Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail Daily-build Review: With latest apps and a better looking Unity

• My latest Ubuntu 13.04 Beta 2 review

With every progressing release, Unity desktop is getting significantly better. In Natty and Oneiric, I actually hated Unity for it's inefficiency and decided to stick to Linux Mint and Sabayon for the time being. However, with Ubuntu Precise 2nd update (12.04.2), my opinion on Unity actually changed. Though still not customizable but efficiency has increased, apps stopped crashing in the background, annoying pop-ups are gone and Unity has now become far more responsive than where it was in the beginning. Also, after using Gnome 3 in Fedora and OpenSUSE, I now understand why Ubuntu stayed away from the default Gnome 3 DE and leaned towards Unity. Agree, the strip hogs a bit of space on the left hand side but you can actually make it thinner and hide while using applications.

From Ubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in

My sole purpose of downloading the daily build of Ubuntu Raring Ringtail and using it for a week, was to assess what incremental changes to expect in Unity for the April release. I downloaded the 816 MB ISO from here and did an installation on my Asus K54C laptop with 2.2 Ghz Core i3 processor and 2 GB RAM.

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Elementary OS 0.2 Beta 1 Review: Who leads the battle of the Mac clones?

Elementary OS, still in beta stage, has garnered quite a bit of attention for it's simplicity and attractiveness. It is too early to say, whether it ends up as the preferred OS for Linux lovers or it remains in the fringe while Linux Mint rules the roost. And also, normally I prefer reviewing distros once they are formally released. However, for Elementary I am making an exception. It's elementary, Watson!

From Elementary Luna

Basically what I will be doing in this review is provide a thorough insight of Elementary OS and compare it with two of the closest rivals - Pear OS 6 and LuninuX OS 12.10. All three are based on Ubuntu and give a Mac OS X feel with polished interfaces, a docky and a top panel - uncluttered and sophisticated desktops.

Elementary OS Beta 1 "Luna"
Elementary OS is not just another Ubuntu based distro, it brings on to the table some home grown applications and functionalities as well. I actually dislike run of the mill Ubuntu derivatives with jumble of apps and codecs, just in the name of providing complete user experience. A bit of originality is always appreciated! Even Linux Mint is trying hard to be original these days.

From Elementary Luna

If you are thinking of the Elementary GTK2 theme that we see in Ubuntu and other Linux distros, then you have guessed it correct. It has come from the same developers, what started as a theme, is now a full blown distro. The forthcoming release 0.2 is named as Luna and given beta 2 version got released in Nov'12, final release will be round the corner.

The 32-bit ISO I downloaded, is about 651 MB in size. It is the pae version and works well with both 32 and 64 bit machines with RAM > 4 GB. I didn't expect, a whole lot of apps stuffed in the ISO given its modest size. I did a live boot followed by installation in my Asus K54C 2.4 Ghz Core i3, 2 GB RAM laptop with touchpad.

Elementary OS 0.2 is based of Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS with long term Linux kernel 3.2.0. It has a desktop named Pantheon, which I guess is derived from Gnome 3.4. Even the file manager is forked of Nautilus and is named as Pantheon files 0.1. It uses LightDM as login screen manager and is simple and clean.

Pantheon desktop doesn't support right click to change wallpaper or create a folder. I guess even it doesn't support any icon on the desktop - might be a bit uncomfortable for some people. However, the dock below actually is very helpful and serve the purpose of opening a new program or show a minimized app. Adding app is also simple, after opening it just right click on the app icon in the dock and click on keep in dock. To remove an app from the dock, just right click and uncheck keep in dock. Simple. However, though this app (called Plank) is developed from the much known Docky, but it has a limited range of functionalities. For example, no themes, no 3D or panel view, etc.

From Elementary Luna

From Elementary Luna

The hot corners option is a good addition to see and manipulate workspaces. Pretty helpful while multi-tasking leveraging 3-4 workspaces.

From Elementary Luna

From Elementary Luna

 
Aesthetics are really simple and pleasing in Elementary OS. The developers have retained the Mac-ish feel here with left hand side close and right hand side maximize/minimize button (yes, max/min is the same button here, but it works well). Artwork is good, if not great. Commendable job here! Wifi worked perfect out of the box, so is sound. However, touchpad didn't work for me even after configuring the settings. So, I had to use my wireless mouse, which is a setback. Possibly in the final release touchpad will work out of the box.

From Elementary Luna

Applications
As expected, Elementary OS is thin in applications. However, I am not much worried of it as Ubuntu repository is there to download as many apps as you wish or your internet connection permits! 

