Latest Articles
Should You Get A Solid State Drive (SSD)? [Opinion]
If you've kept up with some of the latest news about new computer parts, you may have heard about SSDs, or solid state drives. They are designed to replace your clunky, slow hard drive and give your system a major performance boost. However, some people have experienced some hiccups by using these new pieces of technology, including usage and price. Here we're going to discuss the exact pros and cons of owning a solid state drive and whether such an investment would be right for you.
Faience: One Of The Best Gnome Shell Themes Yet [Linux]
You have to admit that Gnome Shell does look elegant, even if you completely hate it for how it works. Some people even say that Gnome Shell practically breaks every ergonomics rule in the book, but others seem to enjoy it. Currently I myself find it most useful on my netbook, and I like what the developers have done to try to put some new life into the boring old desktop.
5 Different uTorrent Add-Ons You Should Try Out
The most popular torrent client, uTorrent, has been getting a lot of extra effort put into it to simplify its use while expanding its feature set. I must say that the uTorrent developers have done an excellent job to do all of this while still keeping the program lightweight. One of the newer features that you'll find is called add-ons.
The Difference Between Windows Full Format & Quick Format [Technology Explained]
When installing Windows, the installer will ask you a strange question - how do you want to format your hard drive? For Windows systems, there are only a few possible answer choices. You either format it in NTFS or FAT, or you format it in NTFS or FAT (quick). Have you ever stopped to wonder what the difference actually is between a full and quick format?
KMail - A Different Kind Of Email Client For KDE [Linux]
People use various tools to manage their email, the two most popular being the Gmail website and the Thunderbird desktop app. However, today we'll be looking at a top KDE choice that has plenty to offer for those of you who crave some power and control over their applications. It's called KMail.
guiminer - An Extensive Tool For Bitcoin Mining
As of late there's been a been a great buzz going around about Bitcoin, the latest P2P digital currency. One of the main activities of getting Bitcoins is through a process called mining. No need to fear, though, because there's a great program that comes with a GUI that does all the dirty work!
Enjoy A Clean, Improved Desktop With KDE 4.7 [Linux]
One of Linux's most popular desktop environments, KDE, released their latest series (version 4.7) at the end of July. This version improves on work done in previous releases by adding new features while improving performance and stability. However, this new version does not provide a drastic change such as GNOME 3 as most changes are under the hood.
Top 4 Websites To Discover Free Linux Games
We (as in Linux users) have all wished that some of those popular games we see in commercials would be readily available for Linux. Finding good, native games for Linux can be a bit tricky. So here are three different websites that'll make finding them a lot easier.
Control The Music Your Way With Amarok [Linux]
Music players come a dime a dozen on any operating system, and it's easy to lose sight of those that are actually worth something. Amarok is probably one of the most feature-rich music players I've seen, and is proudly showcased as the default music player for the KDE desktop environment.
How To Learn To Speak Esperanto With Lernu
At some point or another, you may have thought about or had to learn a language. What if I told you that if you've ever been interested in Esperanto, there's a website that can teach you for free? Esperanto is a constructed language that was created in the hopes that it would become an international auxiliary language. Find out more about it here.
How To Completely Customize Your KDE Wallpaper [Linux]
KDE for Linux comes with plenty of customization options that exist on all distributions, adding to the uniform beauty of KDE.Today we'll be looking at very small portion of the possible options: the desktop.
Make Use Of KDE's Desktop Features: Activities, Widgets & Dashboard [Linux]
It hasn't been too long ago (since the beginning of this month, in fact) that I switched from using a GNOME desktop to a KDE desktop for my Linux system. Now, I'm not trying to start a flame war or anything, but I've personally found KDE to be better because, for me, it is more intuitive, has very nice eye-appeal, and comes with lots of options built-in.
Match Firefox's Theme To KDE With The Oxygen KDE Add-On [Linux]
In my last article I covered how to make GTK/GNOME applications follow in line with the way KDE applications look by default in Linux. However, if you've been tinkering around a little, you may have noticed that Firefox seems to ignore this, and instead continues to use the uglier replacement.
How To Make GNOME Applications Look Like KDE Applications With Oxygen-GTK [Linux]
Are you someone who'd like to use KDE but still keep the GNOME apps? The integration of those GNOME apps (which rely on a theme engine known as GTK) with KDE's appearance (where KDE uses a theme engine known as Qt) has never quite worked out. Now, a new project has started to try to finally bring the sides closer.
Quickly & Easily Manipulate HTML5's Canvas Element With jCanvas
The web as we know it is evolving faster than ever before. As of late, HTML5 is coming into the scene, providing the capability of developing highly interactive web apps without the need for the proprietary Flash. Instead, all a user needs is a supported, modern web browser, and they'll be able to enjoy the best of what the web has to offer.
Sparkleshare - A Great Open Source Alternative To Dropbox [Linux & Mac]
There's been quite a few problems that have risen about Dropbox in recent months that is making some people feel uncomfortable about using it and are seeking refuge by means of an alternative. There are plenty of other online storage services, such as Box.net, but it seems that there is no alternative that can compete with the benefits that Dropbox provides, namely file synchronization.
How To Install Arch Linux On Your Computer [Part 1]
During my couple of months here at MakeUseOf, I've mentioned Arch Linux (hereafter simply called "Arch") a couple of times. However, Arch has never really been covered here, so people may still be a little bit confused as to the purpose of Arch, and more importantly, how to get it installed and running on their computer.
Giver - Still The Best Way to Send Files Across A Network [Linux]
You know that, no matter what operating system you use, sharing files across a network can sometimes be a pain. Sadly, Linux isn't always an exception in this category either, although for basic folder sharing some distributions make it easier. Having to set up a shared folder is even more painful when all you really want to do is send a file to a different computer, Giver still belongs to the list of top-notch programs.
How To Convert & Extract Audio From Video Files With Gnac [Linux]
At some point in your computer-using life, you may want to convert an audio file or extract audio from a video file. But it's difficult to find the right program to do the job in Linux. However, Gnac does the job extremely well in a very simple uncluttered format. There aren't many options to get confused by, and it does exactly what it's supposed to do, in an easy-to-understand way.
How To Encrypt Your Dropbox Data With ENCFS [Linux]
Dropbox is arguably one of the best online file sync tools around. However, if you've been skimming through the tech news lately, you'll see that Dropbox is having some privacy issues as of late.Therefore, encrypting the files before they are sent to the Dropbox servers is the way to go in order to keep eyes away.