Jaunty Jackalope Alpha 5 released

As you might already know, Ubuntu 9.04 will be released in April with the name Jaunty Jackalope. Alpha versions are already out there.
If you want, you can test this beta very easy by upgrading your existing Ubuntu installation or downloading the .iso file from here.

The new version includes updates meant to make your daily computing even easier. Some cool eye-candy features include the new notifications and the new login screen.

To upgrade your installation simply press Alt+F2 and type "update-manager -d" (of course, without the quotes). A window will pop out telling you a new release is available.Press upgrade and wait.

Ubuntu 9.04 and the new login screen

In case you still don't know, Ubuntu 9.04 will be released on April 23, that means in less than 2 months. One new feature that will come with this new release will be the new login screen (picture below) and of course, the new notification system.
Other new features include: faster booting time and updates to software.

Picture from news.softpedia.com. Read more about the new login screen here.

Get The New Notifications In Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

Maybe you already know that starting with Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope we will get a new notification design. You can check out the design here. Stefano Forenza, an Ubuntu blogger made a step-by-step tutorial on how to get the new notifications using Terminal. Check out those screenshots:

before:

after:

Interesting? Check out the tutorial here.
Image sources:  stefanoforenza.com

Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter #130

The Issue #130 for the week February 15th - February 21st, 2009 of the Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter is available here.

In This Issue:

• Ubuntu 9.10 - Karmic Koala
• Announcing the Karmic Koala UDS
• Jaunty feature freeze - Alpha 5 freeze ahead
• Kubuntu 8.04.2 released
• New Ubuntu Members - Americas Board
• A Call for US LoCo Team Mentors
• Next Ubuntu Hug Day
• Soon: Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter in Spanish
• Ubuntu Stats
• Global Bug Jams - Michigan, South Africa, Chicago, Berlin, and Florida
• New Notifications for Jaunty
• Meet Martin Albisetti
• AJAX in Launchpad 
• In the Press & Blogosphere
• Canonical's April Surprise - More than Ubuntu 9.04
• Barcelona - Canonical discusses Ubuntu Mobile Internet Devices
• Meeting Summaries - Technical Board, QA Team, and US Teams Project
• Just for Fun
• Upcoming Meetings & Events
• Updates & Security  

Press here to read issue #130 of Ubuntu Weekly Newsletter
Source: wiki.ubuntu.com

Accessing your Windows files from Ubuntu

Hello friends, someone messaged me via Twitter a few minutes ago and they asked how they can access their Windows files from their Windows partition.
This quick little tutorial will work perfectly on your Wubi installation. Mounting NTFS partitions is a little bit harder and will be explained in the future.

Access your Windows files from your Wubi installation:

Go to Places > Computer > Filesystem > host
This is your partition C: (in most of the cases).

 

Ubuntu 9.10 will be called Karmic Koala

Because Ubuntu 9.04 (Jounty Jackalope) will come in April, Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu, revealed Friday the name of Ubuntu 9.10. The 9.10 version of Ubuntu will get the name: Karmic Koala and is planned to get to you in October.

Read more about the 9.10 version of Ubuntu here

How to mount and unmount .iso files in Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

An .iso file is a disk image of an optical disc. I think everyone had at least once used this kind of files, even when you first installed Ubuntu.

As you might know, in windows, mounting a .iso file is easy after you install a software that gets your job done. In Ubuntu, you can mount an .iso file via the Terminal, fast and easy.

Things to know before we start: You will need two thing before you run the command, a folder that you will access in order to see your .iso files, and the .iso file you want to mount.

First, let's create a folder called isomount (or you can call it whatever you like) in your home folder, to do this, run the following command in Terminal:

mkdir /home/YourUbuntuUserName/isomount
make sure you change YourUbuntuUserName to your actual username on your Ubuntu machine.

After this, mount your .iso image with this command:

sudo mount -o loop -t iso9660 /home/YourUbuntuUserName/Desktop/LinuxMint-6.iso  /home/YourUbuntuUserName/isomount

If you want to unmount an .iso image, use the following command:

sudo umount isomount
remember: isomount is the name we used in our example above

How to install Gnome-Do Docky in Ubuntu

Gnome-Do let's you quickly search for items present on your desktop or web, in other words, Gnome-Do is an inteligent launcher tool.

But wait! That's not all! With the new version of Gnome-Do (beta, but still good quality) Gnome-Do comes with a dock too! Check it out:

In this article we will show you how to install this new beta thingy, in order to install the classical Gnome-Do application press here. (NOTE: It doesn't come with Docky, the dock, unless following the steps 1-2)

1) First let's add the software sources, go to System > Administration > Software sources. You will be asked for a sudo password, enter it and press ok.
2) Go to Third-Party Software tab and press the add button. Enter those two lines:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-testers/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/do-testers/ppa/ubuntu intrepid main

3) Exit the Software Sources application.
4) Update the repositories, paste the command in Terminal:

sudo apt-get update

5) To install Gnome-Do (with docky) run this command in Terminal or press here:

sudo apt-get install gnome-do

6) If you already have Gnome-Do installed and want to upgrade your installation to this beta version, paste the following command:

sudo apt-get upgrade

Everything is now done, enjoy playing with Gnome-Do!

NOTE: You might find an annoying thing when using the dock, your screen will shrink. I don't know if it's a bug or not, but hope it will be solved.

CheckGMail, GMail notifier for Ubuntu

If you use GMail for your mail than this article is for you! CheckGMail is a great little piece of software that connects your desktop to your GMail account and tells you if you have any new mails. CheckGMail stays in the system tray, it's fast and secure.

To install CheckGMail just enter in Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and paste the following command:

sudo apt-get install checkgmail

Or you can click here to automatically install CheckGMail without the need of entering in Terminal and pasting the command.

After installing CheckGMail you can run the application from Applications > Internet > CheckGMail. You will see a configuration screen like this one:

Enter your settings and press ok. Congratulations, you are now done!

How to install Windows software under Wine in Ubuntu

In our last tutorial we told you how to install Wine in Ubuntu. This article will tell you how to install your favorite Windows application under Wine.

In this tutorial we will show you how to install WinRAR (popular Windows application that let's you extract .rar and other files).

First let's start by downloading WinRAR from the official website. Press here for a direct download link. Save your file on your Ubuntu desktop.

Go to desktop, right-click on your .exe installation file and select Open with "Wine Windows Program Loader".

You will now see a simple installation window like this one:

Press install. This will install WinRAR.

To run WinRAR go to Applications > Wine > Programs > WinRAR > WinRAR
NOTE: If you can not find WinRAR in your menu, consider running Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and pasting the following code:

killall gnome-panel

This will reset your menues without the need of restarting your computer.

As you can see, installation is simple, enjoy installing more software and don't forget, you can check out appdb.winehq.org to see if your Windows application is running good using Wine.

How to install Wine in Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

Wine is the best free application when it comes to running your favorite Windows software in Linux. The name comes from the recursive acronym Wine Is Not an Emulator.
Before trying to install your Windows applications in Wine you should first check the Application Database, from Wine's official website, where you can find a database with most of the Windows software telling you the compatibility between your software and Wine. Application rated with platinum run flawlessly on an out of the box Wine installation.

Official website: winehq.org

How to install wine in Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex
Because Wine is available in the official Ubuntu repositories we will install Wine using the apt-get command in Terminal.
1) Run Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal)
2) Paste the following command:

sudo apt-get install wine

3) Enter your sudo password
4) Installation should not take more than a couple of minutes
5) Great! You now have Wine installed.

For a tutorial on how to install Windows software under Wine, please check out our tutorial here.