THE BEST WAY TO TRY LINUX ON YOUR WINDOWS PC is WUBI

Try Ubuntu using Wubi

If you are trying to install Linux on your PC for first time then I suggest you to use Wubi installer. Wubi is a Windows application to install Ubuntu.

Advantages of Wubi installer

1. Works directly from windows just as any other windows application

2.No partitioning required.(Yes ! the installer will take care of it :) )

3.Dual boot of windows and Linux will be activated by Wubi.This means you can choose either windows or Linux while starting your PC.

4.If you don't like it you can simply uninstall it from your windows control panel.

Also as I have mentioned earlier Ubuntu and Mint are two user friendly Linux distributions. So you can try Wubi to install Linux on you PC

Download Wubi from Ubuntu site or click here . Choose your operating system and click download.

Now run the application to see the following screen.

Here I have chosen C: drive  but it is better to choose drive (if you have a minimum 18 Gb space on it). Choose a password to start installing Ubuntu.

Now Ubuntu files will be downloaded as shown below.Once the file is downloaded the installer will expand the compressed files and complete installation.

installing Ubuntu through Wubi

That's all you are almost ready to use Ubuntu. restart your PC to enjoy Ubuntu :)

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Give Your LINUX a new Look...

Without looking at the title of this post you might have thought that the above screen shot is from a MAC !!

Many people still think that Linux is hard to use, ugly and not user friendly. But the truth is 'Linux gives you the chance to configure what ever you want'.

If you are a beginner in Linux I would like you to suggest Linux Mint (or Ubuntu) as your first Linux trail.It is simple and easy to use for everyone. 

Now assuming you are reading this post through Linux OS, I will write some tips to make the Linux OS beautiful with Cairo dock.

MAKING LINUX MORE BEAUTIFUL WITH CAIRO DOCK

1.Download the Cairo dock and follow the instructions as mentioned in the website to install it.

2.To make Cairo dock much useful you need to shift the panel menu to top so that bottom place is completely used for Cairo dock only.To shift the panel menu to top, go to panel settings by clicking on the up arrow as shown below

edit panel settings by clicking on the arrow

cinnamon settings panel

Now check the Auto-hide panel , select Desktop layout as 'Flipped(panel at bottom)' and close to save your settings.
Remember that the Desktop layout change need a restart of Cinnamon Desktop environment (simply hit [Ctrl+Alt+Backspace] to login again )

• I am using Linux Mint  and I don't feel that panel is very important to me as I can switch between multiple windows easily using the 'hot corner' feature.  See the screen shot of Hot corner usage here

3. by default Cairo dock doesn't start at the system start-up. So you need to add Cairo-dock program to start up applications.

add cairo-dock to start up application list

 Now you are ready to enjoy the beautiful  Cairo dock.

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Must Have Softwares for LINUX

After Installing Linux , You must have the following  list of Softwares in you Linux box to enjoy the freedom of Opensource.

Best Graphics and Image editing tools available on Linux

• GIMP Image Editor  : GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.
• InkScape Vector Graphics Editor : Inkscape is a Vector Graphics Editor, similar to Adobe Illustrator, that strives to be SVG Compliant, open source, responsive and extensible.
• Raw Therapee image enhancer  : One of the best raw image editor available on Linux
• Shutter Screenshot tool : Shutter Ubuntu / Linux app that allows you to take screenshots, edit them, apply various effects, upload them online and more.
  You can take a screenshot of a specific area, window, your whole screen, or even of a website – apply different effects to it, draw on it to highlight points
• Scribus desktop publishing tool : Scribus is a powerful desktop publishing software that helps you create great looking documents of all kinds
• Pencil Animation software: Pencil's purpose is to make traditional animation.Pencil is intended to be a simple programme enabling anyone to make 2D animation.

Best Programming tools available on Linux

• Gedit : It is a simple yet powerful Text editor available in Linux.
• Vim editor : Vim is a highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing
• Beyond Compare
• Aptana studio for Web designing :The professional, open source development tool for the open web. Develop and test your entire web application using a single environment. With support for the latest browser technology specs such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Ruby, Rails, PHP and Python.I love the auto tag completion feature in HTML.
•  Geany IDE : Geany is a small and lightweight Integrated Development Environment. It was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few dependencies from other packages.
• Code Blocks IDE : Codeblocks is a cross-platform IDE built around wxWidgets, designed to be extensible and configurable.