A list of major applications is presented below:

• Office: Document viewer, Geary Mail, Maya Calendar
• Internet: Empathy, Midori browser
• Graphics: Shotwell Photo Manager, Simple Scan
• Multimedia: Totem Movie Player 3.0.1, Noise 1.0 Music Player
• Accessories: Scratch 1.1.1, Archive Manager, Calculator, Terminal

As you can see some in-house applications are present in the distro, like Geary mail, Maya calendar, Noise 1.0, Scratch 1.1.1, etc. I used them for a few days and found them satisfactory. Geary supports only one email ID which is a setback. Even Maya is of no use to me as I can't sync it with Gmail or Facebook. There are better applications available in the Ubuntu stable and they are not the best that I have used, frankly.

From Elementary Luna

From Elementary Luna

From Elementary Luna

As a browser, Midori is good and lightweight. I use Midori often and it satisfies my requirements well. Even private browsing option is available. Midori never looked so stunning as it looks in Elementary OS and it is commendable.

From Elementary Luna

The newly designed menu looks good and simple. The simplicity is actually helpful than the Unity. 

From Elementary Luna

I sorely miss LibreOffice here along with Skype and VLC player. Evidently, this distro targets the newbies and it is preferable to provide them all useful applications in a bundle or at least provide them the download links in menu. For a past Ubuntu user, even a terminal would do! But, for the rest, I expect more applications out of the box.

Installation
Installation is pure Ubuntu and no surprises there. For uninitiated, it asks for location, language, keyboard language, preferred installation drive, create username and password, whether you would like to download restricted codecs or not, etc. Pretty simple and it takes about 30 min. to install unless you hit a roadblock. I could install it in the first attempt itself.

Repository
Software center is Ubuntu precise repository and the developers have retained the Ubuntu software center GUI, though the word "Ubuntu" is not there. It is the richest Linux repo, no doubt about it and there are 60k+ apps to be downloaded. Almost every app I can think of is there.

CPU and RAM Usage
With system monitor running, Elementary consumed about 1-5% CPU and below 300 MB RAM. It is actually decent for a Gnome 3 OS. Further, I didn't feel any lag or unresponsiveness while using the desktop. Everything works real smooth.

Battle of the Mac OS X Clones: Who leads?
True comparison of Elementary OS should be with other Mac OS clones like Pear and LuninuX. Pear OS had Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS derived Pear OS 6 as the last release whereas LuninuX recently released 12.10 based on Ubuntu 12.10. Simplicity and intuitive are attributes of all three. A high level comparison is given below:

Parameters	Elementary OS Beta 1	Pear OS 6	LuninuX 12.10
Size of ISO	651 MB	862 MB	1500 MB
Booting time (post installation)	20-30 sec	20-30 sec	20-30 sec
Desktop	Pantheon, Gnome derivative	Pear Aurora 1.0.5	Gnome 3.6 with Docky
Linux kernel	3.2.0	3.2.0	3.5.0
CPU Usage (post installation)	1-5%	1-5%	1-5%
RAM usage (post installation)	270 MB	235 MB	280 MB
Installation time (with 1 MBPS connection)	30 min.	30 min	30 min
Wifi detection	Immediate	Immediate	Immediate
Touchpad detection	Manual, unable to set	Automatic	Manual, unable to set
Office	Document viewer, Geary Mail, Maya Calendar	Document viewer	LibreOffice 3.6 suite, Document viewer, Evolution mail & calendar
Internet	Empathy, Midori browser	Empathy, Firefox 17, Facebook client, Twitter client, G+ clinet	Opera, Skype 4, Softphone, Empathy, Filezilla, Bit torrent, Feed reader, Gwibber
Graphics	Shotwell Photo Manager, Simple Scan		GIMP 2.8, Pinta image editor, Image viewer, Inkscape vector editor, Diagram editor
Sound & Video	Totem Movie Player 3.0.1, Noise 1.0 Music Player		Gnome MPlayer, Brasero disc burner, DVD maker, Banshee music player, Cheese webcam booth, sound converter, Sound Juicer sound extractor, Sound editor, Sound recorder, Me TV Television, Openshot video editor, PiTiVI video editor
Accessories	Scratch 1.1.1, Archive Manager, Calculator, Terminal	Calculator, Gedit, Screenshot, terminal	Archive manager, calculator, contacts, terminal, Notes, Map viewer, Screenshot
Others			Games, Wine
File Manager	Pantheon Files 0.1	Nautilus 3.4.2	Nautilus 3.4.2

