Mageia: Enjoy The New Fork Of RPM-based Mandriva [Linux]

The “fragmentation” of the Linux desktop market is a double-edged sword: while it isn’t the best strategy to achieve greater overall desktop market share, it does offer the informed user a plethora of choices, where surely at least one of them should suit his or her every need. We’ve looked at many distributions in the past, including some favorites such as Ubuntu, Fedora, and Linux Mint.

However, there’s a relatively new distribution out in the wild which is catching the attention of Linux users, grabbing the #2 spot on DistroWatch’s most popular distributions list over the past 6 months.

About Mageia

Mageia is an RPM-based Linux distribution which forked off Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) in September 2010 when Mandriva was experiencing severe financial difficulties. It’s first release was in July 2011, and after just about a year and a half later it’s been creating quite the buzz. In fact, there are three main aspects of Mageia which are grabbing people’s attention.

Stability

The young distribution places a strong emphasis on stability without becoming outdated. It keeps somewhat older software, such as Linux kernel 3.3, LibreOffice 3.5, and Firefox 10 ESR, and maintains the series throughout the life of the release. As you can tell, all of these versions aren’t the newest, but it’s not necessarily old, unsupported software either. Do note that when a release of Mageia first comes out, the software will be fairly new, but the team only does security and stability updates until the next release. I think it creates a nice balance, because it’s not as unstable as a distribution like Fedora, and not as outdated as a distribution like Debian. If you don’t absolutely need the latest and greatest out of everything, then Mageia’s package selection will do just fine.

Custom Tools

One of the most iconic features of Mageia is the included Control Center, something it received from its Mandriva/Mandrake heritage. Mageia’s Control Center is a custom tool for configuring different aspects of your system, such as installing printers to setting up network connections to enabling parental controls. It’s nicely organized, and surprisingly effective. Don’t necessarily expect these tools to be entirely beginner-friendly, however, because there are still some highly technical settings which need to be configured. As a power user, I love to see these settings that I haven’t seen in any other distribution (or in a GUI!), but it may not be ideal for someone who’s testing the waters of Linux. Also, I cannot say whether these tools are better than openSUSE’s, although I do believe that they’re a little easier to navigate.

History

Last but not least, Mageia does evoke some sentimental feelings in old-time Linux users. For many who started out with Linux 10 years ago or longer, their first Linux distribution was most likely Mandrake as it was the most popular distribution before Ubuntu came around. In fact, Mandrake was my first dab at Linux way back when I was still too young to know what Linux really was. While it wasn’t very good back then when compared to how far Linux has come today, it still has a place in my heart as the first ever distribution. As Mageia is the continuation of the old Mandrake Linux, there will surely be a handful who will be using it for just that reason.

Software Selection

While Mageia does have its positive points with its stability, custom system tools, and rich history, it does have a fair-sized problem in that the package selection for Mageia is rather limited. I’m not giving it harsh criticism about this because it’s still a young project, but users with high expectations might be a little disappointed. Mageia does come with many applications that people will want to use, but there are those occasional ones that simply cannot be found. For example, Mageia forces you to use an older version of Chromium as downloading Chrome directly from Google leads to installation issues. Another package that I could not find was FileZilla — I suppose I’d have to compile it myself (something I’d rather not do) or find an alternative.

Installation

Mageia can be installed onto your system like most other Linux distributions. You’ll first need to download an ISO of the release. You have the choice of the free-software-only DVD or the Live CD which includes proprietary drivers in case you need them out of the box. You also have the choice between 32-bit and 64-bit, where I would recommend 64-bit if you have 4GB of RAM or more. With the correct ISO downloaded, you can either burn the ISO to a CD/DVD, or write it onto a USB drive. Then, restart and configure your system’s BIOS to boot off the CD/DVD or USB drive, whichever you ended up choosing. Your computer will then boot from the installation media, and then you’ll simply follow the installation wizard to complete the process.

Conclusion

Mageia is an impressive distribution that has plenty of potential for new, innovative features. Again, while I wouldn’t quite recommend it as a distribution for absolute beginners, it might be a pleasure to use for power users or those who feel they are adequately knowledgeable. We’ll be able to see in a few releases down the road how it will compete with other top distributions.

What’s your opinion of Mageia? What do other distributions offer that Mageia doesn’t? Let us know in the comments!

The post Mageia: Enjoy The New Fork Of RPM-based Mandriva [Linux] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Find the Top Tourist Attractions of a City with Google

If you are travelling to a new city, you can use Google to quickly discover all the tourist attractions and other interesting places to visit in and around that city. This includes historical monuments, museums, gardens, and other places popular among tourists. →

The syntax for your Google query should be Things to do in City. You may also use this query with a country – like Things to do in India – and Google will offer you a visual list of the top places to see in that country. It works for continents too.