Best Internet applications available on Linux

• Skype : Download Skype for Linux and make free calls and internet calls to all your friends and family with Skype.
• FlareGet downloader : The Best Download Manager and accelerator for Linux. This is an excellent replacement for Internet Download Manager(IDM) in Windows
• Transmission Bit torrent client
• ThunderBird email client : Now forget Microsoft outlook and try it's best alternative, Thunderbird is a free email application that's easy to set up and customize - and it's loaded with great features.
• Empathy Instant Messaging client for GNOME: Empathy is a messaging program which supports text, voice, video chat, and file transfers over many different protocols.

Best Web browsers on Linux to use 

• Firefox: The best Web browser I have used so far.
• Google Chrome : If you are a Google fan, then choose this browser on Linux.
• Opera browser : Use Opera with Turbo when your Internet connection is slow.

Best Media players available on Linux Platform

• Clementine media player : Clementine is a multiplatform music player. It is a really neat and powerful music player to have in your Linux Operating system
• XBMC Media center : Now you have the ultimate media center in your Linux OS.
• VLC media player : There are many advantages with VLC media player like Always on top option & streaming Youtube videos without any advertizements.
• Banshee media player : Play your music and videos. Keep up with your podcasts and Internet radio. Discover new music and podcasts.Banshee is one of the best media player available on Linux OS
• Gnome Mplayer : Supports many file formats. Good to use in Linux OS

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Reasons why Linux MINT is Best among LINUX OS....

Most of the people don't use Linux as they feel it is hard to use. 
ADVANTAGES OF LINUX MINT : 

    1.Ready to use operating system : With built in softwares and plug-ins we can directly use  the operating system once it is installed.

•     Usually no other Linux operating system gives built in media players where as Mint gives some good options like VLC media player,Banshee media player,Rhythm Box,Gnome Media player, Brasero media player etc and some more media players.

•   There is Firefox browser integrated with in the mint Operating system so you don't need to download any other browser as Firefox is the most secured web browser to browse the web.

•     No need of installing any drivers for audio and wireless as they all work fine with Linux environments. The advantage of Mint is Wireless connectivity is very fast compared to any other OS including Windows and other Linux OS.So You can start browsing from the next second you log into your OS. Also there is an advantage of Firefox browser in Mint. It starts without any delay in MINT.

•     You will get some useful set of softwares along with the OS. The list includes GIMP image editor, Libre Office suit, ThunderBird e-Mail client, Bit torrent client etc

    2.BEST MULTI TASKING OS :With the workspace manager concept, MINT over takes all other operating systems. The Hot corner is my all time favorite in MINT. It shows all working windows at a glance.You can group the windows into different workspaces.

multi tasking in mint using workspace switcher

          

    3.MINT is very light and fast : Whether own a high end laptop or an old desktop, Mint can sit on your computer easily. The boot up time is very less. my system loads in 15-20 seconds and I can instantly start browsing files or Internet without any delay.

    4.Find the best softwares easily : Software manager will give an option to choose from a vast number of softwares.Choose a software and click install to download and use. No technical hassles. It is simpler than windows installation.All Ubuntu softwares work fine with MINT as both are Debian based operating systems.For programmers Linux is paradise as they can find many free and powerful softwares.

                              
    5.Configurable appearance as you like : There are a lot of options to  configure the appearance settings. In fact you can make more beautiful than Windows OS.You can use either cinnamon settings pane or you can download Ubuntu Tweak application(reminder: all applications in Ubuntu works with MINT) which gives you a lot of appearance settings.

    You can install as many Desktop environments as possible.That means you can have Ubuntu feel in Mint also. The user need to select his Desktop environment while logging into the system. Coming to the login screen, there are many themes you can use as welcome menu where you have to enter login credentials.      

beauty of Linux Mint

                                              
    6.Control your computer as you like : Mint is the most controllable OS. As there is a task manager in Windows , Mint has its unique System Monitor which where you can kill the programs which are not responding. There is a super hotkey for restarting your Desktop applications(not the total OS), Press [Ctrl+Alt+Backspace] to stop all the applications and restart the Desktop.For Windows users this may sound weird as Windows doesn't have an advantage like this.

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Best Beginner OS for LINUX...

Linux is considered by most to be a big scary place for new users to break into, but the truth is that’s Linux distributions provide a great community for many technology enthusiasts to come together and share their ideas and of course their desktops.

