Reviews

When it comes to designing Linux apps, one program's look and feel often is too much like others' in a particular category. So app developers often rely on feature sets and ease-of-use tricks to distinguish their programs from others in the field. The GnomeBaker CD/DVD Writer is a good example. Gnom...

It's difficult to talk about the Gxine multimedia player as a separate app from Xine. Both do pretty much the same tasks -- let you watch videos and listen to audio files. Both of these apps hale from the same Linux library of codecs and other gutsy stuff, Xine-lib. The key difference between these ...

Using a scanner in Linux is somewhat different than using that same scanner hardware in Windows. This week's Linux Picks focuses on how the XSane scanner app handles that process. In the Windows world, scanner hardware is TWAIN-compatible through manufacturer-developed scanning software. By comparis...

Lucid Lynx, Canonical's latest desktop release of Ubuntu, sports a new look and feel designed to attract new users, both in business and at home. No doubt the launch of a music store component for the Ubuntu One cloud service available through the Ubuntu OS will give consumers a reason to consider o...

The ubiquitous CD/DVD platter may be on its way to Legacyville, one town away from the FloppyTown and the once-popular ZipDisk City. Large-capacity USB and micro disk storage media go where the CD/DVD cannot go -- small mobile gadgets. But for laptop and desktop storage and bulk transfer needs, CD/D...

Rhythmbox, an integrated music management application, was originally inspired by Apple's iTunes. This open source app works on the Gnome Desktop and is based on the powerful GStreamer media framework. If you have read recent Linux Picks columns, you know that the Linux world of apps gives you sever...

Gnome Commander, an advanced twin-panel graphical file manager for the Linux OS, brings back memories of my pre-Windows days. That is an era when graphical shell programs were popular before the Microsoft DOS desktop gave way to the Windows 95 GUI. If that sounds like a put-down for Gnome Commander,...

Linux provides more than one way to listen to music collections. The bare-bones solution is to click on a music file from within a file manager app. The high-end approach is to playback music with Amarok. Amarok is a sound-system-independent audio player with a flexible interface that uses a browser...

The Linux world is filled with numerous capable packages for just about every computing category. Graphics manipulation applications are no exception. In any list of able-bodied graphics candidates, GIMP 2.6 should be one of the top three contenders. GIMP is Linux Speak for GNU Image Manipulation Pr...

Text editors are becoming more essential in today's Web-based computing world. Gone are the days when users need hard-copy versions of their documents. Also gone are the days when documents need to be gussied up with fancy fonts and fanciful page formatting. Now HTML handles the visual tune ups for ...

You need spend only five minutes with Motorola's Devour smartphone to realize how appropriate its moniker is. It's an information gourmand's delight. What sets Devour apart from other Android phones is Motorola's MotoBlur software. The phone, which is offered by Verizon Wireless, allows you to funne...

The file manager utility more than any other system app on any computing platform is the workhorse of daily computing tasks. Linux users have numerous file managers as choices. Depending on the distro, usually one or two default apps are preinstalled -- but these might not be the best options. Thuna...

I am an avid user of open source software and a firm believer in the benefits of FOSS. I have a choice of operating systems at my disposal, but I now cringe whenever I have to work in the Microsoft world. I much prefer the vast array of Linux apps. Why? They are bloat-free problem solvers. Take, for...

If you are looking for a superior text editor, your search might just begin and end with a nifty program called "Geany." One of my biggest concerns when I switched from Microsoft Windows to Linux was finding an adequate replacement for my favorite text editor. I use the OpenOffice Writer for printed...

Google's Chrome may be a relatively new entrant in the browser arena, but already it's edged past Apple's long-standing Safari to assume the third-place spot. That's according to market researcher Net Applications, which recently released year-end data indicating that Chrome now accounts for 4.63 pe...