences between the two. One of the major goals of Zorin OS is to offer a user interface that is similar to that of Windows, making Windows users feel more comfortable when they use Zorin OS. I must say that Zorin OS does a pretty good job with it.

Downloading

You can download the ISO for Zorin OS by going to this page and downloading their “Core” ISO. The developers also offer lite and educational variations for you to download, but in most cases you’ll have the better experience with just the core. This review will focus on the Core edition.

Additionally you’ll find a Premium page where they offer you Ultimate, Business, Multimedia, and Gaming editions, which is mostly just the Core software with many additional applications for that type of system. The effort it takes to put all those extra programs into the ISO is why they charge for those editions.

Once you have your downloaded ISO burned onto a CD, written to USB, or ready to go for VirtualBox, you can boot straight into the live environment. Loading shouldn’t take very long, and in no time you’ll be presented with the Zorin OS desktop.

Desktop

As you might recognize, the default look for Zorin OS mimics Windows 7 quite well. There are only a couple of shortcuts found on the desktop, and in the taskbar you’ll find the Start menu on the left (with Zorin OS branding, of course), the icon tray on the right, and then in the middle you’ll find the cool looking buttons that show which programs are currently open (do those even have a technical name?). Overall, it looks very much like Windows 7, which is very impressive.

Start Menu

If you actually click on the Start menu, you’ll see a lot more Windows 7-esque goodness. The Start menu, which appears to be GnoMenu with an appropriate theme, looks extremely similar to Windows 7′s Start menu. Keeping a small Linux touch, however, all programs in the left side of the menu are organized into the regular categories that regular Linux users are familiar with. There is also no “Recent Programs” list as is in Windows 7.

Look Changer

So all this stuff that looks a lot like Windows 7 is great for someone coming from Windows, right? Well what if they’re trying out Linux because Windows XP is starting to become very dated for an operating system? No need to worry there either. In the Control Center, there is a button called Look Changer, which will open a new window where you can choose between a Windows 7, Windows XP, and regular Linux Gnome desktop. With Windows XP available too, switching to Zorin OS is even easier for more people.

Default Applications

Zorin OS also comes with some pretty interesting default applications. Instead of Firefox as the default browser as is the case in all major distributions, Zorin OS chose Chrome in part due to its ever-increasing popularity. Many will enjoy this, while those that don’t will simply need to install their browser of choice. Not a hard thing to do. Zorin OS also includes Nautilus Elementary over Nautilus, which offers a tweaked user interface for a cleaner look. As for everything else, the usual applications that you would expect are included.

Conclusion

This interesting Linux distribution has some great incentives for Windows users to try out the Linux side of computing. Aside from all the differences between itself and Ubuntu, the rest is business as usual, letting you get work done like a pro.

What do you think about Zorin OS? Is it the best way for Windows users to try Linux? Let us know in the comments!

Mandriva isn’t considered to be a major player in the Linux world anymore, but it used to be back when it was still called Mandrake Linux. Even more surprising to some, it’s already been different from all other distributions for a while now, as seen in previous reviews of Mandriva like this one.

A couple months ago, Mandriva let loose their 2011 release, providing another impressive experience. Let’s take a look, why don’t we?

Get It

You can get Mandriva by going to their site and downloading their ISO file. You can then burn it to a DVD or write it to a USB stick, then boot your computer from that media. When you first load Mandriva, it will ask you a few questions to determine language, time, and keyboard layout. Once you answer those questions, Mandriva will finish loading and then present its clean desktop.

Desktop

Mandriva uses KDE as its default base, although Mandriva mixes some Gnome applications in as well (and quite well, as the exact same theme is used for both types of applications).

The theme, while we’re at it, is beautifully made, even if the red close button serves as a reminder to Windows.

Taskbar

There’s not much you can do in Mandriva without having to go to the taskbar at the bottom of your screen, where a lot of functionality and hidden features are stored. The star button on the very left seems to act like the Start button in Windows, but when clicked it opens what Mandriva calls the “Mandriva Smart Desktop”, where you get a Welcome screen with shortcuts to recent applications and folders, an area to search for all applications to launch, and then “TimeFrame” which shows what you’ve worked on over time.