Both Pear OS 6 and LuninuX are heavier in size over Elementary, with LununiX having the richest ensemble of applications. In terms of just volume of applications, LuninuX scores over other two hands down. Unfortunately, LuninuX lacks in terms of originality. Both Pear and Elementary brings on the table some uniqueness. We have discussed above on the in-house apps that Elementary has. Pear brings with it interesting home grown social network applications like standalone Facebook, Twitter and G+ clients. I used them extensively and though they are not as versatile as their Android counterparts at this point but it is an encouraging thing. Social network integration will be the primary focus in 2013, now that most of the Linux distros offer good stability and high level of functionalities. So, Pear scores over the other two in terms of uniqueness. Settings manager is more or less same in all three leveraging the single window all integrated settings display.

From PearOS 6

From PearOS 6

From PearOS 6

Eye candy quotient is one of the main USPs for any Mac OS X clone. Though Elementary is simple and clean but looks stunning. However, Pear OS looks the most gorgeous of the three - Starting from boot screen to menu, repository, subtle animations, everything is well crafted and bear a very positive look. LuninuX looks a bit bland with least attention to artwork and detail when compared to the other two and I don't appreciate the two menu options. It is confusing. 

When compared to Pear OS, Elementary looks equally great (in a different way) but the boot up screen for Elementary is comparatively bland to Pear.

From PearOS 6

From PearOS 6

From PearOS 6

Out of the box, Pear OS 6 worked better on my system, even the touchpad was detected automatically. Otherwise, all three of them boot up fast, work exactly similar with no lag or stress on the system.

Overall
I think Elementary OS 0.2 is a good beginning though Pear OS 6 is still the best Mac OS X clone. The idea of in-house applications is great and is a promising sign. Moreover, it is good to see simplicity back to Linux. There are rough edges as well, like touchpad not working, too few applications, no Office, little social network integration, etc. It is understandable given Elementary OS is still in beta stage. I am sure the developers will take take care of these by the time final release is out. Artwork is good and the system looks really clean and uncluttered. However, I would like to see Pantheon nnd Plank to be more versatile than what they are right now.

You can download the beta version of Elementary Linux from here. 

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Archbang 2012.12 Review: Simple, light and fantastic

My interest on Arch Linux is increasing with every passing Arch based distro review. Last week I used Bridge Linux and was fascinated by it. This week I spent considerable time in learning as well as using Archbang, another Arch Linux based operating system with Openbox window manager. It gave me performance comparable to Puppy Linux and I replaced my Lubuntu 12.10 installation with Archbang on my HP Pentium 4, 2.4 Ghz, 1.5 GB DDR RAM desktop. To say the least I am more than fascinated by its speed, versatility and ease of use.

From ArchBang 2012.12.03

Archbang has a rolling release like Arch Linux and I guess, updated release comes every quarter. I saw 4 updated releases in 2011 but only a couple of releases in 2012 with the latest release on 8th December. I saw a disclaimer attached: "for the competent Linux user". That was kind of a challenge and I accepted it having used around 50 operating systems in last three years.

The 32-bit ISO is a lighter one, about 572 MB. For live-boot again, Unetbootin won't work and I used the Windows installation of Linux Live. Even though Linux Live USB creator wasn't able to detect the OS but never the less, it created an USB which successfully booted up. I used my HP desktop (as mentioned above) for testing Archbang to assess how it would perform on a low resource system. My yardsticks were Puppy Precise and Lubuntu 12.10, which were currently installed in it.

From ArchBang 2012.12.03

Archbang uses the lightweight Openbox window manager. It gives kind of a minimalistic and naked look. I somehow wasn't very fond of the grim black look but opted for a colorful one as shown in the first picture. Also, I didn' t like the dark tone menu and file manager and changed them to a more conventional gnome style. But, the distro is bleeding edge with the latest softwares. December 2012 release has Linux kernel 3.6.9. To give you an assessment, Ubuntu 12.10 is still at Linux 3.5, even Bridge Linux is at 3.6.7! So, truly you get the latest before any other distro offers it. It has both pros and cons, as I'll explain later.

