Monday, December 27, 2010

Virtual Box 4

Virtual Box 4 is the latest edition of the freeware virtualization software offered by oracle.

New Features in this version.
  • Reorganization of VirtualBox into a base package and Extension Packs.
  • Major changes to the GUI.
  • VMM: support more than 1.5/2 GB guest RAM on 32-bit hosts
  • New virtual hardware.
  • Improvements to OVF support.
  • Resource control: added support for limiting a VM’s CPU time and IO bandwidth.
  • Storage: support asynchronous I/O for iSCSI, VMDK, VHD and Parallels images
  • Storage: support for resizing VDI and VHD images; see chapter 8.21, VBoxManage modifyhd.
  • Guest Additions: support for multiple virtual screens in Linux and Solaris guests using X.Org server 1.3 and later
  • Lot of other improvements.
see http://www.virtualbox.org for details and changelog.

Seamless View - One of the great features of VirtualBox is the ability to switch to seamless view. Once the virtual machine is running select - "Machine" - "Switch to Seamless mode".

Virtual Box 4.0 running WindowsXP in seamless mode


see more screenshots below.

Virtual Box Manager Screen

Settings - General

Settings - System

Settings - Display

Settings - Storage

Settings - Audio

Settings - Network

Settings - Serial Ports

Settings - usb

Settings - Shared Folders

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Windows Like Task-bar in Ubuntu 10.10

I find the Gnome DockbarX really convenient to use. This really resembles a Windows 7 Taskbar environment. see screenshot and installation details below.

DockbarX Screenshot

Installation Instructions.

1. add the required repository.
"sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dockbar-main/ppa"

2. update
"sudo apt-get update"

3. install
"sudo apt-get install dockbarx dockbarx-themes-extra"

4. How did i get the ubuntu icon on the left of dockbar?
- right click panel
- add to panel
- select "main menu"
- move the main menu to the left of dockbar.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Must Have Applications for Ubuntu 10.04

I used Ubuntu Operating System on and off for about a year and a half before i completely gave up Windows in favor of Ubuntu 10.04. Ever since 10.04 i have given up on Windows and my system setup consists of all the applications that i require on my system. There are a wide range of applications ranging from general use, entertainment, and software development.

I thought it would be a good idea to list down the must have applications that people can install and use and can cater to a wide variety of requirements for different uses. The Ubuntu version that i am going to talk about here is the 10.04 Lucid Lynx. If you dont currently have this installed then you must grab a copy from the ubuntu website and install one.

1. Google Chrome Web Browser - This the web browser that i have been using for quite a while now and i like the look and feel and the proformance of this application.
Installation Instructions
1.1 edit /etc/apt/sources.list file
"gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list"

1.2 add the following and save the file."deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu lucid main"
"deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/chromium-daily/ppa/ubuntu lucid main"

1.3 add GPG keysudo apt-key adv -recv -keys -keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 0xfbef0d696de1c72ba5a835fe5a9bf3bb4e5e17b5

2. VLC Media Player - A good media player that can play most formats.
Installation Instructions
2.1 Open terminal and type the following
"sudo apt-get install vlc"

3. GIMP Image Editor - This is an excellent image manipulation application.
Installation Instructions
3.1 Open terminal and type the following
"sudo apt-get install gimp"

4. VirtualBox - VirtualBox is an excellent feature rich virtualization product that lest you run multiple different operating system within you host operating system. This is a good choice to install if you want to run Windows or any other operating system within your Ubuntu system.
Installation Instructions
4.1 browse to the VirtualBox website to download the installation package
http://www.virtualbox.org

5. jEdit - A really mature programmer's text editor.
Installation Instructions
5.1 download the installation package from
http://www.jedit.org/

6. Google Earth - You got to have this.
Installation Instructions
6.1 download the installation package
http://earth.google.com/

7. Picasa - This is a good image browser from Google.
Installation Instructions
7.1 the .deb package for Ubuntu can be downloaded from
http://picasa.google.com/linux/download.html

8. Ubuntu Tweaks - This is a must have application for Ubuntu. Once installed you can tweak a lot of hidden settings and install updated versions of many useful applications in Ubuntu.
Installation Instructions
8.1 add the required repository
"sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa"
8.2 update
"sudo apt-get update"
8.3 Install
"sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak"


9. Yakuake - A very handy and convenient slide out terminal on demand
Installation Instructions
9.1 Install by running the following in terminal
"sudo apt-get install yakuake"


10. Teamviewer - Hassle free remote access solution which is free for personal use.
Installation Instructions
10.1 Download the .deb package from
"http://www.teamviewer.com"


11. DropBox - Do you want to be able to backup your files online and have ability to access them anywhere. This is a great solution. Works in both Linux and Windows. Synchronizes your files automatically.
11.1 Download from Dropbox site.
"http://www.dropbox.com/"

12. DockbarX - This is an excellent Windows Style Taskbar in Ubuntu. You can pin applications and there are plenty of configuration options available.
12.1 add the required repository.
"sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dockbar-main/ppa"
12.2 update
"sudo apt-get update"
12.3 install
"sudo apt-get install dockbarx dockbarx-themes-extra"
12.4 In order to activate dockbar right click on bottom panel -> Add to panel -> Select DockbarX applet