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Linux Mint 12 Is On The Way!

One of my favourite Linux distributions, Linux Mint, has just entered the release candidate phase.
The Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" Desktop (from LinuxMint.com)

Linux Mint 12 is much more revolutionary than Mint 11 was (I dare say that Mint 11 was evolutionary).
Mint 12 is revolutionary for Linux Mint because it comes with a brand new desktop, built with GNOME 3 and MGSE (Mint Gnome Shell Extensions). Essentially what the Mint team have done is take GNOME 3 and changed the pet hates many users in the Linux community had and get rid of the causes. The new Mint desktop uses GNOME 3 as its base, and then reverts certain tasks/activities back to something more similar to what people are used to and love from GNOME 2.x. As a result you get GNOME 3 with:
  • A panel at the bottom of the desktop (as there was in classic Mint desktops)
  • An application menu (a bit shinier, but just like in classic Mint desktops)
  • A window list
  • A task-centric desktop (you switch between windows, not applications. This will make many users very very happy)
  • Visible system tray icons (I can hear GNOME 3 hater cheers...)
An Application Menu! (from LinuxMint.com)
These are just a few of the GNOME 3 improvements that MGSE brings. There are many other smaller and less visible improvements that in my opinion make the Mint 12 experience much more enjoyable than Ubuntu 11.10 (with Unity).

As usual with a new release of Mint, there is new artwork and theme tweaks. Shininess is always good in my opinion.

The default search engine in Linux Mint 12 will be Duck Duck Go. (I'm still waiting for Leo Laporte to start a new show on the TWiT Network called This Week in Duck Duck Go...).

You can read about all the new features of Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" here.

You can download the release candidate of Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" here.

Thanks to everyone involved in bringing us the Linux Mint distribution. It is probably the best Linux distribution for Linux newbies, and still one of the shiniest and most easy to use out of the box/liveDVD/liveUSB!

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below and let me know how you get on with Linux Mint if you give it a go.

Tweaking Chrome in Ubuntu

There are a couple of tweaks I usually carry out on a fresh Ubuntu install and always forget about until the next install. I'm blogging about these tweaks as a way to make it easy on myself (and others) in the event of  a new Ubuntu install.


Tweak 1: Optimise Screen Real Estate By Hiding System Title Bar


One of the great things about the Google Chrome web browser is how it often maximises the use of screen real estate. Tabs use the space usually occupied by system title bars leaving more space for what it does best: web browsing. 


In Ubuntu the default setting is to have your system title bar visible. I prefer to have it hidden. Here's how to hide the system title bar in two easy steps:





  • Click on the spanner icon at the top right of your chrome window next to the address bar in Chrome (as in the image above). Select Preferences and a new, smaller window should open (as in the image below).
  • In the "Personal Stuff" tab in Google Chrome Preferences window, at the bottom select "Hide system title bar and use compact borders". Close your window and "Bingo Bango Bongo!" you've gained a few pixels for web browsing.
Tweak 2: Enable Backspace As Back/Forward

One of the things many Windows users have come to expect when web browsing is that the backspace button on the keyboard is a shortcut for going back a page in a web browser. Ubuntu has similar keyboard shortcuts which are "Alt + Left Arrow Key" (back) and "Alt + Right Arrow Key" (forward).

If you are uncomfortable with changing your evil brainwashed Windows ways, here's the easy way to enable the backspace key as a keyboard shortcut in Chrome: it's a Google Chrome Extension!

Backspace As Back/Forward for Linux by me@noctarius.com is an extension that does what it says on the extension webpage (because these things don't come in tins...). Click on the link at the beginning of this paragraph to get the extension.

After having done that, you should be back to your evil brainwashed ways in no time at all.

Please feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.