Application
Going by the size of the ISO, I didn't expect a whole lot of applications in there. However, the applications given were carefully chosen ones to meet users basic needs. A list of the default applications provided is given below:

• Internet: Firefox 17 with Adobe flashplugin 11
• Graphics: Imageviewer
• Office: ePDFviewer
• Multimedia: DeaDBeef music player, GNOME MPlayer for videos, XFburn to create multimedia CDs
• Accessories: Archive manager, Catfish file search, Calculator, LXterminal, Leafpad
• File Manager: SpaceFM 0.8.3 (with multi-tab option, good but no preview option unlike Nautilus or Nemo)

From ArchBang 2012.12.03

The desktop is minimalistic and there is a conky which decorates the desktop. Pretty basic applications provided and there is front-end GUI to download applications. Further, there is no conventional menu to access the applications - a right click anywhere opens the menu. The file manager is really good and offers almost all the flexibility that I required. SpaceFM can be improved though by giving a preview option.

From ArchBang 2012.12.03

Installation
Having installed Bridge Linux earlier, I felt at home while installing Archbang. Pretty similar installation process asking for location, language, preference of disk, partitioning, creation of user name and changing root password and finally, installing grub. It takes about 30 minutes to install, like any other Linux distro.

Post installation installation of applications
Now post installation, there is no post install script like Bridge Linux here. Bridge is much more simplified than Archbang. Again Arch Wiki came to my help and I could download a host of applications like VLC 2, Skype 4, Chrome, Pidgin, Abiword, Gnumeric, etc.

First of all, I had to update the repository sources and hence, I resorted to terminal as root, using the following commands:
$su
$<type root password>
#pacman -Syy
#pacman -Syu

First pacman command is equivalent to apt-get update in Ubuntu and next one, -Syu is equivalent to apt-get upgrade.

Then I started downloading one application after another using command:
#pacman -S vlc
#pacman -S clementine
#pacman -S openjdk6
#pacman -S abiword
#pacman -S gnumeric
 for VLC player, Clementine player, Java, Abiword and Gnumeric. Similarly I downloaded a host of other apps like Skype, Midori, pidgin, etc. To avoid writing so many lines you can also type the following command (doesn't require the su and enter password part!)

$sudo pacman -S vlc clementine openjdk6 abiword gnumeric 

Arch Linux repository is very rich and you  can find most of the regular applications. The lightweight operating system I wanted to create is done. Now I wanted to decorate it a bit as the default Archbang desktop looks too bland for my taste. I downloaded a few colorful wallpapers and changed the conky position and color (Preferences -> Conky Config -> Edit .conkyrc).

Further, I noted post installation that I forgot to include a 50 GB NTFS hard drive while installing, as one of the default boots. I tried a lot to manually mount the drive but it won't work. USB and External hard drive auto-mount worked as udev was there. So, I created a folder named sda1 in my home directory and in terminal typed the following command as root (with su and then typing the password)

#mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 ./sda1

The entire hard drive was mounted on the folder. It helped me avoid re-installing the operating system.

Another pain was the timeout after every 5-10 min of inactivity, especially while watching movies or videos. There is no settings GUI option in Archbang and I didn't require to download as I could easily control the timeout from terminal by

$xset s 3600 3600

which would extend the time before the screen would go blank to 1 hour. You can even extend it beyond that as well.  

It was fun playing with the distro for a day and set everything up including webcam. Sound detection was automatic initially but after a couple of days it broke when I updated the system. The AlsaMixer v1.0.26 downloaded somehow caused it. Playing with it for 15-20 minutes resolved the issue and now it is working fine. I had no usse with mouse, keyboard or LAN/Wifi.

CPU and RAM Usage
This is the best part of Archbang. Openbox takes only 75 MB of RAM and 1% CPU to load. Further, with Firefox playing youtube video and VLC, Abiword, Gnumeric running, the RAM usage was only 250 MB and CPU usage of 60%. Even if the CPU usage is 100% the system never hangs! I am seriously impressed! Lubuntu uses about 130-150 MB RAM on the same system and gets painfully slow when you start using more than one application as the single core CPU is unable to support it. Puppy performs really good on it and no issues with Puppy. But, it is not cutting edge and I wanted something latest. So, I installed Archbang and removed Lubuntu from it. Now Archbang is my main distro instead of Puppy Precise.

Overall
I won't recommend Archbang to a total newbie, Bridge Linux is a much simpler option where complexity is relatively less and distro is more stable. But, for advanced Linux users, Archbang can be fun. However, given Archbang is bleeding edge, there can be minor issues here and there with every major update. Be prepared for it if you are to use one of the most impressive lightweight and complete distro available around. It is snappier than Puppy Linux and much more agile than any of the Ubuntu or Fedora based system I have used. For now I am sticking to it as the main operating system on my desktop with Puppy Precise as backup. Archbang may be a bit tough to begin with but Arch wiki and Archbang community are really helpful to back you up. In nutshell, a fantastic operating system to use if you have studied Linux for sometime and willing to use a highly functional but no frills operating system.

