"Xfce is just as customizable as KDE or GNOME, so I set myself a goal: make Xubuntu look like Windows Vista. Though you won't be told how to achieve the exact same end result, this guide provides comprehensive instructions helping you make Xubuntu look the way you want it to. In any case, I would certainly not recommend such a setup for someone new to Xubuntu. Xubuntu is different than Windows; making it look similar is only confusing."
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Member since:2005-12-15
Member since:2006-09-12
Which Windows interface? XP or Vista? Personally, I don't see that much of a difference between XP & Vista other than the eye candy, unwanted DRM, the rather irritating "security" popup boxes, and the lamentable speed decrease from XP to Vista. Oh, yes, and the vastly increased license cost for the OS. Oh, Ah, and my old games don't work so well...
Perhaps, after all, there are some rather glaring (albeit unwanted/unneeded) differences.
Microsoft must have their marketing rather pat though, when people expend such effort trying to mimic Vista's rather lame look- probably patented to boot; careful there- don't copy it too closely.
Folks go to the store and purchase a new notebook pre-installed with Vista, since stores no longer offer XP as an alternative. "My!" they say "look how much sexier and faster Vista is than XP on my old notebook!" never stopping to think that perhaps the speed increase might have something to do with the new hardware they just purchased...
PC users are just a bunch of "Sheeple" and MS knows it.
Edited 2008-02-11 09:33 UTC
Member since:2005-11-12
It's because people can and have the freedom to do so. Personally I think it shows just how customizable Linux DE's are without the need of third party utils or programs.
It helps when the Desktop Environment has a format thats standard for icons, png is good because you can make your icon or image in GIMP, rather than having to find the format or convert it. We have SVG which is a standard and great for all kinds of customization, this is one of the many reasons I love Linux DE's, Xfce is real nice BTW.
Member since:2006-10-08
In fact, it really does. I just could imagine something that's looking more appealing than "Vista", but as it has mentioned before, there are people who like this look and feel, allthough I'd have to admit that I honestly can't consider myself belonging to those people. :-) But we definitely don't need to argue about individual preferences, do we?
XFCE 4 has developed into a very versatile, flexible, customizable and still ressource saving desktop environment that can lead you to have an "advanced interaction feeling" even on older hardware.
So, you don't need to purchase a new PC to impress your buddies you're running "Vista" now for free and legally. :-)
A final question: In the screenshots, you can see the use of this "Windows" logo, for example here in the lower left corner:
http://www.23hq.com/Vincentt/photo/2871683
and there, just on the left side:
http://www.23hq.com/Vincentt/photo/2871686
Is this allowed? I'm just asking.
Member since:2005-12-15
Member since:2007-03-30
Member since:2007-10-19
I think that few people use the Windows and OSX themed Linux desktops.. but they are really good for showing off. They serve as demonstration of functionality - I don't suppose you can make Windows look like OSX or GNOME :-) (WindowBlinds and etc. don't count, I am talking about explorer.exe - the Windows Shell)
Member since:2006-01-01
Instead you should ask yourself why every gnu/linux desktop wants to look like windows
That is a very good question, has anyone thought about it seriously? Perhaps, there is something that MS does right and people like it or quickly get used to it...
Edited 2008-02-11 07:49 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it."I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)"."The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight.""And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Member since:
2007-11-06
Quite some goal you've set for yourself.
Although the pointing out how much flexible and customizable XFCE can be is a good thing, why oh why would you want your _linux_ desktop look like Microsoft Windows?