You may try a search for Agra, Zurich, Australia and Asia. Thanks John Mueller for the tip.

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This story, Find the Top Tourist Attractions of a City with Google, was originally published at Digital Inspiration on 20/12/2012 under Google, Internet.

Greater Than Google: The Best Bits Of Bing

When we think of searching the Internet, we without a doubt think “Google”. And why not? It’s a fantastic search engine and has some great features. But even before the idea of writing this article, I started Bing again and I was quite surprised. Then, the more I used it, the more fascinating things I discovered on it.

This isn’t an “anti-Google” article, as in my opinion, Google still does have a place. And I use it for many things. But for searching, perhaps you should try Bing and see how you like it. You just might change your mind, especially after reading about these awesome bits.

Bing Twitter Maps

Of course you know that Bing has a maps function – that’s nothing new. But what you might not know is that you can see public tweets and the sender’s location. There’s no invasion of privacy here. This works by accessing what is already public with geo-location enabled by the user (on Twitter). Once those two things are done, the tweets will show up on the map. It may take a while at times, but hang tight and you’ll see yours too.

Bing Twitter Maps is a project of the Microsoft FuseLabs.

Bing Travel: Flights And Hotels

With the holidays approaching fast, the travel page will be your best friend. It is kind of like having an assistant. Simply enter your travel information (i.e. to and from departure dates and locations, number of adults, and desired class)

You’ll then be shown ticket prices from several different airlines.

You can compare prices with hotels. What’s great is you have a map right next to the price. Wouldn’t it be nice to not only know where your options are, along with comparing them to each other? Now you can.

Bing Events

If you’ve ever lived (or do live) in a small town, you are likely to have a local newspaper. And in it is probably an events section. Picture Bing Events like that, but something which is much more customizable, larger, you don’t have to worry about it getting ripped, lost, or your dog eating it. Just type in the city. You can scroll through all of the events, or filter them down based on day, category, distance, and other specifics. The events are quite detailed and often display a brief description, pricing and (obviously) location and time.

Friends’ Photos

If you connect your Facebook account to Bing (which I recommend and will expand on that later), you can view your friends’ and pages’ photos. You can also view your own photos quite easily. It’s like a visual news stream of just images! Below I’ve displayed only photos from pages I follow, keeping in mind my friends’ privacy.

In addition to being able to view the photos, you can like, comment and share the photos right from Bing.

Interface And Integration

Some might not consider this a secret or tip, but Bing has an awesome interface and with that interface, comes awesome integration of videos, images, maps, and more.

Images

Several specifications are available for finding the right image. The image collection itself is clean and easy to scroll through. An added bonus are the search-specific suggestions below the search and more suggestions on the side for other topics that you might be interested in. Does this beat Google Images? In my opinion, you bet it does.

Maps

We already mentioned about Twitter integration in maps, but I feel the normal maps function in Bing is impressive as well. Just look at how easy it is to find exactly what you’re looking for!

Videos

I love this about Bing – being able to watch a video directly in Bing. I don’t need to click away from my search and worry about losing it (although you can just hold down the Control/Command key when clicking the link to avoid that from happening). Along with embedded videos in the search, there are also suggestions alongside.

There is another article on MakeUseOf which expanded upon it in using Bing to listen to music.

Entertainment

Speaking of music, Bing has integrated several forms of entertainment into the website as well, each with it’s specific features. For example, the Movies tab displays popular movies and their show times and ticket prices. The Music tab seems pretty basic, until you open up an artist and then you can view their songs, albums, and lyrics.

Custom News In Facebook

There’s Bing News… and then there’s My Bing News, which is a Facebook app that ties Bing News to Facebook. The app allows you to customize what topics you get news about and also can display what you’ve recently read (Note: if you don’t want your Friends to see content that an app posts to your Timeline, make sure you select that so only you can view it).

Bing Search Tips

What’s there to know about searching for things on Bing? Well a lot actually! Below are a couple things that you might not know about Bing Search.

Social search: get expert advice recommendations

When you connect Facebook to Bing, and search for something, related posts and photos from your friends will be displayed along side your search results from Bing. In addition, Bing searches Twitter, Quora and other social networks for people who are “knowledgeable” or talk a lot about the topic you are searching for.

Search and get points that you can redeem for rewards

When you search with Bing (obviously), you earn credits towards a great selection of rewards. It’s as simple as that. Some examples you ask? How about Starbucks, Microsoft products, Amazon, Hulu Plus, Groupon and more. I wish I had started this a long time ago, and I am sure by now I would have some credits built up. But they accumulate fast, don’t worry.