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Bridge Linux 2012.12 Review: Arch Linux a bit simplified

I haven't tried out Arch Linux yet but I plan to do so next year. Mostly my experience is concentrated on Ubuntu, Fedora and their derivatives. Now with every passing release all these distributions are getting heavier and resource consuming. Puppy is a definite saving grace, no doubt. But, as an user I want to create my own lightweight all purpose operating system using Arch. Further, the rolling release of Arch is a definite advantage, once you set your system, you don't need to re-install every alternate year.

KDE Bridge Linux 2012.12

Bridge Linux is kind of an intermediate step between Arch and Ubuntu. It provides all the resource friendliness that Arch is characterized by and in addition provides an out of the box system with most of the things like soundcard, touchpad, graphic display, a desktop environment, etc. configured to save your time and energy. 

LXDE Bridge Linux 2012.12

XFCE Bridge Linux 2012.12

Bridge Linux has a release every four months and for December 2012, it had to offer four flavors - Gnome 3.6, KDE 4.9.3, XFCE 4.10 and LXDE. I downloaded 32 bit versions of all four but could run only three - the Gnome 3.6 won't boot to a GUI and failed every time I tried. For the rest three, I live-boot all of them on my Asus K54C with 2.4 Ghz Core i3 processor and 2 GB RAM. I installed only the XFCE version on my system to try it out.

Live-Boot
Why I kept this separate section unlike my other reviews? Because a live-boot of Arch Linux runs into all kinds of trouble, if you use Unetbootin. I tried quite a few but none of them would work. So, I started my Windows 7 OS after quite a few months and installed Universal USB installer but that too failed! Finally after a brief search, I got reference of Linux Live installer for Windows OS and it worked! Though the interface is not simple and it may start downloading virtualbox, but I found it works for Arch. Bridge was not one of the specified distros in its list, however, given it works for Arch Linux, it worked for Bridge Linux as well. I created live boot of all the four ISOs that I downloaded.

Comparison

Parameters	Bridge KDE	Bridge XFCE	Bridge LXDE
ISO size	1 GB	696 MB	547 MB
Linux kernel	Linux 3.6.7-1-ARCH
Desktop	KDE 4.9.3	XFCE 4.10	LXDE
File Manager	Dolphin 2.1	Thunar 1.4.0	PCManFM 1.1.0
CPU Usage	2-10%	2-5%	1-3%
RAM Usage	330 MB	130 MB	80 MB
Installation	30 min	30 min	30 min
Programs – Internet	Chromium, Kopete, Bittorrent client, Kmail, Internet Dial up tool	Chromium, Thunderbird 17, Transmission	Chromium, Transmission
Programs – Multimedia	Amarok, Dragon Player, Kmix	AudioMixer, DeaDBeef, Xfburn	Exaile, Gnome Mplayer, Xfburn
Programs – Office	Complete LibreOffice 3.6 suite, Okular	Abiword, Gnumeric, Dictionary
Programs – Graphics	GIMP 2.8, Gwenview, Ksnapshot	GIMP 2.8, Shotwell	Imageviewer
Programs – Others	Qtdesigner, Archiving tool, Nepomuk backup, Kate, Kwrite	Archive manager, bulk rename, calculator, Leafpad, Screenshot	Archive manager, calculator, Leafpad
Wifi detection	Immediate	Immediate	Immediate

LXDE version is the lightest but thin on application as well. KDE version is the most complete with KDE centric applications and Chromium browser. In fact, all Bridge Linux versions have Chromium as the main browser.

All three of them boot pretty quickly and are very smooth to use. Given there is no package manager (pacman) on live-boot, user experience is pretty limited. Even flashplugin is not by default, neither multimedia codecs - so, the best option with bridge is to install and then try it out.

From Bridge Linux 2012.12

One thing about the KDE distro that surprised me, is there are no Restart or Shut down buttons. It has only options for logging out or locking the screen! A bit amusing, how am I supposed to shut the system down?

Luckily XFCE and LXDE editions had the conventional options of restart and/or shut down. XFCE is my preferred desktop these days and hence, to further check the OS, I installed XFCE version on an 8-GB partition.

Installation
Installation is simple, though not as simple as a Ubuntu or Linux Mint. It will ask for Language, Location, disc to partition (create two partitions - one for boot and another for swap, else things may not work as you desired), target for installation, installation of grub and finally configuring root and user. It took me about 30 min. to complete the installation without any major/minor hiccups.