Continuing along the taskbar, you’ll see a few shortcuts to major applications like your browser, chat program, email, music, and settings. On the right side of the taskbar, not only do you find the icon tray, but some strange little folders. Click on them, and you’ll see that they’re stacks. The idea is similar to Mac OS X‘s stacks, except with a different design.

Synchronization

Mandriva includes it’s very own synchronization tool as a replacement for Dropbox. While it’s not quite as advanced as Ubuntu’s “Ubuntu One” service, it still looks nice and should get the job done. It integrates very well with the distribution and includes 2GB of storage for free.

Settings

Personal settings in Mandriva can be configured through modules in KDE’s System Settings application, but actual system settings need to be taken care of via the “Mandriva Linux Control Center”. Mandriva’s settings application is quite appealing, and includes some nifty features such as Parental Controls, which is lacking in most other distributions.

Other Good Stuff

Of course, compared to the previous version of Mandriva, many programs and behind-the-scenes services have been updated to include new features, gain stability, and be more secure. The newer versions should constitute make for an enjoyable time with Mandriva.

Conclusion

Mandriva is still a great distribution, and offers a refreshing choice compared to Ubuntu and other popular distributions. While it’s no longer the king of Linux distributions, it’s definitely not out for the count. Who knows, maybe Mandriva can even stage a comeback and rise back to be top of the pack.

What do you think about Mandriva? Is it something that you might use? What does its future look like? Let us know in the comments!

The difference between the two is simply the desktop shell, which is much more a difference in looks and functionality than a technical one. However, Gnome Shell has finally started to build itself a place in my heart, while Unity has not.

Here are three reasons why this is the case.

Speed

This may come as a major surprise to many, but my first point is all about speed. From personal experience, I’ve always found Gnome Shell (especially when version 3.2.1 came out) to be faster than Unity. The Activities screen in Gnome Shell loads as fast as the Dash in Unity, but the dock launcher on the left side in Unity is somewhat slow and sluggish. This is especially noticeable on my netbook, whereas Gnome Shell runs smoothly.

It’s quite a surprise to myself, actually, because Compiz, the window manager framework of which Unity is a plugin for, was touted to be the better and faster alternative to Mutter, the window manager framework on which Gnome Shell runs. Although I have to admit that Gnome Shell at it’s first release was a little sluggish too, it has improved quite a bit. Now that Unity is the default desktop shell for the second straight release in Ubuntu, it has only gotten slower.

Organization and Design

The organization and design of the desktop environments is also a major factor between the two. Unity tries to be organized, but with lenses, the Dash, and the different categories inside the Dash, things quickly get confusing. I know when I looked at Unity that it took a while before I understood what everything is for.

As for Gnome Shell, everything is better hidden and organized. You see nothing but the desktop until you go into the Activities screen, where inside you’ll be presented with favorites, different open windows, and the different workspaces for each application or task. In the applications view, all you get is a list of applications and the different categories for each. That’s it. It’s simple, clean, and works well.

Extras in Unity like the ability to search your music collection is a cool idea, but I find it unnecessary. It’s not any harder to just go look around in your Music folder or to open up your music player and easily find and play your music through that.

Unity for Ubuntu Only

While this isn’t a major reason, it’s still worth mentioning. For those that do enjoy Unity, they are forced to use Ubuntu in order to get that experience. With Gnome Shell, that isn’t an issue, as it’s available on any distribution in existence that has moved up to Gnome 3. The world of Linux that we currently live in is very well used to being able to put any desktop environment that they like on their distribution.

Unity is the only desktop environment out of all the major players that is specific to only one distribution. I’m sure that Canonical has their own reasons for doing this, but in the spirit of free software I don’t believe that their choice goes in the right direction.

Conclusion

Say what you like, but those are just my opinions on the matter. I simply find Gnome Shell to be a little more usable with its clean look and design, unlimited workspaces that automatically get created or destroyed, and overall ease of use. The Gnome developers definitely changed the desktop as they had hoped, and I find it to be enjoyable. For those who don’t think the same, you still have to admit that some pretty innovative ideas are presented in Gnome Shell.

What’s your own opinion on this? Do you agree with me or am I just an idiot? Let us know in the comments!

We’ve shown you how to install Windows 7 from a USB drive, but the process assumes you have access to a Windows computer to begin with. That’s not always the case, particularly if you’re the kind of person who regularly tries out different operating systems. Also, there are more than a few IT professionals who work on Windows computers but primarily use Linux themselves. This tool is perfect for them, and any Linux user who occasionally helps Windows users.