So if you’re sick of looking at that familiar blue Widows desktop and you’re looking to learn something new, or if you just want something that’s more secure than Windows/Mac, then take a look at some of the best beginner Linux distro’s below.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is very much the de-facto Linux distro that most new users flock to. This is because it’s arguably the most well known of the whole lot. But the crown of most well known distro isn’t unjustified as it’s a great operating system. I myself first dipped my foot into the Linux pond with Ubuntu.

The Unity interface makes Ubuntu different from what you will be use to with other OS’s like Windows and Mac, but it’s no more difficult to use. In fact, I would say it’s probably easier to use than other OS’s as you only need to hit the super key (windows button), type what you’re looking for and hit enter. There’s no hunting around start menu’s here. 

Elementary OS Luna

Elementary OS Luna (Luna for short) is a great operating system, it’s arguably the most highly polished Linux distribution out there. The whole point of Luna is to be easy to use, clean, and gorgeous…all which it’s accomplishes and then some. Luna is based on Ubuntu, so if you know Ubuntu, then you will be able to easily find your way around Luna.

Unlike Ubuntu, Luna doesn’t use the Unity interface and as you can see from the screenshot above, it’s very different from Ubuntu. The whole premise is simplicity. Luna is a fantastic free alternative for both Windows and Mac migrants.

Zorin OS

Zorin OS is another great OS, but this one has it’s roots firmly in the Windows camp. With a traditional taskbar, start menu, and Windows looking theming throughout, no Windows user would feel alienated in Zorin.

Even though Zorin does have it roots in Windows, it is different enough to whet your appetite and bring a lot of new features to the party. Personally I think Zorin OS is a beautiful, well made distro that thoroughly earns it’s place in this list of the best beginner Linux distro’s. 

Mint Cinnamon

Linux Mint is almost as popular as Ubuntu, and rightly so as Linux Mint is for all intents and purposes is Ubuntu’s little brother. Mint is a direct fork of Ubuntu but it has a lot of additional features added, including many codecs and pieces of software to help get you up and running right out of the box.

Linux Mint uses the Cinnamon desktop, which again won’t be unfamiliar to any of you Windows migrants out there. Once again though, it has familiarity, yet something completely different to offer it’s users so it probably won’t get boring for you. 

PinguyOS

PinguyOS is the ultimate in beginners distro’s, the whole point of PinguyOS is to give it’s users a complete out of the experience that requires absolutely no applications to install and no changes to be made (but you can if you want to). It comes with a tonne of pre-installed apps for just about everything you can think of. So you can literally install the base OS and you’re away.

PinguyOS is a great beginners distro but because of the extra “weight” in terms of it’s bundles applications, I wouldn’t really recommend it for those of you that are running on older hardware. All in all PinguyOS will give you a really good, complete experience without having to lift a finger.

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Ubuntu for phones

Ubuntu for Mobile

Ubuntu may be a familiar name in Linux-loving desktop software circles, but it’s an unknown in

the mobile world. This hasn’t stopped Canonical from giving it a go anyway. Later this year or

early next, we’ll be able to buy a smartphone running Ubuntu for Mobile.

Ubuntu is based on Linux like Android, uses the same drivers, and will operate on devices

using ARM or Intel processors. Unfortunately, it doesn’t use Oracle’s Java Virtual Machine and

won’t run any Android applications. This clean slate, plus a consistent framework hidden under

a customizable skin, is supposed to avoid the fragmentation issues from which Android suffers.

 It’s a good idea, and no doubt Canonical sees Android’s success as a driver for its own

mobile endeavors, but to start afresh is a huge undertaking – as is convincing non-techy users

it’s a viable alternative at all. Ubuntu for Mobile does have a secret weapon though: it can be

 installed on existing Android hardware. The already strong Ubuntu community will also rush to

embrace it, particularly because it offers a true desktop experience when docked with a

keyboard and monitor.

From what we’ve seen of the user interface, it’s based around gestures and doesn’t require any

hardware buttons. Swipes reveal menus and open apps. It’s difficult to judge it at the moment,

 as the early build displays some lag; however, a version suitable for the Galaxy Nexus will be

released later this year, which should help speed development along. Canonical will be

 showing off Ubuntu for Mobile during CES, where an early version of the OS will be seen

 running on test devices.