Learn more about the rewards program or check out what you can redeem with the credits.

Note: You must be signed in with a Microsoft account, otherwise the points you accumulate aren’t worth anything.

Other Useful Tools

Some other great tools to take advantage of on Bing are the Calculator, Translator, Dictionary and Local search.

Sure Google has these too, but it’s important to know about them if you’re already going to be using Bing. Bing is still growing too and will likely be adding new features, so be sure to check out the Explore page frequently for all the services.

Conclusion

Still not convinced on Bing? Try the latest Google vs. Bing test, Bing It On, and see how Google stacks up. Does it win? Or does Bing? Either way, it couldn’t hurt to try Bing out – you just might like it!

Do you use Bing? If so – why and, which is your favorite feature about it?

The post Greater Than Google: The Best Bits Of Bing appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The Better Browser With Great Features – Google Chrome

Google Chrome presently is the most popular browser on the planet. It took Chrome less than 4 years to rise from barely 1% market share to where it is now. Globally, more than one out of three Internet users browse with Chrome. In some countries you will find as much as half the population with access to the Internet using Chrome. Apparently, Chrome has managed to deliver on its selling points and users everywhere have switched. So should you consider switching?

Google Chrome prides itself to run websites and applications with lightning speed. And much like all Google products, the browser provides a clean interface, smart features, and simple solutions that no one had thought of before. If you haven’t tried Chrome recently, you should give it a spin and see how it goes.

What Makes Chrome Better?

Chrome basically works like any other browser. You enter a URL, open websites in multiple windows or tabs, and make bookmarks. But even if you are only using Chrome for these basic features only, a lot is happening in the background.

Every tab is its own process. When you open the Windows Task Manager, you’ll notice that there is one entry for every Chrome tab. This makes each individual tab faster and if one tab crashes, it doesn’t affect the whole browser, making it much more stable and reliable.

Google’s New Tab Page shows your most visited websites and installed apps. As you are browsing the web, Google pays attention and lists the websites you visit most often in the New Tab page. You can remove single pages, however, you cannot add your favorites.

Chrome also updates automatically and in the background, so you don’t even notice it. For most users, this is very convenient. But if you ever do run into issues with Chrome, keep in mind that it could be due to a recent browser upgrade. You can check which version you are running and report an issue by typing chome://chrome into the URL bar or by clicking the Settings icon in the top right and selecting About Google Chrome.

What Makes Chrome Great?

Frankly, there is too much to be covered in one article. So I’ll highlight two key features for you: managing tabs and user login.

Chrome has some nifty default features and several have to do with managing tabs. Generally speaking, tabs are super flexible. You can drag tabs around and re-order them within one window or you can drag a tab out of its window to create a new window. Right-click on a tab to open a menu that lets you reload, duplicate, or pin a tab, to just mention a few options. Admitted, those are old tricks. But try to right-click a tab and see what happens when you hover over close other tabs or close tabs to the right. Simplicity with style. Now here comes the killer feature: you can [CTRL] or [SHIFT] select multiple tabs and move them around or drag them to a new window as a group. So simple and yet so cool.

Chrome offers advanced user profiles. If you have a Google account, you can sign in and enjoy many advanced profile features. Chrome can automatically save your bookmarks, apps, extensions, theme, and other browser preferences to your Google account. When you sign into Chrome with that account on another computer, your personal data will already be there.

To sign in, go to Settings . Before Chrome can back up your data, you need to confirm the sync settings. And you can customize them by clicking on Advanced in the bottom left of the respective confirmation window. Later, you can see what Chrome has been been syncing in the background and reset it via your Google Dashboard.

By the way, you can change the user icon in the top left, by clicking the icon and selecting edit.

And The Rest?

Well, as I mentioned above, there is so much more about Chrome that doesn’t fit into a single article. I recommend you to look into our Chrome Guide, download our Google Chrome Shortcuts cheat sheet, or pick what interests you from the following articles:

• The Idiot’s Guide To Adding Website Bookmarks On Your Google Chrome New Tab Page


• Using Google Chrome? Here’s How to Reach Under The Hood & Customize Special Settings


• How To Browse Privately In Chrome Without Going Fully Incognito


• 8 Cool Tips & Tricks to Make Most Of Google Chrome


• 5 Little Known Google Chrome Hacks

Conclusion

Chrome is a fantastic browser with almost no drawbacks on the functional side. One huge concern on the ideological side, however, is that Chrome effectively lures its users into the world of Google. Is it too good to be free? Do you wonder how you will end up paying?

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