So whether your want to replace Linux on your netbook with Windows or just create a Windows boot disk from your Linux setup, WinUSB is useful to you.

Using WinUSB

Launch this program and you’ll see an interface not unlike UNetBootin, a similar tool for creating Linux bootable USB drives. You’ll need to pick your source and your destination.

Your source can be an actual DVD or an ISO file ripped from your DVD; it doesn’t matter. Your destination should be a flash drive with, ideally, 4GB of space on it. You’re going to want to clear space on the drive before you go through with this, so back up anything on your drive and delete it all from the flash drive.

Once you’re ready, you can start the creation process.

This will take a while, so be patient. Once your disk is done being created you’ve got your installation disk, assuming no errors came up. Using this should be simple, but you will need to enter the boot menu of your device and pick the USB drive.

Once you get that going, you should see the Windows 7 installation tool:

Not bad, eh? You can now install Windows 7 on your optical-free computer. Enjoy!

If you’ve never installed Windows before, don’t panic. It’s much  easier than it used to be. Just follow the prompts and you’ll be fine, but know that deleting your existing partitions means you will lose your operating system entirely.

Get WinUSB

Ready to give this app a spin? You can download WinUSB for Linux here. Or, if you’re using Ubuntu, you can install it from a PPA using these commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:colingille/freshlight

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install winusb

The first command adds the PPA; the second command updates your repositories; the third command installs WinUSB.

Conclusion

Not everyone will need this application, of course, but it’s ready for you when you need it. Linux purists would believe that no one ever switches from Linux to Windows, but let’s face it, this happens. I’m glad there are tools out there for making this easy, because there are plenty of great tools for going the other way.

Even if you’re not switching from Linux to Windows, though, this tool is useful. You can use your Linux computer to reinstall Windows for friends, or generally become a better repair wizard.

What will you be using this software for? As always, I’m an extremely curious guy, so please share your ideas in the comments below. Thanks!

Today, we’ll be covering a very nice theme that should easily find a special place in the heart of Androidlovers. Yes, you guessed it, there’s a well-done theme of Android’s new 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” release for Gnome Shell.

Installation

In order to install it, you’ll need to have the usual tools when it comes to installing Gnome Shell themes, including the Gnome Shell environment itself, the theme package, Gnome Tweak Tool, and the necessary Gnome Shell extensions for changing themes. If you’ve changed your Gnome Shell theme before, you should be fine. If not, you’ll need to install Gnome Shell and Gnome Tweak Tool, then run this (if you’re using Ubuntu) to get the necessary extension for changing themes:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/gnome3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell-extensions-user-theme

Fedorausers will simply have to run:

sudo yum install gnome-shell-extension-user-theme

You should now be ready to go! Go ahead and download the theme from here, and for the best experience you can also download the corresponding desktop wallpaper and “Roboto” fontsas well. Once all of those are downloaded, you can begin by installing the theme via the Gnome Tweak Tool.

The Theme

As soon as you apply the new theme, you should start seeing a few things change. All items along the top of your shell will turn blue, and “Activities” will change into an icon. The font should also change as soon as you begin installing the four Roboto font files.

Activities

Going into the Activities window, you’ll see quite a few other things change. The favorite icons on the left are now only separated from the rest of the screen by a single, smooth blue line instead of an entire box, creating a very minimal appearance. The Windows and Applications buttons are also styled differently, where both have a blue line beneath them but the selected screen is presented in blue lettering as well as a thicker line. The search box located towards the top right is less transparent than the default theme, but uses a smooth gradient with nice corners. The dock on the very right holding the different workspaces outlines each workspace in blue while the free space is a dark gray. The Applications screen follows the color scheme as well. The icons of each application is a little smaller so that more applications fit on the screen at the same time, and all applications where the mouse hovers of them attain a blue background. The list of applications and the list of categories is only separated by the scrollbar. This helps maintain the minimal look that is present throughout the shell theme.

Conclusion

This new theme contains some great eye candy for all to enjoy. Even if you’re not an Android fan, you can still appreciate the beauty of this theme. Whether this is one of the best themes is debatable, but it certainly ranks among the better ones out there. What’s your favorite Gnome Shell theme? What are your thoughts about this theme? Let us know in the comments!