Post-installation
After installation, I ran the post installation script and it downloaded pacman, plus updated the OS. However, I didn't find any pacman GUI and so, resorted to terminal to download my favorite applications. Arch forums and documents really helped me for the same. You can download all the desired applications, Adobe flashplugin, etc. using Pacman via terminal. I tried downloading the pacman GUI but none of the packages given here could be downloaded.

From Bridge Linux 2012.12

From Bridge Linux 2012.12

However, for experienced Linux users, terminal is not an issue. I downloaded VLC, codecs, Adobe flashpluginInkscape, Teamspeak, Skype 4.1, Quastrocam, etc. from the repos. All of them worked with my hardware. Linux kernel, desktop environments and applications are all latest and up to date, no complains there.

From Bridge Linux 2012.12

CPU and RAM Usage
The table in the comparison section already highlights that LXDE is the lightest and KDE the heaviest of the versions. Presumably, Arch Linux is supposed to be among the lightest Linux around. If I take the KDE 4.9 version and compare to the 32-bit operating systems that I used in 2012, definitely XFCE and LXDE versions score above the rest in terms of low RAM and CPU usage.

RAM Usage (32-bit)	KDE 4.9	XFCE 4.10	LXDE
Bridge Linux	330 MB	130 MB	80 MB
Ubuntu 12.10	300 MB	160 MB	134 MB
Linux Mint 13	300 MB	160 MB	-
Manjaro 0.8.2	440 MB	160 MB	-
OpenSUSE 12.2	340 MB	-	-
Sabayon 10	270 MB	-	-
Linux Lite 1.0.0	-	140 MB	-
ROSA 2012	-	-	122 MB
Zorin Lite 6.1	-	-	130 MB
Peppermint 3	-	-	135 MB

CPU Usage (32-bit)	KDE 4.9	XFCE 4.10	LXDE
Bridge Linux	2-10%	2-5%	1-3%
Ubuntu	2-10%	1-5%	1-5%
Linux Mint	2-10%	1-5%	-
Manjaro 0.8.2	5-7%	0-8%	-
OpenSUSE 12.2	1-5%	-	-
Sabayon 10	5-10%	-	-
Linux Lite 1.0.0	-	1-5%	-
ROSA 2012	-	-	1-10%
Zorin Lite 6.1	-	-	5-8%
Peppermint 3	-	-	1-5%

LXDE is surprisingly low (80 MB), most of LXDE distros I used consumed about 120-130 MB to load desktop with task manager running. KDE too is at par with other operating systems, if not lower.

From Bridge Linux 2012.12

From Bridge Linux 2012.12

From Bridge Linux 2012.12

Overall
I definitely recommend the XFCE and LXDE versions. Both of them are resource friendly and customizable. I really liked the KDE version, KDE 4.9 looks damn smashing but where the hell restart/shut down buttons go? Else, it is recommended. Gnome 3.6 version didn't work for me and hence, not recommended from my side. From both out-of-the-box applications and resource friendliness point of view, XFCE version seems to the most balanced and best of the lot.

The heading of the article says a bit simplified because even Bridge doesn't simplify Arch enough for a newbie and it takes a bit of Linux knowledge to get going on bridge. Manjaro is better for a newbie. However, for an experienced user, I would safely recommend Bridge over Manjaro for being a lighter distro. Manjaro seems to be a bit heavy for an Arch distro!

All in all, I am quite contented with both XFCE and LXDE versions and will use XFCE installation as the main distro in one of the machines I have. It is damn good!

You can download Bridge Linux from here.

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Linux Mint 14 Nadia Review: Is it better than Maya?

Big news this week in the Linux world - the reigning king of Linux "Linux Mint" has come out with the Mate and Cinnamon desktop version of Ubuntu 12.10. The codename is Nadia. Now, before jumping onto the actual review, a bit of introspection. One question that always comes to my mind - I have reviewed so many wonderful Linux distros and quite a few are really really outstanding. Still what works for Linux Mint release after release? Why people in the Linux world uses it more than any other Linux distro, even Fedora and Ubuntu? Why I too use Linux Mint as my primary distro (except one machine, P4 old computer, where I use Puppy Precise)?
 Linux Mint 14 Cinnamon

From Linux Mint 14

From Linux Mint 14

Linux Mint 14 Mate

From Linux Mint 14

From Linux Mint 14

Is it because it is easier for a Windows user to adapt to Linux Mint? I doubt, because my Linux Mint desktops look nowhere close to Windows! Is it because everything works out of the box and even if you aren't able to run a single code in terminal or fix a single thing in Linux, Mint still works? Possibly yes! I haven't seen a distro in my life which is so trouble free and stable (this includes Windows as well which in my opinion is trouble only!).