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Find Files in LINUX

The find command locates files in many different ways. Unlike the rest of the commands in this section, find does not look at the contents of a file--it only helps you find files that meet certain criteria, such as name, size, age, and type. The general form of the find command is find <starting point> <search criteria> <action>

The starting point is the name of the directory where find should start looking for files. The find command examines all files in this directory (and any subdirectories) to see if they meet the specified search criteria. If any do, findperforms the specified action on each found file. Here are some of the most useful search criteria options:

-name pattern Find files with names that match the pattern.
-size [+|-] n Find files larger or smaller than a certain size.
-atime [+|-] n Find files accessed before or after a certain date.
-mtime [+|-] n Find files modified before or after a certain date.
-type filetype Find only regular files or only directories.

And here are the actions that can be applied to found files:

-print Print just the names of matching files.
-ls Print the names, dates, sizes, and so on of matching files.
-exec command Execute a command with the file name as input.
-ok command Same as -exec, but asks for confirmation first.

To find files larger than 40K and print the file names and details (use a minus sign instead of a plus sign to find files smaller than a certain size), issue this command:

find . -size +40k -ls
-rw-rw-r-- hermie users 56720 Jan 16 12:42 bigfile
-rw-rw-r-- hermie users 415206 Feb 27 21:37 largefile
-rw-rw-r-- hermie users 315428 Jan 07 05:23 hugefile

To find files ending with .dat that are smaller than 100K, enter

find . -name *.txt -size -100k -ls-rw-rw-r-- hermie users 26720 Feb 06 23:52 recipes.txt
-rw-rw-r-- hermie users 506 Feb 18 18:45 poem.txt

To find files that have not been accessed for over 30 days and delete them (by sending their names to the rmcommand), enter

find . -atime +30 -exec rm {} \;

To find directories (starting in the junk directory) and conditionally delete them (by sending their names to the rmdircommand), enter

find junk -type d -ok rmdir {} \;

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Commands to Check the Network in LINUX

Many Linux distributions provide a number of tools to simplify network configuration and connectivity verification. The following tools work with every distribution and allow you to administer your network from the command line:

• ping: Checks network connectivity
• ifconfig: Configures a network interface
• iwconfig: Configures a wireless network interface
• netstat: Displays the status of the network

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The Boot Function Keys in Ubuntu Linux

You can choose from several options to control the startup process when booting from the Ubuntu CD-ROM. When you see the Ubuntu startup menu (the first menu option is Start or install Ubuntu) you have the option to select an alternative.

The following lists provide a summary of those codes.

    Using the F1 Help Menu

Press the F1 function key and the Welcome to Ubuntu help menu opens. You can then press the following function keys to get specific information.

• F1 The main F1 menu
• F2: Minimum hardware requirements
• F3: Several methods you can use to start Ubuntu.
  For instance, you can turn off power-saving mode if you're having problems getting Ubuntu to boot and suspect that option is causing the problem.
• F4: Additional boot methods.
• F5: Special boot parameters overview (why you might use boot parameters and where to find them)
• F6: Hardware specific special boot parameters (examples of boot parameters for specific devices)
• F7: More hardware specific special boot parameters (more examples of boot parameters you might use for specific devices)
• F8: Debugging oriented special boot parameters.
• F9: Describes how you can get help from Ubuntu.
• Esc: Exits the Help menu

    F2 Language Menu

Pressing the F2 function key opens an extensive language support menu. Use the Up and Down cursor keys to navigate the menu and select a language.

    F3 Key Map Menu

Pressing the F3 function key opens an extensive keyboard support menu. Use the Up and Down cursor keys to navigate the menu and select the mapping that matches you keyboard.

    F4 VGA Menu

If you're not satisfied with your computer screen's resolution, press the F4 function key. A menu displays a selection of screen resolutions. Use the Up and Down cursor keys to select a resolution from the menu.

    F5 Accessibility Menu

This menu provides options to help access your computer for those who need extra help. Use the Up and Down cursor keys to select a assistant option. For instance, select the High Contrast option if you need a brighter screen.

    F6 Others Menu

This menu opens a one-line text editor showing the Ubuntu kernel boot options. You can modify any options that are

• Fed to the Linux kernel
• Used by the kernel to start your Ubuntu computer

    Getting a Virtual Terminal

Linux provides six virtual consoles (text-based command-line interfaces). Simultaneously, pressing the Control (Ctrl) and Alternate (Alt) keys with any of the functions keys from F1 through F6. For example, press Ctrl-Alt-F1.

Return to the graphics screen by pressing Ctrl-Alt-F7.

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