With this background, now lets directly jump onto the review. It has three purposes - one, to assess the new release in general. Two, compare it to the previous release (Mint Maya 13, which is also an LTS with 5 years of support). And finally, compare it to the recently released Snowlinux 3 Mate / Cinnamon which deeply impressed me.

Assessment of Mint Nadia
I had already downloaded the RC2 versions of both Cinnamon and Mate. The release note came sometime in 11 Nov with the final release on 20 Nov. So, without rushing for the new release I just installed them one by one and updated post installation. For both I had to download about 200 MB of updates and my installations were the final releases. Both are 32-bit ISOs about less than 1 GB in size.

Installations were done in a Asus K54C, 2.4 Ghz Core i3 processor with 2 GB RAM. The same laptop was used for testing out the Mint Maya as well. Both have Linux kernel 3.5 and Cinnamon has 1.6 (the latest) with Mate having 1.4 (also the latest) desktop.

What is new?
Lets begin with the Mate version. The information provided here are from the release notes combined with snapshots from my testing. Mate 1.4 supports bluetooth now as well as Caja supports dropbox. MATE now includes its own character map, fast alt-tabbing with Marco compositing, a selection of notification styles (although this was included in Linux Mint 13, it wasn't part of MATE 1.2), and Caja improvements such as a toggle button to show and edit the path and a new button to compare files in the file conflict dialog.

From Linux Mint 14

From Linux Mint 14

Cinnamon 1.6, on the other hand, comes with a lot of features and attractiveness. Cinnamon, I guess, is developing at a faster rate than Mate. The major new additions for Cinnamon 1.6 include:

1. Give names to workspaces: like naming different workspaces for movies, document work, internet browsing, etc. These will remain even after you relogin. I am not sure it will be any utility to me at this point but might be handy if I am working with 10-15 workspaces to recall where I was doing what! Additionally, once you switch workspaces, the names will be visible in bold.

From Linux Mint 14

2. Windows Quick list: Alongside workspaces, there is a windows quick list applet as well on the right hand corner of the panel, for easy access and to keep track of the applications that the user has opened.

3. Similar to Mate 1.4, there is a notification applet as well in Cinnamon 1.6.

From Linux Mint 14

Cinnamon 1.6 has 800 incremental innovations including Nemo. You can check out all of them at the Linux Mint notes.

Additional improvement I saw is in the artwork. Linux Mint 14 has some really nice looking new wallpapers.
  

From Linux Mint 14

Applications
Application list is more or less the same as in previous version - only difference being the latest release has the most updated applications. A summary of the applications present is given below for the benefit of the new users who want to try out Linux Mint.

• Internet: Firefox 16, Thunderbird 16, Pidgin Internet Messenger, Transmission bit-torrent client, XChat IRC
• Graphics: GIMP 2.8, document viewer 1.4.0, Eye of Mate viewer, Gthumb 3.0.2 image viewer, simple scan
• Multimedia: Banshree music player, Brasero CD/DVD writer, Gnome MPlayer, Movie Player, VLC 2.0.4
• Office: LibreOffice 3.6.2.2 writer, calc, impress, base, draw - basically Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Paint equivalent

Apart from these, Linux Mint is feature rich with Archive manager, Pluma (gedit fork), gdebi package manager to install applications in Debian package format. Caja 1.4.0 is the file manager in Mate and Nemo 1.1.2 in Cinnamon, both are forked from Nautilus. 

The base repository is the same as Ubuntu 12.10 and it is perhaps the richest Linux repository around. The GUI is a bit different from Ubuntu - MinInstall 7.4.4. It is simple and works well to search and install applications from the respository.

Comparison with Linux Mint Maya

Parameters	Mint 14 Cinnamon	Mint 13 Cinnamon	Mint 14 Mate	Mint 13 Mate
Size of ISO	922 MB	857 MB	1 GB	942 MB
Booting time (post installation)	20 sec	15 sec	10 sec	10 sec
Desktop	Cinnamon 1.6.7	Cinnamon 1.4	Mate 1.4	Mate 1.2
Linux kernel	3.5.0-17	3.2.0-23	3.5.0-17	3.2.0-23
CPU Usage (post installation)	1-5%	1-5%	2-3%	2-3%
RAM usage (post installation)	221 MB	200 MB	199 MB	207 MB
Installation time (with 1 MBPS connection)	30 Min	30 Min	30 Min	30 Min
Wifi detection	Immediate	Immediate	Immediate	Immediate
Touchpad detection	Automatic	Automatic	Automatic	Automatic
Ease of use	Really smooth to use	Really smooth to use	Really smooth to use	Really smooth to use
Eye candy factor	Looks the best with a very elegant file manager and with application colors matching the ash-black colored theme	Looks good with application colors matching the ash colored theme	Looks good with application colors matching the ash colored theme	Looks good with application colors matching the ash colored theme
Repository	MintInstall 7.4.4	MintInstall 7.3.9	MintInstall 7.4.4	MintInstall 7.3.9
File Manager	Nemo 1.1.2	Nautilus 3.4.1	Caja 1.4.0	Caja 1.2.1

Linux Mint generally boots up a tad bit slower than Ubuntu distros. Based on performance in terms of resource usage, clearly the Nadia Mate 1.4 is marginally ahead. I noted really good performance from Mate 1.4, almost comparable to an XFCE desktop! At steady state with only system monitor running, the RAM consumption was around 200 MB and 2-3% CPU usage. If you talk of multi-tasking, with Firefox 16 playing youtube, Writer and Calc running, it consumes only 357 MB RAM with only 40% CPU usage. Mint Maya Mate 1.2, too, gives almost comparable performance on the same machine. It is difficult to choose between the two and given Mint Maya Mate has 5 years of support, I guess it would be better to stick to Linux Mint 13 and wait for another LTS to come in 2014.

From Linux Mint 14

However, for Linux Mint Cinnamon, the CPU usage shows a bit higher, it might be because of some driver problem that I need to rectify on my system. Else, Linux Mint 14 Cinnamon looks shinier and more attractive. Special mention should be made of Nemo 1.1.2, it looks very refined in Nadia, I must say. Overall, even Cinnamon is quite speedy on my system and I could multi-task easily under similar conditions as above by spending only 470 MB RAM and 70-75% CPU usage. Nautilus in the Mint Maya Cinnamon looks quite blander compared to Nemo in Mint Nadia. But, Mint Maya has 5 years of support behind it.

From Linux Mint 14

Comparison with Snowlinux 3 Cinnamon/Mate
I reviewed Snowlinux 3 release a week ago and it also came out with Cinnamon 1.6 and Mate 1.4 versions, as well as almost identical look to Linux Mint. Even there I got a bit of higher CPU usage in Cinnamon but very good performance in Mate. Performance wise, I would rate the Snowlinux 3 series at par with Linux Mint 14. Actually, it is a tough choice as both of them look, feel and behave identically. However, number of out-of-the-box applications are more in Linux Mint and it has a better online forum.

From Snowlinux 3 Mate Cinnamon

Overall 
Linux Mint 14 is indeed a very good release. I found Ubuntu 12.10 to be a bit unstable and but Mint 14 is really stable. I have been using it from the RC days and it has worked smoothly for me till date. However, some of the goodies in Ubuntu 12.10 are not here like Web apps, Ubuntu music store, Amazon integration (some hate it though!), better integration with social network, etc. But, Linux Mint has rock solid stability. 

Personally, I don't get tired of installing Linux distros as it is my hobby and I install 2-3 new distros to my systems every week and uninstall the older ones. But, my main production laptop has Linux Mint Maya Cinnamon 64-bit and I don't like to tamper with my preferred settings in there. Am I going to re-install Mint Nadia to it? Possibly no - for now I'll stick to Mint Maya and add Mint Nadia ppa's and download Nemo file manager. Here's how you can backport Nadia ppa's.

25Nov2012: Actually backporting Nadia ppa's and then changing Nemo 1.1.2 to default file manager has improved performance of Linux Mint 13 significantly. Nemo is a lot lighter and faster file manager, undoubtedly. Definite recommendation from my side to backport Nadia ppa's.

To backport, open Menu ->Preferences -> Software Sources -> Click on "Backported Packages (Backports)" checkbox. Close it and then launch update manager either from menu or from the update notifier on the right hand side of the panel. Refresh and update all Level 1 and Level 2 updates. Restart and you are done!

To set Nemo as the default file manager, go to Menu -> Accessories -> Files (one would be Nautilus and another would be Nemo). Open Nemo and on right hand top corner you'll see an option to make Nemo the default file manager. Click it and you are done. 

Download
Linux Mint 14 is available in both 32 and 64-bit versions. You can download via torrent, direct download option available as well. Please check the release note for downloading.

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